Cold lies the heart of man on this forgotten day,
Silent and cowed are the voices of our people.
Gone the tall pride, the haughty valour
And gone the trembling of those who opposed us.

Lift your shameful heads and look about you
See our people shaking like naughty children.
If you have the courage to seek your pride again,
Look in the dust under your feet.

For there it lies, like dog shit, stinking in the sun.
The pride of Tainui is trodden on,yes, even by the Tuhoe.
You who stood against the cannon of the Pakeha,
And cut down again and again their proud colours.

Yet today, Tumatauenga spits on us and turns away.
The name of coward He has given us,
Tattooed on every Tainui man and woman.
And He has turned our whakapapa into kindling.

Open your hearts and open your eyes, Tainui,
The sun still shines warm on our backs.
The taiaha and the mere still lie close to hand
So Aue! Aue! to War, to War!

(Background: Waka Huia – literally Feather Canoe, but actually a highly carved “Treasure” box, a holder of things of great value...Tainui / Tuhoi – tribes, the first larger than the second...Pakeha - people who are not Maori, here meaning European colonists...Tumatauenga – God of War…Whakapapa –lineage, of great importance...Taiaha / Mere – weapons...Aue! – rather like Banzai!