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September 16, 2022
Poi E composer for NZ Music Hall of Fame
Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira
Posted On September 16, 2022
Download AudioTwo of Māoridom’s greatest composers will be inducted into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame at next month’s APRA Silver Scroll Awards.
They’re Poi E composer Te Kumeroa “Ngoingoi” Pēwhairangi and her aunt Tuini Moetū Haangū Ngāwai, whose farewell song Arohaina Ma became the unofficial anthem of the Maori Battalion C Company.
Ngarimu Parata, a spokesperson for the whanau, says the honour brings great joy to their whanau, hapu and iwi.
He says on the 50th anniversary of the Maori Language Petition, it’s a reminder of how much their waiata have contributed to the revitalisation of te reo Māori.
“That is my language. That is my reo. Their songs, their compositions, their talk about our histories, aku korero o tuku iho, aku whakapapa, genealogy. It shows also through their compositions how they saw and views the works around them, te ao Maori te ao pakeha, te ao huriihuri i noho nei tatau,” he says. (CHECK TRANSCRIPT)
The awards ceremony is on October 18
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