Nau mai Welcome
Haere mai ki tenei wahi whakahirahira Welcome to the magnificent site
o Nga Wai of Nga Wai - the waters
Nga Wai reka the sweet waters
Nga Wai pari the flowing waters
Nga Wai koropupu the turbulent waters
Nga Wai auaha the creative waters
Tihe Mauri ora! The right to speak is ours!
This blog offers a site for our thoughts, our discussions and dreams. I will post regular items for discussion and consideration and encourage others to do the same. Arohanui, Moata
The Samoan cosmogony starts with an almighty watery tsunami, I've posted the first sections of the chant below:
ReplyDelete‘O galu lolo ma galu fatio’o,
(Rolling and crashing surf,)
‘O galu tau ma galu fefatia’i,
(Colliding and clashing surf,)
‘O le ‘au’au peau ma le sologa peau,
(Frothy sea and the procession of waves,)
Na ona fa’afua, ’a e le fati.
(Swelling high and not crashing.)
‘O le peau lolo ma le peau tao’to,
(High rising and low gliding waves,)
‘O le peau malie ma le peau lagatonu.
(Splendid wave and precise waves.)
‘O peau aliali’a ma peau la’asia,
(Feared waves breaking on reef banks,)
‘O peau a sisifo mai gaga’e.
(Waves from the west and the east.)
O le peau lagava’a ma le peau tagata,
(Searching waves that raise ships, reaching out for people,)
Ma le peau tautala ‘o lona soa,
(And the speaking wave his equal,)
‘o le ‘au’au ta’a.
(These wandering companions.)
Mapu i le lagi Tuli mai vasa,
(In heaven, Tuli rests from the sea,)
Tagaloa fia malolo,
(Tagaloa is wanting of rest,)
Ta lili’a peau ‘o lalõ.
(Those chilling waves from the world below.)
Tena koe, Talofa Albert. I love this and it takes me back to the karakia of Te Rangikaheke, below, with translation underneath;
ReplyDeleteHe hohou rongo
.
Tuuaatuuaa. I te orooro, i te oromea, i tukitukia ai koe, i taitaia ai koe, oi kiri Tangaroa.
Tere te nuku nei, tere angaia. Tuutaria ki tenei maanuka, tuutaria ki teenei ngahoa. Kaapiti hono.
Purua too taringa kia turi, kia hoi. Kei whakarongo koe ki te koorero iti. Ko te koorero iti, ko tahu-hunu, ko tahu-rere, ko te hau-aitu.
Rere mai te maramara koi hopiri, koi hotau. Rere mai te mangamanga, koi hopiri, koi hotau. Torotika! E tuu te maota, hee!
Tuutakina i te iwi. Tuutakina i te toto. Tuutakina i te kiko. Tuutakina i te uaua. Tuutakina kia uu. Tuutakina kia mau.
Teenei te rangi ka tuutaki. Teenei te rangi ka ruruku. Teenei te papa ka wheuka.
E Rangi e, awhitia. E Papa e, awhitia. Naau ka awhi, ka awhi. Naau ka aaka, ka aaka. Naau ka toro, ka toro. Tupu he toka whenua, tupu he toka Mata-te-raa.
Na wai i hoomai? Na te pakanga i hoomai. Na te riri i hoomai. Na ngaa taangata i hoomai. I hoomai ki a wai? I hoomai ki te kikokiko. Kei te kikokiko, kei te tini honohono, he manawa ka irihia nei e Tuu-matauwenga.
E Tuu-ka-riri, e Tuu-ka-nguha, e Tuu-ka-aaritarita! E tuu i te korikori, e tuu i te whetaa, e tuu i te whaiao, e tuu i te ao maarama.
Ko maiea. Maiea ngaa atua. Maiea ngaa patu. Maiea ngaa taangata. Ko maiea.
A karakia for binding peace.
Come forth, from the rubbing backwards and forwards. You have been battered, you have been knocked about, by the skin of Tangaroa. Move swiftly, swiftly and straight ahead.
Bind it [peace] tight to this maanuka, to this new shoot. You are bound tight.
Plug your ears. Be deaf. Be unmoved. Don't listen to small talk. It is small talk that sparks off apprehension, that sparks off dread, that makes you start with fear.
Fly together, chips and shavings. Stick fast together. Hold fast together. Fly together, bits of branches. Stick fast together. Hold fast together.
Stretch straight upwards. Look, the young green tree stands.
Join the bones together. Join the blood together. Join the flesh together. Join the sinews together. Join them so they will be firm. Join them so they will hold fast.
It is the heavens which join. It is the heavens which bind together. It is the earth which strengthens and supports. Heavens, embrace us. Earth, embrace us. What you embrace, is indeed embraced. What you cherish is truly cherished. What you stretch out and join stays stretched out and joined.
It grows, a rock of the land, a rock like Mata-te-raa.
Where did it [the binding, the strength] come from? It came out of the war. It came out of the fighting. It came from the people.
Who was it given to? It was given to the flesh. The flesh, the many peoples bound together, their spirit is lifted up by Tuu-matauenga.
Angry Tuu, raging Tuu, Tuu burning up inside! Stand firm in the waving. Stand firm in the brandishing. Be established in light. Be established in full daylight
kia ora korua, talofa lava
ReplyDeletei'll have to think about water words from my first place in the world - we are an almost land-locked people here in germany.
well, one thing that comes to mind is "steter tropfen hoehlt den stein" - steady drops hollow the rock ... which seems kind of appropriate, ne? given patience, of course ...
but i remember now that nietzsche has a beautiful passage about what happens when one leaves the solidity of land - let me see if i can find it in english on the web ... back soon.
ihr fehlt mir hier! oku mihi nuinui ki a korua, me te whanau o nga wai o horotiu.
tina
(na tiamani i te roto o te huka, tino makariri!!) <and apologies for my embarrassingly dysfunctional reo ... i MUSTMUSTMUST get back to it!!!)
kia ora ano -
ReplyDeleteseems like i can't recall the context of that passage (thought it was from gay science ... to my dismay, there are no bookmarks in my german edition of nietzsche here, and yet i remember looking at it in these same two volumes ... am i delusionary or just getting old?).
but i found sth else, which i quite like:
— As a ship that putteth into the calmest cove:—it now draweth up to the land, weary of long voyages and uncertain seas. Is not the land more faithful?
As such a ship huggeth the shore, tuggeth the shore:—then it sufficeth for a spider to spin its thread from the ship to the land. No stronger ropes are required there.
As such a weary ship in the calmest cove, so do I also now repose, nigh to the earth, faithful, trusting, waiting, bound to it with the lightest threads.
From: Thus spake Zarathustra, Part IV - 70. Noontide (http://www.davemckay.co.uk/philosophy/nietzsche/nietzsche.php?name=nietzsche.1883.zarathustra.common.part4.70
Just to change the tone a little, check out the website for Postcolonial Studies Institute in Melbourne. Ruark Lewis is part of this organization and is keen for us to make contact and set up a relationship with them. Might be interesting to look into next year.
ReplyDeleteAlso some very positive feedback and encouragement from Tania Ka'ai over the week of the writing retreat.
As an item for discussion what are your views on the word 'Indigenous' and what do we feel about the limits around this grouping??? Comments?
kia ora ano,
ReplyDeletei've found it (and now bookmarked in the book!!)
[124] Im Horizont des Unendlichen. – Wir haben das Land verlassen und sind zu Schiff gegangen! Wir haben die Brücke hinter uns – mehr noch, wir haben das Land hinter uns abgebrochen! Nun, Schifflein! Sieh dich vor! Neben dir liegt der Ozean, es ist wahr, er brüllt nicht immer, und mitunter liegt er da wie Seide und Gold und Träumerei der Güte. Aber es kommen Stunden, wo du erkennen wirst, daß er unendlich ist und daß es nichts Furchtbareres gibt als Unendlichkeit. Oh des armen Vogels, der sich frei gefühlt hat und nun an die Wände dieses Käfigs stößt! Wehe, wenn das Land-Heimweh dich befällt, als ob dort mehr Freiheit gewesen wäre – und es gibt kein »Land« mehr!
Friedrich Nietzsche: Werke in drei Bänden. München 1954, Band 2, S. 126. Fröhliche Wissenschaft. http://www.zeno.org/nid/2000925174X
124. In the Horizon of the Infinite. We have left the land and have gone aboard ship! We have broken down the bridge behind us, nay, more, the land behind us! Well, little ship! look out! Beside thee is the ocean; it is true it does not always roar, and sometimes it spreads out like silk and gold and a gentle reverie. But times will come when you wilt feel that it is infinite, and that there is nothing more frightful than infinity. Oh, the poor bird that felt itself free, and now strikes against the walls of this cage! Alas, if home sickness for the land should attack thee, as if there had been more freedom there, and there is no "land" any longer!
Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science. Die fröhliche Wissenschaft. First published in 1882. http://www.lexido.com/EBOOK_TEXTS/THE_GAY_SCIENCE_THIRD_BOOK_.aspx?S=124
clearly, my people is a people scared of the open sea. but we do have lovely texts about brooks and springs (nga puna waihanga, german fashion). will look for them and post them in due course.
must now go to bed - otherwise i'll never get over that condition caused by travelling by air-ship!!
it was great to have been with you around midnight. nga mihi nuinui ki a koutou!
tina
kia ora ano,
ReplyDeletei've found it (and now bookmarked in the book!!)
is there a limit to word-length? seems like it, so this will come in two parts:
I.
[124] Im Horizont des Unendlichen. – Wir haben das Land verlassen und sind zu Schiff gegangen! Wir haben die Brücke hinter uns – mehr noch, wir haben das Land hinter uns abgebrochen! Nun, Schifflein! Sieh dich vor! Neben dir liegt der Ozean, es ist wahr, er brüllt nicht immer, und mitunter liegt er da wie Seide und Gold und Träumerei der Güte. Aber es kommen Stunden, wo du erkennen wirst, daß er unendlich ist und daß es nichts Furchtbareres gibt als Unendlichkeit. Oh des armen Vogels, der sich frei gefühlt hat und nun an die Wände dieses Käfigs stößt! Wehe, wenn das Land-Heimweh dich befällt, als ob dort mehr Freiheit gewesen wäre – und es gibt kein »Land« mehr!
Friedrich Nietzsche: Werke in drei Bänden. München 1954, Band 2, S. 126. Fröhliche Wissenschaft. http://www.zeno.org/nid/2000925174X
II.
ReplyDelete124. In the Horizon of the Infinite. We have left the land and have gone aboard ship! We have broken down the bridge behind us, nay, more, the land behind us! Well, little ship! look out! Beside thee is the ocean; it is true it does not always roar, and sometimes it spreads out like silk and gold and a gentle reverie. But times will come when you wilt feel that it is infinite, and that there is nothing more frightful than infinity. Oh, the poor bird that felt itself free, and now strikes against the walls of this cage! Alas, if home sickness for the land should attack thee, as if there had been more freedom there, and there is no "land" any longer!
Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science. Die fröhliche Wissenschaft. First published in 1882. http://www.lexido.com/EBOOK_TEXTS/THE_GAY_SCIENCE_THIRD_BOOK_.aspx?S=124
clearly, my 'first people' are scared of the open sea. but we do have lovely texts about lakes, rivers, brooks and springs (nga puna waihanga, german fashion). will look for them and post them in due course.
must now go to bed - otherwise i'll never get over that condition caused by travelling by air-ship!!
it was great to have been with you around midnight. nga mihi nuinui ki a koutou!
tina
yes, Ruark Lewis had interesting suggestions when moana and i went out for dinner with him. talk to moana - there may be opportunities to link up.
ReplyDeletet
Hoki mai e nga wai o nga motu, nga wai o te ao! Hoki mai ki konei ki te korero, ki te mihi, ki te whakawhiti whakaaro.
ReplyDeleteReturn, waters of the islands, waters of the world.
Return to speak, to acknowledge, to exchange thoughts.
in these busy times, Take time to engage here, in the waters of the ether, the waters that bind and separate us.
Kia ora koutou,
ReplyDeleteLong time no checking in. Have been looking after sick mokos, travelling to Europe and struggling with the thesis. Setting out now towards symposium in October...will post Call for papers next week, so keep an eye on this site. Looking forward to some art and design works on show, some transformations of the space and thinking.
Kia ora koutou,Tina are you there? Is anyone still there? Where is there? Is it here?
ReplyDelete