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Koukou

from P​ō​neke by Ruby Solly

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about

Koukou is the name of one of our tīpuna, as well as the name for the sound of the ruru. Our family have many bird names throughout our whakapapa, and have always had a close relationship with manu. My nana used to sit on her porch at night with her sisters, wrapped in blankets, listening to their call. This name also has ties to Aro Valley as the streams that flow down through the valley used to form a pool on what is now Willis street called Wai-Koukou, the waters of bathing birds. This track was recorded on the porch of my home with one of our resident Ruru. This is a tribute to those birds and to those women.

lyrics

I te pō; i whakarongo au
ki te tangi o ngā ruru nei.
Koukou, they say.
Koukou.
My tūpuna is named
for this sound.

Perhaps for her wide eyes in the night,
perhaps for the Wai-Koukou where birds would drink
back in the old lands of Kāti Māmoe.
Would she lie on the banks
with snare at the ready
as the birds would circle
round the deep waters
from the Waimāpihi,
from Te Puni,
from the hills of this place?

Or perhaps she would sing
only at night
knowing that her voice
travelled home best
in the black liquid
of night.
Koukou,
I say to her.
Koukou.

credits

from P​ō​neke, released June 5, 2020

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all rights reserved

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about

Ruby Solly image

Ruby Solly Wellington, New Zealand

Ruby Solly (Kai Tahu, Waitaha, Kāti Māmoe) is a musician, writer and taonga puoro practitioner living in Pōneke, Aotearoa. Her first album 'Pōneke' explores the hidden histories of Wellington as well as the part that the environment plays within the recording and composing process. ... more

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