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 WharepūhungaKa kitea te tiu e netineti mai anaKi te maunga e tautari mai rā
Ara rē, ara rē tana pere e makamaka mai rā
Kei Pureora, Rangitoto, TitiraupengaKo Tarapīkau e rehurehu haere anaWhio atu, whiowhio, whio maiKorowhiti, korowhiti, korowhīronaTekateka mai rā
Ko te iwi paiarehe, ko te iwi tupuaHe māminga, ara rē nanakia, he nukanuka
E Te Atakohu i ngā hiwi i te uruKo koe ki te whenua, ko Tamakaiuru ki te rangiMāna tō tārerarera hei whiu
Ara rē, ara rē tana pere e makamaka mai rā
Ki Puawhe ko Whanawhana-i-te-rangiTopa atu ki Te Aroha ki Te RuaitiHoka 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 tupuaHe māminga, ara rē nanakia, he nukanuka
Kei rekareka atu e te puni wāhineKei te whakawai mai rā a Te RangipōuriPuritia, tāwhia e tamangarengare māTēnā tōna pere muramura e teretere mai rā
Ara rē, ara rē tana pere e makamaka mai rā
