But this attempt of mine to connect up historical details is just minor left-brain stuff.
[audio:/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/paul_knapp_jr-rapture_of_the_deep-humpback_whale_singing-2001-01-caribbean_humpback_whale-excerpt.mp3|titles=A field recording “Caribbean Humpback Whale” by Paul Knapp, Jr. on “Rapture of the Deep: Humpback Whale Singing” (Bridgeport, Connecticut: Compass Recordings, 2001)]When you hear people from the East Coast of Aotearoa proclaim…
“Ko Paikea te tipuna taniwha tangata.”
…they are proudly acknowledging, in vivid symbolic format, that…
“…our Polynesian ancestors lived life to the very edge by venturing far across the deep and distant waters,
…they succeeded in their ventures because they strove to become at one with the great animals of the deep ocean,
…and these ancestors are still there in front of us, calling us to follow their example, until we also achieve one-ness with other creatures.”
— John Archer in his article “Paikea: 1870s” (New Zealand: New Zealand Folk Song, August 2007). Originally published (New Zealand: New Zealand Folk Song, November 5, 2003). Field recording by John Knapp, Jr. excerpted from “Caribbean Humpback Whale” on the album “Rapture of the Deep: Humpback Whale Singing” (Bridgeport, Connecticut: Compass Recordings, 2001).
Quotation of the Day