September 06, 2022
Waiata Anthems exposes adoption rift from culture
The frontman for kiwi reggae band The Black Seeds and musical director for Wellington music collective Fly My Pretties says working on the new Waiata Anthems collection allowed his whanau to reconnect with its Maori roots.
Barnaby Weir worked with Taranaki reo gurus Wharehoka Wano and Ruakere Hond on Tō Kātua Whanau, a translated version of the Fly My Pretties track Family Tree
He says it unlocked new meaning and brought the song home to his own whanau.
“My mother’s Maori. She was adopted into a pakeha family in the fifties. They weren’t bad parents but it was he fifties and you weren’t encouraging speaking Maori or being Maori. She grew up in quite a white world, as she puts it, but through this Waiata Anthems project she is exploring her pain and grief I guess through the song,” he says.
Waiata Anthems is out on music streaming platforms.