I wrote on the advent calendar to learn a Christmas song with the boys.
Guess what, Abel came home from kindy singing a familiar Christmas tune but with a very Maori influenced lyric.
So here's what he sings:
On the first day of Christmas my true love gave me to me,
A pukeko on a ponga tree.
On the second day of Christmas my true love gave me to me,
two kumera and a pukeko on ponga tree.
How cute is that!?!?!!?!?!
Then he starts to make his own lyrics,
On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave me to me,
Nine ninja turles and a pukeko on a ponga tree.
So coincidentally just now I went to return my library books at the mall also paid a visit to Whitcoulls(bookshop). And I just had to open this NZ Kiwi treasury story books and ta da..
Abel's song was actually a book called Pukeko on a Ponga Tree written by Kingi Ihaka.
I put a request at the library for the book but I suspect we will only get to borrow after Christmas as there was a long queue.
Thankfully, there is good ol' Google for me to find the lyrics.
Here goes, continuing from above..
On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
Four huhu grubs and a pukeko on a ponga tree.
On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
Five - big- fat- pigs! and a pukeko on a ponga tree.
On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
Six pois a twirling, and a pukeko on a ponga tree.
On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave me to me,
Seven eels a swimming and a pukeko on a ponga tree.
On the eight day of Christmas my true love gave to me,
Eight plants of puha and a pukeko on a ponga tree.
On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me,
Nine sacks of pipis and a pukeko on a ponga tree.
On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me,
Ten juice fish heads and a pukeko on a ponga tree.
On the eleventh day, my true love gave to me,
Eleven haka lesons and a pukeko on a ponga tree.
On the twelfth day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
Twelve piupius swinging
Eleven haka lessons
Ten juicy fish heads
Nine sacks of pipis
Eight plants of puha
Seven eels a swimming
Six pois a twirling
Five - big - fat - pigs !
Four huhu grubs
Three flax kits
Two kumera
And a pukeko in a ponga tree!
Okay, here's a glossary to help with understanding the lyrics taken from Mamalisa's blog and my own comment
1 Pukeko: type of bird found in NZ, known as a NZ Swamp hen (seen in the photo below) - we can see pukeko at the reserve off our house wandering about
2 Ponga: giant fern tree that grows in NZ
3 Kumera: a yellow sweet potato with a purple inside core - this is equivalent to sweet potato
4 Piupiu: a skirt or kilt made from strips of flax. They look like hula skirts. They're worn by the Maori (indigenous people of NZ) during certain traditional dances and special celebrations
5 Haka: war songs traditionaly sung before charging -haka is the war chant made famous by AllBlacks at all the rugby matches
6 Pipi: clam, small shellfish
7 Puha: a type of sow thistle that is eaten as a vegetable in NZ - this is a type of watercress
8 Pois: Maori word for ball – they're two balls on the end of two ropes and they're twirled around making patterns during some Maori dances
9 Huhu grubs: a small edible grub or beetle found in NZ, it's a delicacy of the Maori
Note about the words "piupius", "pipis" and "pois": Normally you don't find the letter "s" in the Maori language. But this song being English uses it to indicate plurals. [Source: The Wondering Albatross.]
Phoro credit: http://www.tiritirimatangi.org.nz/pukeko
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