A waiata has been composed by the principal of Ōmahu School as a mihi to those who supported Hawke’s Bay during the Cyclone relief efforts.
The waiata, a song of both thanks and grief. was first sung today by 15 local schools, which gathered in Flaxmere this morning to unite in celebration for the future.
“There is some sustenance to come from today after the cyclone. Our children are now smiling,” composer and Ōmahu School principal Te Kewena White says. “Before they weren’t smiling, they weren’t full of joy, their homes had been flooded.”
White says this is their way of saying thank you to all the “superheroes” who helped in the clean-up efforts.
“In a Māori frame of thinking how does one express gratitude to everyone? It’s through songs. It’s for the children, they are the occasion. When I was composing the song, It was with them in mind.
“All the schools have gathered here from Hastings to Wairoa, because we all felt the terror of the cyclone. Now we are out of the dark and into the light.”
The name of the waiata is Cyclone Gabrielle and White says there were many popular Māori who helped inspire the song’s master edition, such as the likes of Hirini Melbourne.
“He is a person who dives into the details of nature around us, if you look at the words I’ve written, it speaks of all the things that Cyclone Gabrielle brought on.”