Nga Uri O Nga Iwi

Kia ora koutou,

We are students in the teina class of a Māori Bilingual Whānau - Ngā Uri O Ngā Iwi and our classroom is called Te Hononga O Ngā Wai, The Meeting of the Waters. It was given this name over fifteen years ago by our first kuia Whāea Dianne. This is her photo which hangs in our school office.

Our teacher asked us what we thought our classroom name means. Which waters was our kuia talking of? We knew that Westmere school, Te Roto I Te Uru, refers to the lake at Western Springs, but that was about all. So we decided to research our local waterways in memory of Whāea Dianne who also composed waiata for us so we would remember the Māori place names and tūpuna of our area. These are the words of our song.

Te kura, ko Te Roto I Te Uru

Te rohe Te Rehu i Tamaki

Te moana ko Te Waitemata

Te Maunga ko Owairaka

Te tipuna o Tainui waka

Ko Ruarangi a e