Māori Language Week 2010
East Coast kūmara pit
Unidentified Maori man and children, alongside a kumara storehouse on the East Coast , B&W photo-mechanical print, McDonald, James Ingram, 1865-1935: Photographs, Reference: PAColl-0477-15
East Coast kūmara pit
A Famous Oriori from Turanga
From Te Ao Hou No. 53 December 1965
Po! Po! is probably a shortened form of ‘Potiki! Potiki!’ Oriori were often composed for the potiki (youngest child) in the family. In the second line the words ‘my son’ refer to the child for whom the oriori was composed.
Pillar-of-netted-seafood (Pou-a-hao-kai) is a figure of speech used of seafoods being collected for a feast.
Milk: Elsdon Best notes that the expression waiu is sometimes used with reference to food which when eaten by the mother, was believed to help her feed her child...
Read the whole article on Te Ao Hou
Listen to the song on NZ Folk Song
Permission of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga O Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image
