Ara rē, ara rē
According to my female elders, a favourite past time of the patupaiarehe is to throw darts amongst each other as they travel to and fro between the mountains. It was a competition, they would cast their darts to see whose would fly the fastest. It’s their sport. Each mountain had one patupaiarehe who was the chief of all the fairy folk of a certain mountain, ridge top or forest. This poi was composed so that the stories about the patupaiarehe live amongst this generation. In traveling to each mountain and the different regions we acknowledge the Māori tribes of those mountains.
Maori lyrics
Ara rē, ara rē tana pere e makamaka mai rā
Pūkohukohu te tihi ki Wharepūhunga
Ka kitea te tiu e netineti mai ana
Ki te maunga e tautari mai rā
Ara rē, ara rē tana pere e makamaka mai rā
Kei Pureora, Rangitoto, Titiraupenga
Ko Tarapīkau e rehurehu haere ana
Whio atu, whiowhio, whio mai
Korowhiti, korowhiti, korowhīrona
Tekateka mai rā
Ko te iwi paiarehe, ko te iwi tupua
He māminga, ara rē nanakia, he nukanuka
E Te Atakohu i ngā hiwi i te uru
Ko koe ki te whenua, ko Tamakaiuru ki te rangi
Māna tō tārerarera hei whiu
Ara rē, ara rē tana pere e makamaka mai rā
Ki Puawhe ko Whanawhana-i-te-rangi
Topa atu ki Te Aroha ki Te Ruaiti
Hoka i konā ki Taputeuru rā (uru rā)
Ara rē kei Pukemoremore tana tau paepae e noho mai rā
Ko te iwi paiarehe, ko te iwi tupua
He māminga, ara rē nanakia, he nukanuka
Kei rekareka atu e te puni wāhine
Kei te whakawai mai rā a Te Rangipōuri
Puritia, tāwhia e tamangarengare mā
Tēnā tōna pere muramura e teretere mai rā
Ara rē, ara rē tana pere e makamaka mai rā
