"Ka Mānu" (English: "Afloat") is a

Māori language Māori (; endonym: 'the Māori language', commonly shortened to ) is an Eastern Polynesian languages, Eastern Polynesian language and the language of the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. The southernmost membe ...

song, released in 2019 to protest the

Ihumātao Ihumātao is an archaeological site of historic importance in the suburb of Māngere, Auckland. Once a pā site, it stands on the Ihumātao Peninsula, at the base of Ōtuataua, part of the Auckland volcanic field. Its scoria cone reaches above ...

housing development. Written by musician Rob Ruha, it was released as a collaboration between Ruha and a number of New Zealand musicians, Bella Kalolo,

Maisey Rika Maisey Rika is a New Zealand singer, songwriter and composer, performing in both English and Māori language, Māori. Her five original albums have each reached the Top 40 in the Official New Zealand Music Chart. She was named an Arts Foundation ...

, Majic Pāora,

Ria Hall Ria Hall (born 1982 or 1983) is a Māori recording artist, singer-songwriter, television presenter, and political candidate. She has released two solo albums, '' Rules of Engagement'' (2017), which topped the Official New Zealand Music Chart shor ...

, Seth Haapu,

Troy Kingi Troy Kingi (born 1984) is a New Zealand musician and actor from Northland, first receiving media attention when he appeared in the 2013 film '' Mt. Zion''. Kingi is a multi-instrumentalist, is known for his 10/10/10 project: the plan to release ...

and The Witch Dr.

Background and composition

Since 2016, protest group SOUL had been occupying land at

Māngere Māngere () is a major suburb in South Auckland, New Zealand, located on mainly flat land on the northeastern shore of the Manukau Harbour, to the northwest of Manukau, Manukau City Centre and south of the Auckland CBD, Auckland city centre. ...

South Auckland South Auckland ( or ) is one of the major geographical regions of Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand. The area is south of the Auckland isthmus, and on the eastern shores of the Manukau Harbour. The area has been populated by Tāmaki M� ...

, after

Fletcher Building Fletcher Building Limited is one of the largest listed companies in New Zealand, with a market capitalisation of nearly NZ$4 billion. The company was split from Fletcher Challenge in 2001, formerly New Zealand's largest business and multinati ...

acquired the historical site in order to develop a housing project. On 3 July 2019, SOUL were served an eviction notice, and five people were arrested. On 4 August 2019, SOUL protestors and supporters held a

hīkoi A ''hīkoi'' is a walk or march, and especially a protest march, in New Zealand. The word comes from the Māori language, and often implies a long journey taking many days or weeks. The most famous hīkoi was the 1975 Māori land march, on wh ...

to protest this action, and on 5 August a number of protests were held nationally, including at the Fletcher headquarters in Penrose. Ruha was overseas in Japan during the early August protests, and was inspired to write a support song for movement after noticing how much of a national response the protests received. A reggae song sung in G major, Ruha and his wife Cilla began organising the project in early August, and recorded the song on 11 August 2019 at Parachute Studios in central Auckland. The song was released soon after on 16 August 2019. Ruha was inspiration behind "Ka Mānu" was the story of

Jesus walking on water Jesus walking on the water, or on the sea, is recorded as one of the miracles of Jesus recounted in the New Testament. There are accounts of this event in three Gospels— Matthew, Mark, and John—but it is not included in the Gospel of Luke. ...

Matthew 14 Matthew 14 is the fourteenth chapter in the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament section of the Christian Bible. It continues the narrative about Jesus' ministry in Galilee and recounts the circumstances leading to the death of John the Baptist ...

. Ruha intended for the song to express unity and peaceful resistance, and highlight the common issues indigenous people face globally.

Reception

At the 2020 Waiata Māori Music Awards, "Ka Mānu" won the award for most successful single sung in Te Reo on New Zealand radio, and the Maioha Award at the 2020 APRA Silver Scroll Awards.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from

Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...

and

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. *Leo Coghini – keyboards *Thabani Gapara – alto saxophone *Seth Haapu – vocals *

– vocals *Marika Hodgson – Bass *

Horomona Horo Horomona Horo (born 1978) is a New Zealand Māori musician and composer. He is a practitioner of taonga pūoro, the collective term for the traditional musical instruments of the Māori, which include an array of flutes, trumpets and percussive ...

–

taonga pūoro Taonga pūoro are the traditional musical instruments of the Māori people of New Zealand. The instruments previously fulfilled many functions within Māori society including a call to arms, dawning of the new day, communications with the gods ...

*James Illingworth – piano, hammond *Bella Kalolo – vocals *Tyna Keelan – guitar *

– vocals *Jake Krishnamurti – Trumpet *Darren Mathiassen – drums *Majic Pāora – vocals *

– vocals *Rob Ruha – vocals, producer, composer *The Witch Dr. – vocals

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2019 singles 2019 songs Maisey Rika songs Songs in Māori New Zealand songs Protest songs Ria Hall songs Rob Ruha songs Troy Kingi songs APRA Award winners