Children of the stone

I ara mātou i te kōhatu 

I ara mātou i te pō 

Nā ngā atua i hiki ake 

Ki te ao mārama  

From the stone we rose, from the dark we came    

Before the tide and before the flame 

Before the sky had a spoken name 

We slept in the belly of the stone 

Cold in the rock, forgotten, alone  

Then thunder walked across the sea 

Two shadows rose from eternity 

Lono spoke and Anu called 

The mountain cracked and the darkness fell  

They lifted us out of the broken earth 

Breathed in our lungs and gave us birth 

From Te Peka Ka Mew we came alive 

Carried to islands where palms would thrive     

We were chosen 

 I kōwhiria mātou 

we were carried 

 I kawea mātou 

Across the waters, across the sea 

Nā ngā atua kaha 

By the hands of gods who do not die 

 E kore e mate 

They showed us leaves that heal the bone 

Roots that speak when ground to stone 

Fire from wood and fish from reef 

Songs for joy and rites for grief  

They marked our skin with sacred lines 

Mapped the stars and read the signs 

Taught us tides and sacred breath 

The thin white veil between life and death  

We built our homes beneath their gaze 

Raised our drums and fed the blaze 

And every dusk by the crimson sea 

We watched the line of eternity   

We remember

Ka maumahara mātou 

we are waiting 

 ka tatari tonu 

Eyes on the edge where the sky meets sea

 Ki te pae o te rangi 

For the return of divinity, the calling in the sky

Ka hoki mai ngā atua, ngā atua e hoki mai 

Now seasons turn and children rise 

Still we search the painted skies 

Clouds roll heavy, winds grow wide 

The sea still hums with ancient tide  

When thunder walks the ocean floor 

And the heavens split once more 

Will we stand as we were told 

Hearts unbroken, spirits bold  

From horizon fire to mountain flame 

We guard the island in their name 

And when the sky doors open wide 

The gods return on the turning tide 

We are ready, 

Kua rite mātou 

we are calling

kei te karanga

 Across the waters, shining wide 

 Whiti mai rā 

The gods return, they never die, they rise again 

Ngā atua e hoki mai