The Ngarimu Victoria Cross Investiture Meeting and Reception to His Excellency the Governor General, 6 October 1943.
On 4 June 1943 news was broadcast world-wide that 2/Lt Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa Ngarimu had been awarded the Victoria Cross for his role in the attack on Point 209 at Tebaga Gap, Tunisia. It was the sixth VC to be awarded to a New Zealander in the war, and the first to a Maori soldier.
The public investiture ceremony where the Governor-General presented the award to Mr & Mrs Hamuera Ngarimu was held at Whakarua Park in Ruatoria, Ngarimu’s home town. At the time it was one of the largest and most fully documented Māori gatherings ever held.[1] Despite the rain and mud, 7000 people attended the event, including the Prime Minister and other parliamentarians, Battalion members on furlough, Home Guardsmen and 1300 schoolchildren, who came from all parts of the country. Three hundred performers had been brought together from the Gisborne district alone. Te Whānau-ā-Apanui and Ngāti Porou, led by Sir Apirana Ngata hosted the event that featured five hours of entertainment. Members of the National Film Unit, the official Government photographer - John Pascoe, and the press documented the event. Cameramen from the US Marine Corps also headed to Ruatoria to record the event. Read more about the event here.
This recording of the haka Te kiringutu was made on the morning of the investiture at Whakarua Park.
Sir AT Ngata describe the item as such: This item is a revival of a composition more than a century old. The first revival of it was in the year 1888 when the Porourangi meeting house at Waiomatatini on the East Coast was formally opened. The tribe to which the late Moana Ngarimu belonged was then led by an elder called Tuta Nihoniho who was an officer in the Maori auxiliary forces during the wars against Te Kooti. And it was to register their protest against the rating of their lands and the taxation of articles of everyday consumption, particularly tobacco which was subjected to taxation. These were the topics which led to the revival of this composition. Once more in 1934 at Waitangi it was revived. Its main theme is not outdated now because there are still people in the country who object to taxation and always swallow it as a bitter pill. In the circumstances a good deal of vigour is put into the rendering of this item by the members of the Ngati Porou tribe.
Transcript
(Whakaara)
Kaea: I ponga ra! I ponga ra!
Katoa: A ha ha! Ka tataki mai te Whare o nga Ture!
Ka whiria ra te Maori! Ka whiria!
E ngau nei ona reiti, e ngau nei ona taake!
A ha ha! Te taea te ueue! I aue! Hei!
Sir AT Ngata: …visitors without some swear words and this one is full of them.
Kaea: Patua i te whenua!
Katoa: Hei!
Kaea: Whakataua i nga ture!
Katoa: Hei!
Kaea: A ha ha!
Katoa: Na nga mema ra te kohiuru,
Na te Kawana te koheriheri!
Ka raruraru nga ture!
Ka raparapa ki te pua torori! I aue!
(Taparahi)
Kaea: Kaore hoki te mate o te whenua e
Te makere atu ki raro ra!
Katoa: A ha ha! Iri tonu mai runga
O te kiringutu mau mai ai,
Hei tipare taua mo te hoariri!
A ha ha! I tahuna mai au
Ki te whakahere toto koa,
A ki te ngakau o te whenua nei,
Ki te koura! I aue, taukuri e!
Kaea: I a ha ha!
Katoa: Ko tuhikitia. Ko tuhapainga
I raro i te whero o te Maori! Hukiti.! A ha ha!
Na te ngutu o te Maori, pohara, kai-kutu,
na te weriweri ko’ i homai ki konei?
E, kaore i ara. I haramai tonu koe ki te kai whenua!
Purari paka! Kauramokai, hei!
Kaea: A ha ha!
Katoa: Te puta atu hoki te ihu o te waka i nga torouka o Niu Tireni,
Ka paia pukutia mai e nga uaua o te ture a te Kawana!
Te taea te ueue! Au! Au! I aue!
Repeats Taparahi
(Tuku)
Kaea: Ko komako komako!
Katoa: E ko te hautapu e rite ki te kai na Matariki,
Tapareireia koi tapa! Tapa konunua koiana tukua! I aue hi ha hi!
Site editors notes:
- There is intermittent static throughout the audio
- A question mark (?) after a word indicates audio is inaudible
Sound file from Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision. Any re-use of this audio is a breach of copyright.
Comments (0)