Mātāmua ko te Kupu! - Tā Tīmoti Kāretu (2020)
Written in te reo Māori, Mātāmua ko te Kupu! captures a lifetime of insight on Māori dance arts from Sir Tīmoti Kāretu, language champion, scholar, and unrivalled creator of waiata and haka.
Publication details
T. Kāretu. (Auckland: Auckland University Press, 2020.)
About the book
In this book, Sir Tīmoti shares his extensive experience in the artforms of haka and waiata – from Māori songs of the two world wars to the rise of kapa haka competitions, from love songs to action songs, from Sir Apirana Ngata to Te Puea Hērangi, and from Te Matatini to contemporary hui on marae. Throughout the book, he draws on exemplars of Māori song and haka, explaining form and meanings, maintaining his stance that Lyric is Paramount!
Further information
This book is part of a series marking the publication of Books of Mana (Otago University Press, 2025). It builds on the project Te Takarangi: Celebrating Māori publications and adds 30 titles to a selected list of 150 non-fiction books, led by Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga in collaboration with Royal Society Te Apārangi.