Oriori

Te Ao Hou, November 1964, Page 46

Oriori The chants called oriori were composed for young children, generally by doting grandparents. Typically they commence with some wry reference to the vocal abilities of the child. A well known oriori begins as follows: ‘So the young fellow is crying for food? Just hang on a minute, and I'll send a moa To fetch a whale ashore for him to eat.’ This bantering tone is not maintained. The song continues as a serious attempt to impart knowledge necessary to the education of a wellborn child. Kinship connections, lines of descent, myths and traditions, are all worked into the texts of oriori in a very complex way. As if realising the difficulties of such a text one composer has included a ‘square-off’ to be used by slow learners. ‘When you are asked by strangers the details of your descent, you may reply: “I am only a child, and forgetful, But this I do know, Tainui, Te Arawa, Mataatua, Kurahaupo and Tokomaru, These were the canoes of my ancestors, Who paddled across the great sea …”.’