2015 Term 1 Week 1: The Treaty of Waitangi

 It's the first week back at school, and we get another day's holiday on Friday for Waitangi Day on February 6th.  This celebrates the day the Treaty of Waitangi was signed 175 years ago.

Here's a few basic facts about the Treaty:

What is a treaty?  

 An agreement between two or more groups of people. 

Who was it between?

The Maori chiefs and the Crown (the Queen of England) represented in New Zealand by William Hobson.

 Where was it signed?

At Waitangi at the Bay of Islands. 

When was it signed? 

On the 6th of February 1840.

Why was there a need for a treaty?

There were about 2000 British citizens already living in New Zealand, and more were arriving. There was no way of maintaining law and order without an agreed system that all could follow. One  law was needed to protect both Maori and Pakeha, and their their property, and Hobson was asking the chiefs to accept Queen Victoria as their Queen and the British system of law to protect them.

What's the treaty about?

Article 1: asks the chiefs to give the governance of New Zealand to the Queen 

Article 2: promises to protect the chief's property and possessions; and organises the sale of any land the chifs want to sell

Article 3: gives Maori the sames rights as British citizens 

 

 Here's a song about Hone Heke who was the first to sign the Treaty of Waitangi.  Heke lost faith in the benefits of the Treaty after Hobson moved the capital to Auckland. One way of showing his anger at the British was to cut down the flagpole flying the Union Jack at Kororakeka in the Bay of Islands.

Here's the New Zealand National Anthem in Sign Language, Maori and English.

¡Buenos Días! Here's a song help you learn  to say Hello in Spanish.
Here's another version of ¡Buenos Días!

Dances this week:
The Chicken Dance 

I'm a Gummy Bear 

Listening: This is called Chopin's Sonata Number 2. (3rd Movement). This was composed in 1839  (about the same time as the Treaty of Waitangi draft was getting prepared to send to New Zealand) by Frederic Chopin who was a Polish composer.  Listen for where the music changes from loud (forte) to soft (piano).

This is a fun video to experience sudden changes in dynamics. Listen for the changes between piano and forte. The performer is Bjork, a singer-songwriter and musician from Iceland.

 

Vocabulary from this week's topics:
treaty - agreement
Crown - king or queen
alert - careful, cautious
lofty - high
Union Jack - the name of the flag of the United Kingdom
dynamics -  the volume or sound of a note in music - how loud or soft it is played
forte - loud
piano - soft
Poland
Iceland 
Waitangi 

Here's a listening game. Are the two tunes the same or different?  

This is another listening game where you can compose a tune, play it back and identify your tune from a selection of three tunes. One will be yours, the other two will be different. You will obviously need the sound on. 

2014 Term 4, Week 8: Now is the Hour

Something to make you chuckle 

 

“Now is the Hour” is also known as “Po atarau”  and it has been a popular song to sing at the end of important events or farewells in New Zealand for over 100 years. 

A version was also sung to farewell Maori soldiers departing for World War 1,  and then later for soldiers leaving for World War 2.   It was a popular song to farewell anybody going overseas, especially as, in those days, the only way to travel was by sea, and people did not travel overseas as often as they do now.

The song is based on a song called “Swiss Cradle Song” by Clement Scott in 1913, and the words and tune were adapted by Maewa Kaihau in 1920 to be closer to what we now sing. By 1935 it was known as the “Haere Ra waltz song” and it was a popular song to play at the end of dances. 

In 1945, the British singer Gracie Fields visited New Zealand and learnt the song. She sang it on a British radio programme and it became a huge hit.  In America, it became popular when Bing Crosby recorded it. 


Now is the Hour
 
Po atarau
E moea iho nei
E haere ana
Koe ki pamamao
Haere ra
Ka hoki mai ano
Ki i te tau
E tangi atu nei

Now is the hour,
when we must say goodbye
Soon you'll be sailing,
far across the sea.
While you're away,
Oh please remember me.
When you return,
you'll find me waiting here.

This is the first recorded version  of Now is the Hour, in 1927 and in Maori and English. 

Here's a barbershop version by the the Musical Island Boys who won a gold medal for the best performance of 2014 at a competition in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

This is Bing Crosby singing Now is the Hour in 1947. 

This is the Gracie Fields' 1947 version. 

This is a singalong version with the words in Maori and their English translation. It's a bit faster and easier to sing along with.  

This is a beautiful version by Saint Joseph's Maori Girls' College choir. 

This is Hayley Westenra singing Now is the Hour at the end of the 2011 Rugby World Cup final.

From folksong.org.nz. Follow this link for more information about Po Atarau.