Paraire Tomoana

Paraire "Friday" Henare Tomoana (died 15 April 1946) was a Māori political leader, journalist, historian, sportsman, and lyricist of the Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngāi Te Whatu-i-Āpiti tribes. Born either in Waipatu or Pakowhai near Hastings, he was the son of Henare Tomoana, the principal chief of the Heretaunga region and Member of Parliament for the Eastern Māori electorate. He was educated at Te Aute College and was a member of the Young Māori Party, an association of alumni from the college that dominated the Māori political landscape in the early 20th century.

Tomoana was in favour of Māori enlistment in the First World War, and was a major fundraiser and organiser of recruitment drives for the New Zealand (Māori) Pioneer Battalion. Between 1921 and 1932 he was an editor of the Māori newspaper Te Toa Takitini, an Anglican periodical providing Māori commentary on current events and Māori history. Tomoana's musical compositions include E Pari Rā and I Runga O Nga Puke. He was an Anglican lay reader, and at the time of his death was widely acknowledged as an authority on Māori history and culture. The question of the tune's origin has never been settled. Some descendants of Āpirana Ngata have claimed that he was the true composer of the song's lyrics, but this was not supported by any claim made by Ngata himself.

First World War As part of his involvement in the Young Māori Party, Tomoana was committed to fundraising and recruiting Māori for the First and Second World Wars. He became a prolific composer of Māori action songs, many of which remain popular today. In 1915 he composed I Runga O Ngā Puke, which was first performed in Wellington as the Second Maori Contingent departed New Zealand for the Gallipoli Campaign. In 1917 he collaborated with Āpirana Ngata to compose Te Ope Tuatahi, the recruitment song for the New Zealand (Māori) Pioneer Battalion.

E Pari Rā In 1918 Tomoana wrote the lyrics for E Pari Rā, a lament to a Māori soldier killed in the war. The origin of the tune that he adopted for E Pari Rā has been attributed to a German waltz called the Blue Eye's Waltz. Two stories are attributed to the origin of the lyrics; according to some sources they were composed by Tomoana for Maku-i-te-Rangi Ellison, whose son Whakatomo Ellison had been killed in the war. According to Tomoana's eldest son Taanga Tomoana, the song was written at the request of Ngahiwi Petiha, a cousin of Tomoana's wife, who was convalescing from wounds in a hospital in England. The song became popular after the war, and was adopted by the Royal New Zealand Navy as its official slow march. It is still played by military bands of the New Zealand Defence Force, in particular by the band of the 7th Wellington and Hawke's Bay Battalion of the New Zealand Army. Composed as an action song, Tomoana originally wrote the score in a time signature, however in contemporary performances it is often performed as a slow lullaby in . Contemporary Māori performances often include a slow verse in followed by a verse in double time, in which actions and poi may be used.

List of compositions Pokarekare Ana (1913) I Runga o Ngā Puke (1915) Te Ope Tuatahi (1917—co-written with Āpirana Ngata) Hoea Rā Te Waka Nei (1917) Tahi Nei Taru Kino Hoki Hoki Tonu Mai (1918) Pinepine Te Kura (credited with publishing the lyrics for the first time)