Our Waiata

He waka eke noa

Waiata have always played a vital part in Māori life, recording the deeds of ancestors, lamenting losses, calling to a lover or marking the birth of an important child.

There are waiata for all kinds of occasions. Waiata can be used to entertain, enhance a pōwhiri or speech, convey a message, share a story, show aroha or express sadness. They’re a great way to honour our tupuna and show pride in our culture.

Traditional waiata are still sung today, while new waiata are composed reflecting the issues of the day. When we created the Agile on the Beach New Zealand event, we wanted to create a waiata that conveyed how we felt about the conference, what we hoped the attendees would take from the conference and start the connection between everyone.

The highlight in 2019 was all attendees responding to our invitation and fully taking part in our Waiata, with lyrics and music from our crew (David Morris and Wayne Kingi). The founders and crew had tears in their eyes. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

We offer this Waiata out to the broader agile community in NZ as your opportunity to invite people in, to work and learn together, and build a community. Join us at a future agile community event, learn the Waiata, and then use it to open your events as a way of binding us together as a broad community. That is our gift to you.

He Waka Eke Noa

Waiata for Agile on the Beach NZ 2019, Mount Maunganui

Lyrics: David Morris, Music: Wayne Kingi

Haere mai hoa piripiri,
Uru mai ki te huihui,
He waka eke noa,
He waka eke noa.

Kei konei tatou ki te ako,
Kei konei matou ki te mahi,
He waka eke noa,
He waka eke noa.

Kei te hanga i to marae,
Na, he whare to matou,
He waka eke noa.

He whare, he whare to matou.
He whare, he whare to matou.

Come gather associates,
Welcome to our conference,
We are all in this together,
We are all in this together.

We are here to learn,
We are here to work,
We are all in this together,
We are all in this together.

We build our marae,
Then we have a home,
We are all in this together.

Together, we have a home.
Together, we have a home.