Ko Tatou

I went and asked my nanny how much Maori blood I had
She smiled and said not very much but don’t you feel so bad
There’s only one thing in this world that makes a Maori stand apart
And it’s not what’s in your bloody veins it’s what’s inside your heart

And then my nanny told us we were a special breed
And inside taha Maori was everything we’d need
Our nanny she was beautiful and warm and worldly wise
She told us in life’s lottery us Maori won first prize

Well the Pakeha they use big words like rural urban drift
But all my nanny said to me was moko we have to shift
The whanau is going broke so lets try our luck in town
But city life is sometimes hard, especially if you’re brown

Well my nanny made us go to school and get ourselves some clues
With hupe nose and kina cut and wearing papa’s shoes
But we worked real hard and then one day we got our cap and gown
Which goes to show that you can never keep a good Maori down

It wasn’t long ago when things were looking pretty bleak
And a marae was the only place you would hear a Maori speak
But now our arts and culture can be seen everywhere
Kia ora to the heros that put our taonga there

They’re the ones who weren’t afraid to kick up a big fuss
And stand up for our culture, which is standing up for us
They’re the ones who weren’t afraid to stand out from the crowd
As Maori we have the rite to stand up and be proud.