This karakia is said to have been chanted by the crew of Tainui as they pulled their canoe across the 200-metre portage separating the Tāmaki River from Manukau Harbour. The portage was a major route linking the east and west coasts. Today, as the photo of the west end of the portage shows, the area is used for very different forms of transport. The sound recording is of a performance by members of Te Whānau-ā-Apanui, led by Rāpata Kīngi, in 1943.
Sound file from Radio New Zealand Sound Archives Ngā Taonga Kōrero. Any re-use of this audio is a breach of copyright. To request a copy of the recording, contact Sound Archives Ngā Taonga Kōrero (Waiata mōteatea/Reference number DAT 347).
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Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
Photograph by Jock Phillips
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