‘… Stretched Out in the Waikato Valley …’ ‘An Invitation …’ Loosen, loosen Loosen a post of your house so that it is free. A cloud hovers above coming from them who rest on Taupiri, My skin feels the great cold So let there be life in the world of light, in the world of the living. Therefore welcome, thrice welcome. Come all ye tribes of the country That we might swim together in the waters of Waikato And that we might be seen by the great multitudes. Be radiant, o Tane, be joyful o Tane. The waters flow by (of this old lady) From the north, Come the gentle breezes In the south Are Waihihi and Waihaha. It moves, So drag it forward. Let the axe be brought For tis ended! Let us gather together! Let us be one. Welcome, welcome, welcome all ye tribes of the land. Welcome, ye four winds. Welcome, ye descendants of all the canoes, Welcome all ye people of the land. Welcome ye of the younger generation Come to the day of the coronation of Te Arikinui, Te Atairangikaahu On the 23rd day of May 1973. On that day the foundation stone of the new Kimikimi will be laid by your granddaughter It was they, who have departed this world, who expressed the thought It was the living who nurtured the idea It was the tribes of the land who saw the idea through to fruition. Welcome, welcome, welcome.' Tēnei rā te pōwhiri i tae mai ki a au kia tae atu au ki Tūrangawaewae ki te whakanui i te tau tuawhitu o te ekenga o Te Ariki Tapairu, o Te Atairangikaahu, ki te ahurewa tapu o ōna mātua, tīpuna. Kāore e kore kei te mōhio katoa koutou Thus was the invitation worded which I received to attend the seventh annual celebrations of the ascent of Te Ariki Tapairu, Dame Te Atairangikaahu, to the sacred throne of her ancestors. No doubt you will all know that this is