Bridging cultures with music

In Mehe Manurere, the singer is saying, `If I was a bird, I would fly back to New Zealand and embrace you in my arms, my love'. When you sing it to a New Zealander who has been to war, they cry."

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Preserving Maori culture through song is a mission for three-piece group Ahikaa, who are performing at the Clubs of Marlborough this weekend.

Drummer Fred King is the newest member and lives in Marlborough, but the two original musicians, guitarist Reno Maru and bass player Gilbert Ngatoro, live in Motueka.

Maru and Ngatoro have been friends for about 35 years and are now helping King, "brought up Pakeha", to discover the other half of his culture.

Music is a forum for celebrating both sides, however, and songs composed and sung by soldiers in the Maori Battalion during World War II will be a focus for Ahikaa tomorrow and Saturday night.

Love songs like Pokarekare Ana and Mehe Manurere were sung by soldiers when they were dreaming of home and the loved ones they left behind, says Maru.

He likes telling the stories behind songs.

"In Mehe Manurere, the singer is saying, `If I was a bird, I would fly back to New Zealand and embrace you in my arms, my love'. When you sing it to a New Zealander who has been to war, they cry."

Maru was too young for the war but he thinks young people need to know about those times.

"I believe we need to keep those things alive."

He wishes that schools taught children more about New Zealand's history, and he tries to make up for this when he performs – whether it's in a licensed bar like the Clubs of Marlborough, at a festival, or busking on the street.

Ahikaa performed in Queenstown recently and one of the venues was a nightclub. Maru says the manager was amazed when the crowd started singing and dancing to many of the traditional songs.

Nearly everyone, young and old, was taking part, he says.

"There were strong connections between Maori and Pakeha. When we go through the troubles we have in this country, let's not lose focus on what was done before us, for us, today."

Maru wishes more New Zealanders actively celebrated Waitangi Day, which he says is a perfect opportunity to build bridges between the cultures and celebrate two nations signing a document to become New Zealand.

"We need to really get out there on Waitangi Day and support each other for what we have achieved. There's a lot of beautiful things Maori and Pakeha have achieved."

- The Marlborough Express

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