Traditional Karakia
Karakia are traditional Māori incantations or chants that are used to offer gratitude and seek guidance. While many karakia are spiritual in nature, secular karakia provide an inclusive and meaningful way to honour Māori customs without being divisive. Secular karakia focus on the principles of well-being, gratitude, unity, and reflection, drawing on the deep respect Māori culture has for nature and the environment.
These secular karakia below honor the land, the water, the trees, and the people, and acknowledge the importance of balance and harmony in our lives. They provide a moment of pause and reflection.
These karakia were collated by long-time NZARH member Ngaire McCarthy. They are all from pre-colonisation times, and are still in use today. These may be useful for teachers and parents, government and local council employees, and anyone else who wants to use karakia in a secular setting.
Karakia Timatatanga
Opening a meeting
Whakataka te hau ki te uru
Whakataka te hau ki te tonga
Kia mākinakina ki uta
Kia mātaratara ki tai
E hī ake ana te atakura
He tio, he huka, he hau hū
Tīhei mauri ora!
Cease the winds from the west
Cease the winds from the south
Let the breeze blow over the land
Let the breeze blow over the ocean
Let the red-tipped dawn come over with a sharpened air
A touch of frost, a promise of a glorious day.
Tukua te wairua kia rere ki ngā taumata
Hai ārahi i ā tātou mahi
Me tā tātou whai i ngā tikanga a rātou mā
Kia mau kia ita
Kia kore ai e ngaro
Ki pupuri
Kia whakamaua
Kia tina! TINA! Hui e! TĀIKI E!
Allow one’s inner self to exercise its potential
To guide us in our work as well as in our pursuit of our ancestral traditions
Take hold and preserve it
Ensure that it is never lost
Hold fast
Secure it
Draw together, affirm!
Hutia te rito o te harakeke.
Kei whea te kōmako e kō?
Kī mai ki ahau
He aha te mea nui o tēnei ao?
Māku e kī atu
He tangata, he tangata, he tangata
If you pluck out the heart of the flax bush
Where will the bellbird sing?
If you ask me
what is the greatest thing in the world?
I will tell you
It is the people. it is the people, it is the people.
Toitū te kupu
Toitū te mana
Toitū te whenua
Holdfast to the Māori culture
without language
without authority
and without land
the essence of Māori will be lost.
Karakia Whakamutunga
Closing of the day
Kua tae te wā mō te whakairi te kete.
I te kete kōrero, i te kete whakaaro.
Hei tiki atu anō mā tātou.
Pou hihiri.
Pou rarama
Pou o te whakaaro
Pou o te tangata
Pou o te aroha
Te pou e here nei i a tātou
A haumi e
Hui e, Taiki e!
The time has come to gather one’s thoughts
The kit that contains discussion, and thought of the day
So that we may use again as future enlightenment
Ideology
Values enlightenment
Innovative thinking
Human support
Support affection charity
The values which bind us together
It is complete
Kia mau kia ita
Kia kore ai e ngaro
Kia pupuri
Kia whakamaua
Kia tina! TINA! Hui e! TĀIKI E!
Take hold and preserve it
Ensure it is never lost
Hold fast
Secure it
Draw together! Affirm!
E Rongo, whakairia koe ngā kōrero
Ki roto i te kete waitau.
Ana, ka tāpiri atu ki te pātū o tēnei whare
Ko Ranginui e tū nei
Ko Papatūānuku e takato nei
Ko te aroha o te taiao
e tauawhi nei i a tātou.
Tūturu whakamaua kia tina!
Tina! Haumi e, hui e! TĀIKI E!
Rongo, gather and suspend these discussions
within the ancient repositories.
Then, append to the walls of this house.
It is Ranginui above. It is Papatūanuku below.
The benevolence of the natural world
that supports us
Preserved authentically hold fast!
Secure it! Unite, draw together, Affirm!
Kia tau te rangimārie ki runga i a tātou katoa
Ruia, ruia, ruiruia
Ruia ki runga, ruia ki raro
Ruia ki waho, rui ki roto
Rui ki uta, rui ki tai
Hū ana ki te rangi, turu ana ki nuku
Nā, kua tau, kua mau, kua ea
Tihei Mauriora!
Let peace reign over us all
Break, dash and crash the waves
Up high and down low
Across the outer reaches and deep within
To the hinterland and far out to sea
Rising to the sky and falling upon the earth
The lands are still, it is done
Behold, tis’ the breath of life.
Kia tau te rangimārie
Ki runga i ngā iwi o te ao
Let peace reign
On all the people of the world
Kia whakairia te tapu
Kia wātea ai te ara
Kia turuki whakataha ai
Kia turuki whakataha ai
Haumi e. Hui e. Tāiki e!
Restrictions are moved aside
So the pathways is clear
To return to everyday activities
Karakia mo te Kai
Before food
Nau mai e ngā hua
o te wao
o te ngakina
o te wai tai
o te wai māori
Nā Tāne
Nā Rongo
Nā Tangaroa
Nā Maru
Ko Ranginui e tū iho nei
Ko Papatūānuku e takoto nei
Tuturu whakamaua
Kia tina! TINA! Hui e! TĀIKI E.
Welcome the gifts of food
from the sacred forests
from the cultivated gardens
from the sea
from the fresh waters
The food of Tane
of Rongo
of Tangaroa
of Maru
I acknowledge Ranginui who is above me, Papatūānuku who lies beneath me
Let this be my commitment to all!
Draw together! Affirm!
Ki taku whānau
Me ngā hoa
Me te kai
Kia ora
Our family,
friends and food
We say thank you.
E Rongo, e Rongo
Hōmai ngā tipu
Hei whakakī te tinana
Hei oranga
Aue eke, aue eke
Hui E! Taiki E!
Rongo
Share with us your food
As sustenance for the body
For life
Draw together! affirm.
Ngaire’s thoughts on Karakia
Ngaire McCarthy was a member of the Rationalists from 1976 until her death in 2021. She was president from 1998 to 2002, and was subsequently made a life member in 2007. She served as one of our trustees, and lovingly looked after our library. The following is an extract from an article Ngaire wrote in 2015.
Before the missionaries introduced Christianity into Aotearoa New Zealand, we Māori had karakia. These are customary, mostly secular ritual chants. These traditions and customs continue to be an innate and important part of our culture. We still open and close numerous ceremonies with karakia.
There are hundreds of different karakia that are used for different occasions, but the majority of New Zealanders think there is only one.
The traditional karakia that is used to open and close ceremonies is not a Christian prayer, it is a ritual chant, a set form of words to state or make effective a ritual activity. Karakia are recited rapidly using traditional language, symbols and structures.
The early missionaries saw Maori traditions through a Biblical framework, and believed that karakia was always a prayer, so they took the word and reinterpreted it to mean Christian prayer. The word karakia then became just another tool of colonisation.
If the few kaumatua (elderly Māori) who articulate the karakia are Christian, they will continue to misrepresent our customary karakia. This puts them into direct conflict with our pre-colonization customary traditions.
