Rarawa Kerehoma



“Rarawa Kerehoma, an authority on the history of his own Northern people, has…turned his hand to song-writing.”

Biographical sources

  • Mitcalfe, Barry. "The Poetry of the Māori." Te Ao Hou 34 (1961): 40.

    Music

  • "Te Aohuruhuru." In Mitcalfe, Barry. ‘The Poetry of the Māori.’ Te Ao Hou 34 (1961): 31, 34-40. [40.]
  • Mitcalfe writes in his introductory notes to this waiata that it is based on the story of Te Aohuruhuru from Sir George Grey’s "Nga Mahi a Nga Tupuna". The story centres on the tragedy of Te Aohuruhuru who committed suicide after waking in the night and observing the men of the tribe watching her as she slept uncovered by the firelight.
  • "‘Waiata Tangi’" (A Lament)." Journal of the Tauranga Historical Society 19 (1964): 6-7
  • In this waiata in Māori and English, the speaker reflects on his impending death and wishes when others had died that Whiro had taken him too.