Poroporoaki ki a Maui Dalvanius Prime

E te karanga maha, Maui, haere, haere, haere atu ra. Kei te mamae, kei te tangi te ngakau ki a koe kua wehe atu nei. E kore to kanohi e kitea, me to ihi. Engari to reo ka rangona tonutia e waiata mai ana ki nga topito o te motu, heke iho ki nga uri whakatupu. Haere, haere, haere ra. E te whanau pani, ka nui te aroha ki a koutou.

The death of Maui Dalvanius Prime of Nga Rauru leaves an ache in my heart, and a huge void in the landscape of indigenous music and entertainment.

Dal had a showman’s temperament. His enthusiasm and energy knew no limits. He was larger than life, and twice as loud. Even his e-mails were so bold and bright you jumped back in shock when they arrived.

But he directed his talents to benefit our people everywhere.

The song Poi E!, which was composed, performed and produced with the late Ngoi Pewhairangi of Ngati Porou and the Patea Maori Club, took Aotearoa by storm in 1984, and topped the charts for several weeks on end, at a time when Maori language music was not seen as having any commercial value. The video had us all in hysterics, it was just so Dal.

Poi E! lifted the spirits of the people, and opened up new pathways for our young people to learn te reo. It was the beginning of a powerful musical collaboration, which ended with Ngoi’s death. Dal continued with their vision, adding a musical and an animated video to his long list of achievements (see http://www.digitalus.co.nz/poi/index.html )

In recent times, Dal turned his talents to diplomacy. The Mokamokai Education Trust took up the legacy of the late Maui Pomare, pursuing delicate negotiations with museums overseas for the return of body parts of our tupuna to their iwi for burial.

Maui is currently lying in state at Pariroa Pa, near Patea.

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