"Tūtira Mai Ngā Iwi", or "Tūtira Mai", is a New Zealand

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

folk song (or waiata) written in the 1950s by Canon

Wiremu Te Tau Huata Wiremu is a masculine given name, the Māori form of William. Notable people with the name include: People with given name Wiremu * Aaron Wiremu Cruden (born 1989), New Zealand rugby union player * Wiremu Doherty, New Zealand Māori educationalist ...

. The song became popular after being selected by New Zealand's Ministry of Education for inclusion in schoolbooks.

History

Huata wrote "Tūtira Mai Ngā Iwi" while part of an Ecumenical Movement in the late 1950s. He was driving from Wairoa, Hawke's Bay with his children and passed

Lake Tūtira Lake Tūtira is a body of water in north-eastern Hawke's Bay in New Zealand. Much of the area was surveyed by Herbert Guthrie-Smith, who farmed 60,000 acres (240 km²) surrounding the lake. Guthrie-Smith, a naturalist, published the popular ...

. He would sing the lyrics and his children would repeat them, learning it as they drove to

Napier Napier may refer to: People * Napier (surname), including a list of people with that name * Napier baronets, five baronetcies and lists of the title holders Given name * Napier Shaw (1854–1945), British meteorologist * Napier Waller (1893–19 ...

. The waiata eventually grew in popularity through Huata performing it in churches and Bible classes. By the 1960s, the

New Zealand government , background_color = #012169 , image = New Zealand Government wordmark.svg , image_size=250px , date_established = , country = New Zealand , leader_title = Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern , appointed = Governor-General , main_organ = , ...

's Ministry of Education picked up the waiata and started publishing it for use in New Zealand's schools without Huata's consent and didn't credit him as the author. As a result after 50 years of being used in schools, his daughter revealed that some of the lyrics were published incorrectly. On 28 May 2020 the song was published o
YouTube
performed by members of the navy, army and airforce bands in a musical partnership between the New Zealand and United States armed forces. The song's composer was Wiremu Te Tau Huata who was a New Zealand military chaplain to the 28th Maori Battalion. His whānau gave permission for the waiata to be used.

Meaning

While there is some conjecture about the exact words in the song (a situation matching that of many older folk songs worldwide) there is general agreement that it is a song of unity, with the repeated refrain of "tātou tātou e" ( "all of us, all of us"). The song is often used by New Zealanders in times when standing together and supporting each other is appropriate. The song was, for example, used to show support with the New Zealand Muslim community after the Christchurch mosque shootings.

Rugby

In 2017, the New Zealand Rugby Union started a campaign for the 2017 British and Irish Lions tour for

New Zealand national rugby union team The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

fans to adopt "Tūtira Mai Ngā Iwi" as a rallying chant to try to out-sing the British and Irish Lions fans. The campaign was led by the

New Zealand Police The New Zealand Police ( mi, Ngā Pirihimana o Aotearoa) is the national police service and principal law enforcement agency of New Zealand, responsible for preventing crime, enhancing public safety, bringing offenders to justice, and maintai ...

constable and former All Black

Glen Osborne Glen Matthew Osborne (born 27 August 1971) is a New Zealand television presenter, former rugby union player and current Police Constable for the New Zealand Police. Osborne was born in Wanganui and played representative rugby for Wanganui in th ...

. However the attempt was poorly received by All Blacks fans. The Lions fans also hijacked the song changing the chorus from "Tatou, Tatou" to "Lions, Lions". The New Zealand media criticised the NZRU for attempting to manufacture a favourable atmosphere, believing that "Tūtira Mai Ngā Iwi" was an inappropriate choice. On November 12, 2022, in

Eden Park Eden Park is New Zealand's largest sports stadium, with a capacity of 50,000. Located in central Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, it is three kilometres southwest of the CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and King ...

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, a member of the Black Ferns women's Rugby team,

Ruby Tui Ruby Tui (born 13 December 1991) is a New Zealand rugby union player. She competed internationally when the national rugby sevens team won the silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics tournament. She won a gold medal in rugby sevens at the 20 ...

, led the crowd in singing "Tūtira Mai Ngā Iwi" to celebrate their 34-31 World Cup final win over England.

References

{{Reflist, 30em New Zealand folk songs Māori music Rugby football music 1950s songs Songs in Māori New Zealand children's songs