Tūtira Mai Ngā Iwi

I whānau a Wiremu Te Tau Huata ki Mōhaka i te 23 o Hepetema, 1917. He tamaiti nā Hēmi Pītiti Huata rāua ko Rōpine Aranui o ngā iwi, o ngā hapū maha o Ngāti Kahungunu, o Ngāti Pāhauwera, o Ngāi Tamaterangi me Te Aitanga-a-Hinemanuhiri.

He puna o te kī, he ringa tōhau nui nō te Hāhi Mihinare, ko āna kupu āki ēnei hei whāngai i te hinengaro me te whatumanawa o te tangata, kia whakapūmautia rā e tātau ngā kōrero tuku iho ki roto ki ngā whakareanga e haere ake nei. E ai ki ngā kōrero a tana tamāhine, a Ngatai Huata, i titoa te waiata nei i ngā tau 1950 i a rātou e taraiwa ana ka hipa i te roto o Tūtira, kei waenganui i a Te Wairoa me Ahuriri. Hei tā te kōrero he mea waihanga ngā kupu e ia i runga i te wairua hihiko.

Wiremu Te Tau Huata was born in Mohaka on September 23, 1917. He was the son of Hēmi Pītiti Huata and Rōpine Aranui from the various tribes of Ngāti Kahungunu, of Ngāti Pāhauwera, Ngāi Tamaterangi, and Te Aitanga-a-Hinemanuhiri. He was a fountain of knowledge, a minister in the Anglican Church, whose words were articulated to nourish the minds and hearts of people, so that the ancestral stories could be carried forward for the generations to come. According to his daughter, Ngatai Huata, this song was composed in the 1950s while they were traveling past Lake Tūtira, between Te Wairoa and Napier. It is said that he crafted the lyrics and taught them to his children as he made them up, such was his talent and skill.