Ahi Kā

(album: Tangaroa - 2021)

Whakatau Pōtiki
Māhuhu-ki-te-rangi
Nga uri o Te Kawau
Rongomai Te Ariki
Tū ana mātou
Ki runga Takaparawhā
Tahu toku kāinga
Tahu toku kāinga
Toku ahi kā

Tāmaki manuhiri
Te kuini o Engarani
Whakamā kāwana
Tāhae Whenua
Ka tangi nga Kuia
Ka noho Kaumātua
Tahu toku kāinga
Tahu toku kāinga
Toku ahi kā

E maha nga pirihimana
E whakawhiti ana ki Takaparawha
Tū kaha
Tū kaha
Pūkana I mua o te kanohi o te kāwanatanga

Ahi kā
Ahi kā
Ahi kā
Ahi kā
Toku ahi kā
Toku ahi kā
Toku ahi kā
Tahu toku kāinga
Toku ahi kā

[English translation:]

[A recording of a whaikōrero (speech) originally given by Ngāti Whātua chief Te Kawau opens the song, accompanied by the kōauau (a traditional bone flute), which is played by Lewis.]

Whakatau Pōtiki [father of Rongomai]
Māhuhu-ki-te-rangi [the ancestral canoe]
The descendants of Te Kawau [the Ngāti Whātua chief who gifted much of the land for Auckland City]
Rongomai, the high chief [captain of the canoe Māhuhu-ki-te-rangi]
We stand
Upon the headland of Takaparawhā
My village burns
My village burns
My home

[A recording of a 1953 Christmas address by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, given from Auckland, NZ]

Visitors to Auckland
The Queen of England
The shameful governor [the city council]
Steals our land
Our old women cry
Our elders are seated stay put [in protest]
My village burns
My village burns
My home

Many police officers
Converge on Takaparawhā [Bastion Point]
Stand strong
Stand strong
Defiant before the face of the government

Home
Home
Home
Home
My home
My home
My home
My village burns
My home