2018

Radio Single

Ko Wai Koe

“I’m only 8 but when I’m 18 will there still be a world left to stand in?”

Ko Wai Koe

OUT NOW on Spotify or itunes

Ko Wai Koe, featuring the powerful vocals of Te Aumihi Hapeta, Ani Black and Jess Walker, is a song that is an uplifting  ode to Te Taiao, an affirmation of our interrelationship with Taiao, and a call to action.

Ani Black - Ngāi Tūhoe

Radio Announcer, Māmā, Kaiwaiata

Ki te kore tō tātou taiao e ora, ka kore tātou e ora

“Kaare au i paku mōhio hōhonu ki ngā mātauranga i roto i tēnei kaupapa te taiao. Ki te ao Māori, he tino rangatatira tēnei mea te whenua  me te moana me te wai, ā he kaupapa, he āhuatanga, he oranga hōhonu, he oranga rangatira mō tātou te tangata. Ki te kore tō tātou taiao e ora, ka kore tātou e ora. Mo tēnei o ngā kauapapa te taiao, he kaupapa hirahira, heoi, he kaupapa tonu kia whai tonu tātou ngā rangatahi, ngā pakeke, ā ki te whakatutuki i ngā mahi katoa, i roto i te oranga o te wai, kia kore ai tō tātou wai e paruparu, ā mō ā tātou tamariki e heke mai nei. Otirā tō tātou whenua hoki. Te putuputu o ngā para, te tope o ngā rākau me āta whakaaro tātou ki hea ēnei o ngā rauemi ngā taonga o Papatūānuku me Ranginui e haare nei. Mō te aha? Mō te pai e topea nei te rākau mō te pai, mō te moni rānei? Ki au nei te mea o te taiao, me whakanuihia  tēnei āhuatanga, ae tērā pea me āta whakaaro tātou ngā rangatahi e hiahia nei ki te whai i tēnei huarahi ki te whakapiki i to ranga i te taiao, ā, kia pai ai ā tātou tamariki mō āpōpō”.

Ani Black – Kaiwaiata

KO WAI KOE... Without water?

– Maraea Davies, kaitito waiata

I wrote Ko Wai Koe in the wake of my involvement in raising awareness around offshore and onshore drilling. In that period the Rena grounded in our wai moana spilling tons of oil which coated and smothered marine life along the coast. The initial response by Maritime New Zealand included use of Corexit to disperse the oil – a chemical that enables crude oil to become 52 times more toxic and that has done untold damage to marine life in the Gulf of Mexico. Then at Christmas that year I observed the boom in place at Little Waihi estuary not only preventing the oil from coming in but keeping the brown bubbly swirley goop inside the estuary, from heading out to sea. What irony. Industry we rely on to support our families, communities or nation with income or food is polluting the very environment that provides those industries and their activities with the means to exist.

​Here we are now in 2018. The pollution of our rivers has become a loud conversation, and the conversation about glyphosate is growing. Use of 1080 and brodifacoum are contentious issues in the moment and water exploitation by overseas investors is another. Don’t get me started on geo engineering…. An easier topic of conversation is the recycling that our Māori organisations have in place. Or do they? 

​We have other important issues to concern ourselves, but at the end of the day none of us can be sure about raising a healthy whānau if the water, air and soil are toxic.

​Until a time comes where corporate profits are gained in partnership with a healthy environment, we need to continue to ask questions and speak out when it is evident that things are not right. We also need to take responsibility for our actions as consumers. The quality of life for our children and their children’s, children depends on it.

Ko Wai Koe

Ko wai koe
I te ngaronga o ngā rākau
Ko wai koe
I te ngūtanga o ngā manu
Ko wai ko wai
I te hawanga o te wai Māori
Tēnā ko wai?

E tū te iwi ngā kaitiaki katoa
Haumanutia te mauri o te Taiao
E tū te iwi ngā kaitiaki katoa
Haumanutia te mauri o te Taiao
E tū, e tū, e tū, e tū
Tihei Mauri ora

He toto, he wai
Ka rere, ki roto i ahau
I tukua iho mai i ngā tipuna
Kei hea te mauri?
Kei hea te oranga?
Mei kore ai te mauri o tēnei wai

Whakarongo ki te tangi o te manu
Titiro ki te rere o te pī
Anei ngā mea miharo

Ko au a taiao, ko taiao au

Who are you
When the trees have gone
Who are you
When the birds are no longer heard
Who are you
When the water is contaminated
Then… Who?

Guardians of our earth
Restore the mauri of our environment

Guardians of our earth
Restore the mauri of our environment
Stand up, take action!

Blood is water
It flows in me
From my ancestors
Where is the life force?
Where is life?
When there is no mauri in the water

Hear the birds
See the bees
They are wondrous
I am the environment

“I’m only 8, but when I’m 18 will there still be a world for me to stand in?”

 

“In 20 years from now will I be able to feed my children?”

 

“If you can’t think of yourself and you can’t think of the land, can you think of  us?”

 

“Can you please stand up for us?”

Artists – Te Aumihi Hapeta, Ani Black, Jessica Walker
Tamaiti – Tamarangi Dodd
Chorus –  Ipo Umuhiri, Manaea Anderson
Music Producer – Rodger Cunningham, Kanohi Studio
Music Director – Maraea Davies / Rodger Cunningham
Lyrics and Composition – Maraea Davies
Composition & Arrangement – Rodger Cunningham, RJ Kerswell
Te Reo Māori Assurance – Tamati Waaka
Te Reo Māori Consultation – Wiremu Huta Martin
Exec Producer – Maraea Davies / Hei Tiki Creatives
Funded by – Te Māngai Pāho

Acknowledgements

Thanks to:

The artists!

Te Mangai Pāho, Kahi Stevens, Waitangi Black ,Tim Woodley, Tumeke FM, all our Reo Irirangi

and the many kaitiaki advocating for the environment.