There are some waiata that carry more than words and melody. For IA, new single ‘Whakakai Marihi’ carries memory, whakapapa and the wairua of lives that were loved, but never had the chance to enter the world.
Released September 25, ‘Whakakai Marihi’ is a deeply personal oriori from the Tūrangi-based Indigenous-soul duo of Reti Hedley (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Rāhiri) and Moetu Smith (Ngāti Māhanga, Ngāti Maniapoto).
Oriori are traditionally composed for tamariki from conception, carrying whakapapa, stories of tūpuna and hopes for the life ahead. They were also sung for pēpi who did not survive, acknowledging their place within the whānau and helping guide them towards the tūpuna waiting for them.
‘Whakakai Marihi’ began differently. Hedley first heard its gentle, lullaby-like melody on a summer afternoon, imagining something that could be sung to their tamariki at bedtime. As the words took shape, the pair realised the waiata was not about the babies they had, but those they had lost.
That realisation changed what the waiata became.
Fingerstyle ukulele and taonga pūoro give the waiata its gentle, stripped-back sound. Among the instruments is Te Ata Pō, a wooden kōauau carved by Jo’el Komene and named after an unborn baby Hedley and his wife lost.
The kōauau itself depicts Hedley’s three tamariki. Its middle hole is carved as a ruru, representing the pēpi who passed on, while the two holes either side represent his other tamariki. In te ao Māori, the ruru is a messenger of the night, moving between this world and te ao wairua.
For Hedley, that means the instrument carries much more than its sound.
“When this kōauau is heard in the waiata, there is a wairua and memory carried within it.”
For Smith, ‘Whakakai Marihi’ has also become part of their own healing, while opening a space for other whānau who know the grief of losing a baby.
“There is something really vulnerable about singing for a baby you never got to hold. This is our way of acknowledging those little lives.”
Released ahead of Baby Loss Awareness Week in October, ‘Whakakai Marihi’ doesn’t try to explain grief or resolve it. Instead, IA have created a place for remembrance, connection and aroha, honouring the little lives that remain part of a whānau long after they are gone.
‘Whakakai Marihi’ is out now on all major streaming platforms, made with the support of Te Māngai Pāho.