Ka mate Ka mate It is death It is death Ka ora Ka ora It is life It is life Ka mate Ka mate It is death It is death Ka ora Ka ora It is life It is life Tenei Te Tangata Puhuruhuru This is the hairy man Nana i tiki mai whakawhiti te ra Who caused the sun to shine again for me Upane Upane Up the ladder Up the ladder Upane Kaupane Up to the top Whiti te ra The sun shines!
The Maori pronunciation is basically one vowel per syllable, with the vowels having the European rather than English sound. The `wh' is aspirated almost like an `f' (f is good enough for most people).
As for what it all means, about 140 years ago, a particularly notorious warlike chief named Te Rauparaha of the Ngati Toa tribe (based just North of present day Wellington), was being chased by his enemies. He hid in a kumara pit (the local sweet potato, only much better) and waited in the dark for his pursuers to find him. He heard sounds above and thought he was done for when the top of the pit was opened up and sunshine flooded in. He was blinded and struggled to see those about to slay him, when his sight cleared and he instead saw the hairy legs of the local chief (reputed to have been exceptionally hirsute) who had hid him. Te Rauparaha is said to have jumped from the pit and performed this haka on the spot, so happy was he to have escaped. Undoubtedly, he also had in his mind to do a little pursuing of his own --- Te Rauparaha being that way inclined was he.
I don't know where this came from but the copyright is acknowledged as not being mine. (CT)
v13 Updated April 20 1998