Matiu Rata and ‘Karanga rā’

Matiu Rata and ‘Karanga rā’

Matiu Rata, of Ngāti Kurī, was largely responsible for the establishment of the Waitangi Tribunal in 1975 and was a principal claimant in the 1986 Muriwhenua hearings, which eventually resulted in the influential Muriwhenua fishing report (1988) and the Muriwhenua land report (1997). The song 'Karanga rā' was first sung at Te Hāpua in December 1986 and pays tribute to Rata, a former minister of Māori affairs. It was sung at the beginning of the Muriwhenua hearings before the Waitangi Tribunal. The English translation of the words is as follows:

‘The clarion voice of Rata [Matiu Rata] calls
The movement in the tail of the fish responds.

In our midst we now have Tai [Eddie Taihakurei Durie, tribunal chairman].
Now is the time to give strength to the treaty.

Here too is the group, all members of the tribunal,
Tainui [Koro Wetere, minister of Māori affairs], Rāwiri [David Lange, prime minister] and Pāora [Bishop Paul Reeves, the governor general].
Between you, this fish can swim.

Māori people rise and be vigilant;
Tau-iwi [Pākehā and others], the time is now to face each other.

People come and go,
But the land endures.’