Ata whakarongo ake e moko,
Ki enei korero o ou matua tupuna,
I haere tawhiti mai ki tata.

Listen carefully moko
to these the words of your parents and grandparents
that have come here from afar.

With this waiata oriori, the Grandmother sets in motion the telling of the great pattern of journeys. Listen carefully Moko. These are journeys to and from the shores of these lands and to and from the shores of ancient lands where many memories of the Elder Grandmothers and Grandfathers are still walking in the minds of the Teachers of the Waitaha Wananga.

These memories have always been the treasury of the families of Kura, Rakai and Pakau. The hapu and whanau of Waitaha Whanui i te Ao.

These words of your parents and grandparents speak firstly to the decision and preparation for journeying. They then speak of much of the sacred knowledge guiding all decisions in travel, landing and living. Finally the words of your parents and grandparents speak of the laying down of trails and tikanga in a new land. This shall be then one circle of one great pattern of journeying by the Nation of Waitaha.

Gathering as both One and Many
We listen,
Seeking surprise and reassurance.
We speak
Of aspirations and imaginings,
Of memories to be present in our making of the future.
We move,
Impelled by understandings of the sacred and the practical.

Greetings
to those who gather,
to those who have spoken and speak,
to those who have listened and hear,
in silence and in sound.

Greetings.