Karakia for meetings: opening and closing

The karakia for meetings that government agencies, universities and community organisations all publish is Whakataka te hau, an opening karakia about the west and south winds, bitter cold and a red dawn; Te Puni Kōkiri, the Ministry of Māori Development, gives it to its own staff as a traditional opening karakia. A karakia ‘ritual chant, incantation, prayer’ opens a hui ‘meeting’ as a karakia tīmatanga ‘opening karakia’ and closes it as a karakia whakamutunga ‘closing karakia’. Below are the full words of Whakataka te hau, a word-for-word translation, the two published translations that disagree, and the 1853 record that shows the lines were already called old; then a traditional closing karakia, the three words that end most karakia, whether karakia are religious, and how they are used at work.

Updated 18 October 2026 · 14 min read

Tap 🔊 to hear an example. Māori examples play Papa Reo, the te reo Māori voice made by Te Hiku Media from recordings of native speakers.

Whakataka te hau: the opening karakia

These are the words exactly as Te Puni Kōkiri prints them on its page He Karakia, a selection made “as a learning resource for staff” to help them bring te reo Māori and its customs into their working day. It heads this one Karakia Timatanga – Opening Prayer and labels it a traditional karakia:

Whakataka te hau ki te uru
Whakataka te hau ki te tonga
Kia mākinakina ki uta
Kia mātaratara ki tai
E hī ake ana te atākura
He tio, he huka, he hauhū
Tihei mauri ora!

Te Puni Kōkiri’s English: “Get ready for the westerly and be prepared for the southerly. It will be icy cold inland, and icy cold on the shore. May the dawn rise red-tipped on ice, on snow, on frost.” Its translation stops there: the last line, Tihei mauri ora!, is left in Māori. The University of Otago prints the same seven lines with a different translation, set beside Te Puni Kōkiri’s in the table below.

Whakataka te hau line by line

The middle column gives each word’s meaning from Te Aka Māori Dictionary. The last column sets the two published translations side by side: Te Puni Kōkiri’s (TPK) and the University of Otago’s.

Māori	Word for word (Te Aka)	Published translations
Whakataka te hau ki te uru	whakataka turn, divert (or, a different word, prepare); te hau the wind; ki te uru to the west	“Get ready for the westerly” (TPK); “Cease the winds from the west” (Otago)
Whakataka te hau ki te tonga	the same, ki te tonga to the south; tonga is also the south wind	“and be prepared for the southerly” (TPK); “Cease the winds from the south” (Otago)
Kia mākinakina ki uta	kia let it be, so that; mākinakina piercingly cold (also prickly, rough); ki uta inland, ashore	“It will be icy cold inland” (TPK); “Let the breeze blow over the land” (Otago)
Kia mātaratara ki tai	mātaratara intensely, piercingly, bitterly cold; ki tai at sea, on the coast	“and icy cold on the shore” (TPK); “Let the breeze blow over the ocean” (Otago)
E hī ake ana te atākura	e … ana is happening; hī raise, draw up; ake upwards; atākura is not in Te Aka, but its parts are ata morning and kura red	“May the dawn rise red-tipped” (TPK); “Let the red-tipped dawn come with a sharpened air” (Otago)
He tio, he huka, he hauhū	he a, some; tio piercing, freezing (the tio of poro tio, an ice block); huka snow, frost; hauhū is not in Te Aka (see below)	“on ice, on snow, on frost” (TPK); “A touch of frost, a promise of a glorious day” (Otago)
Tihei mauri ora!	Te Aka: tihei mauri ora, the sneeze of life, a call to claim the right to speak	left untranslated by both

Get ready, cease, or turn? What whakataka means

The two translations part company on the first word. Te Aka lists two different words spelt whakataka. One means to prepare, as in preparing food or a war party; that is where Te Puni Kōkiri’s “Get ready for the westerly” comes from. The other means to turn, deviate, divert, and Te Aka’s own example of it is lines from this karakia, quoted from Williams’s dictionary: “Whakataka tō hau ki te tonga kia mākinakina i uta, kia mātaratara i tai”, which it translates “Divert your wind to the south so that it is intensely cold inland and piercingly cold at sea.” Neither sense is cease, which is how Otago renders the line, as do LIANZA, the library association, and Playcentre Aotearoa.

The cold words agree with Te Puni Kōkiri. Te Aka gives mākinakina as piercingly cold and, in its noun use, piercing cold, and gives mātaratara as intensely cold, piercingly cold, bitterly cold, freezing. Nothing in either word is a breeze. Read with Te Aka, the karakia does not ask the weather to be kind: it names a southerly change, the freezing cold on land and sea that follows it, and the red dawn rising over the frost.

Where Whakataka te hau comes from

Te Puni Kōkiri and the University of Otago both call Whakataka te hau traditional, and neither names a composer. The oldest printing found for this guide supports the word. In December 1853, as Governor Sir George Grey prepared to leave New Zealand, Māori communities sent him farewell addresses, and the interpreter Charles Davis published them with his translations in Maori Mementos (1855). Two of the addresses quote these lines:

From the chiefs of Ngāti Tipa and the scholars of the Rev. R. Maunsell’s schools. They wish Grey a safe voyage and introduce the lines as “he waiata na o matou tupuna”, which Davis translates “a song of our forefathers”. His note explains the allusion: frost and ice come only in very fine weather, generally with a southerly, and a westerly also brings fine weather, so winds from either quarter would make Grey’s passage “both safe and pleasurable”.
From Tukupoto, dated 16 December 1853. This address recalls that on Grey’s arrival “the rain was beating, and the wind blowing fiercely”, and quotes the lines as his words to calm the storm: an allusion, Davis’s note says, to the disturbed state of the country when Grey arrived and to the results of his administration.

So in 1853 the lines were already old enough for Ngāti Tipa to call them their ancestors’ song, and already used as a wish for good weather on a journey. Several websites go further and say they are the last verse of a longer chant about the Takitimu canoe surviving a storm. No reputable published source that could be checked confirms that, so this guide leaves it as a claim.

Where the versions differ

The karakia has changed in small ways since 1853, and the versions printed today do not agree with each other either. None of the differences changes what it is about.

Line	Te Puni Kōkiri (2020)	Other printings
1–2	Whakataka te hau (the wind)	Whakataka to hau or tou hau (your wind), Davis 1855; Whakataka tō hau, Williams’s dictionary as Te Aka quotes it
3–4	ki uta, ki tai	i uta, i tai, Davis 1855 and Williams
5	E hī ake ana te atākura	atakura (Otago); ata kura (Playcentre Aotearoa); Kia hii ake ana te atakura (LIANZA); Kia ao ake te ra, let the day dawn, Davis 1855
6	He tio, he huka, he hauhū	he hau hū (Otago, Playcentre); He tio, he keho, he hauhunga, Davis 1855
7	Tihei mauri ora!	Tīhei mauri ora! (Otago); Tīhei Mauriora (LIANZA); no such line in Davis 1855

The last word of line 6 is the one to notice. In 1853 it was hauhunga, which Te Aka gives as frost; today it is printed hauhū or hau hū, which has no entry in Te Aka, but Te Puni Kōkiri still translates the line “on frost”. Te Aka spells the closing call tihei mauri ora with a short i: tihei is to sneeze. The long-vowel tīhei that some printings use is a different word, to carry on the back, lift.

Kia whakairia te tapu: a closing karakia

Te Puni Kōkiri’s traditional closing karakia, which it heads He Karakia Whakakapi, does what a closing karakia is for: it lifts the restrictions of a formal occasion so that people can go back to ordinary life. Its words, exactly as printed:

Kia whakairia te tapu
Kia wātea ai te ara
Kia turuki whakataha ai
Kia turuki whakataha ai
Haumi e. Hui e. Tāiki e!

Te Puni Kōkiri’s English: “Restrictions are moved aside / So the pathways is clear / To return to everyday activities”. Ako Aotearoa, the national centre for tertiary teaching, prints the same words as a closing karakia attributed “Nā te iwi Māori”, from the Māori people, rather than to any composer.

Māori	Word for word (Te Aka)
Kia whakairia te tapu	whakairi (passive whakairia) to hang up, suspend, elevate; tapu sacred, restricted, set apart: let the tapu be lifted up
Kia wātea ai te ara	wātea free, clear, unencumbered; te ara the path: so that the path is clear
Kia turuki whakataha ai	turuki to strengthen the force of a rāhui with karakia; whakataha to put to one side, pass by, turn aside
Haumi e. Hui e. Tāiki e!	join, gather, bind together: see below

The third line is the hard one. Te Ara, the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, records a short chant adults used to ward off unseen presences, “Kuruki, whakataha!”, which it translates “Lose power, pass aside.” Te Aka gives kuruki as to become powerless, while the turuki that Te Puni Kōkiri and Ako Aotearoa print means strengthening a rāhui ‘temporary ritual prohibition’ with karakia. Te Puni Kōkiri’s translation, “to return to everyday activities”, gives the sense of the line rather than its words. Lifting tapu so that people are noa ‘free from tapu, ordinary’ again is an old job for karakia: Te Ara’s list of traditional karakia includes whakanoa, to make common by removing tapu.

Other karakia you will hear

Organisations use many different karakia, and the right one is the one your organisation or the local iwi uses. These are some that national organisations publish, with who publishes them. Only the traditional texts that Te Puni Kōkiri publishes for re-use are printed in full here; for the newer ones, follow the publisher’s link in the sources.

Kia tau ngā manaakitanga, for opening or closing. Te Puni Kōkiri prints it as a traditional karakia for either: Kia tau ngā manaakitanga a te mea ngaro / ki runga ki tēnā, ki tēnā o tātou / Kia mahea te hua mākihikihi / kia toi te kupu, toi te mana, toi te aroha, toi te Reo Māori / kia tūturu, ka whakamaua kia tīna! Tīna! / Hui e, Tāiki e! Its English: “Let the strength and life force of our ancestors / Be with each and every one of us / Freeing our path from obstruction / So that our words, spiritual power, love, and language are upheld; / Permanently fixed, established and understood! / Forward together!”
Kia hora te marino, for opening or closing. Te Aka quotes its first lines as a blessing for travellers: Kia hora te marino, kia whakapapa pounamu te moana ‘May the calm be widespread, may the sea lie smooth as a slab of greenstone’, followed by “kia tere te kārohirohi i mua i tō huarahi”, may the shimmer of light guide you on your way. Playcentre Aotearoa publishes a longer opening karakia built on the first two.
Unuhia, for closing. Auckland Transport and LIANZA, the library association, publish it as a karakia whakamutunga. It opens Unuhia, unuhia / Unuhia ki te uru tapu nui, translated “Draw on, draw on / Draw on the supreme sacredness”, and asks for the heart, body and spirit to be wātea ‘free, clear’ and māmā ‘light, unburdened’. Te Aka’s unu, passive unuhia, is to pull out, withdraw, draw out. Like Kia whakairia te tapu, it is about clearing: its key line is kia wātea, so that we may be free.
Tūtawa mai i runga, for opening or closing. This one is modern: Ako Aotearoa and Playcentre Aotearoa both credit it to Scotty Morrison. Ako Aotearoa’s translation of its opening lines is “I summon from above, I summon from below, I summon from within and the surrounding environment.”
Tuia ki runga, for opening. Massey University teaches it as “a simple karakia to use at your next hui”: Tuia ki runga, Tuia ki raro, Tuia ki roto, Tuia ki waho, which it translates “Stitch (unite/combine) the celestial energies / To the terrestrial energies / Within / And without”.
Christian karakia. Te Puni Kōkiri and Otago both publish Christian karakia beside the traditional ones, among them a closing karakia from 2 Corinthians 13:14 that begins Kia tau ki a tātou katoa, “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ … be with you all”, and ends Amine, Amen. Otago notes that new karakia were written for the Christian God when Christianity arrived in the nineteenth century, and that there is now “a current move” back towards the traditional ones.

The blessing before a meal is a karakia of its own, the karakia mō te kai; the traditional one, Nau mai e ngā hua, is explained line by line in Māori food words.

Haumi e, hui e, tāiki e: the ending

Most of these karakia end with the same three calls, or part of them: Haumi e, hui e, tāiki e! Te Ara gives two common endings for traditional karakia, “Tūturu ka whakamaua kia tina, tina, haumi e, hui e, tāiki e!” and “Whano, whano, hara mai te toki, haumi e, hui e, tāiki e!” Te Aka gives the whole call a meaning of its own: it is “used to signal that the group is united and ready to progress the purpose of them coming together”. Word by word, from Te Aka:

Māori	Te Aka’s meaning
haumi	to join, lengthen by addition; in alliance
hui	to gather, congregate, assemble, meet; the same word as a hui, a meeting
tāiki	a wicker basket, anything woven from natural materials such as supplejack
tūturu	fixed, permanent, real
whakamaua … kia tina	whakamau (passive whakamaua) to fix, fasten … tina fixed, fast, firm

Te Puni Kōkiri renders the ending “Draw together! Affirm!”, and Otago’s translation gives “Hold fast. Secure it.” for the lines before it.

Are karakia religious?

This is the question behind most arguments about karakia at work, and the published answers are not the same:

Who	What they say
Te Ara (Basil Keane, after Te Rangi Hīroa)	Karakia are the way people communicate with the gods; a karakia was “a formula of words which was chanted to obtain benefit or avert trouble”, and karakia “were not used to worship or venerate gods”.
University of Otago	Karakia “in their true essence, are ritual chants invoking spiritual guidance and protection”; the traditional ones “call upon many of our Atua (Gods/guardians) for direction”.
Blackie Tohiariki, tikanga educator, to RNZ (2023)	“Karakia is not a prayer”: a karakia is spiritual, connecting to earth, wind, fire and water rather than giving thanks to God, and it takes a religious turn when words like Lord, God and Amen are used.
Mihingarangi Forbes, journalist, to RNZ (2023)	Today karakia are said for everything and she “very rarely” hears one about Jesus Christ; in Māori circles they are about clearing spaces and inviting new and generous thoughts.
Human Rights Commission, as cited by the Public Service Commission (2024)	Karakia should not be compulsory; employers should be aware that for some employees karakia and waiata at work can raise religious concerns, and that opportunities to discuss this are needed.

What can be said for certain is what the words say. Whakataka te hau and Kia whakairia te tapu, the two karakia printed in full above, name no god at all: one is about wind, cold and dawn, the other about lifting tapu and clearing the path. Both Te Puni Kōkiri and Otago publish traditional and Christian karakia side by side, under separate headings, so an organisation can choose either kind.

Using karakia at work

In the public service, karakia are a matter for each organisation. Te Kawa Mataaho, the Public Service Commission, told the minister in 2024 that no formal standards have been issued, that how karakia are used is at the discretion of each chief executive, and that it is common for agencies to make karakia available to staff and encourage their use, for example to open and close meetings, as a way of building cultural capability and bringing te reo and tikanga into their work. A few practical points follow from the sources above:

Use your organisation’s text. As the table of versions shows, the same karakia is printed with different words and very different translations. Learn one version from one named source, such as Te Puni Kōkiri’s, and say it the same way each time.
Know what you are saying. If someone asks what the karakia means, the line-by-line tables above give an answer that rests on the dictionary, not on a loose translation copied from elsewhere.
Get the sounds right. A karakia is spoken, and the long vowels in words like mākinakina and mātaratara matter: the Māori pronunciation guide covers them.
Do not make it compulsory. That is the Human Rights Commission’s guidance as the Public Service Commission cites it, and it asks employers to leave room to talk through religious concerns.
Who leads and how. Practice varies from one iwi and one workplace to the next, and no single published rule was found for who should lead, whether people stand, or who joins in on the last line. Ask your own Māori staff or the mana whenua your organisation works with.

A meeting that opens with a karakia often goes on to mihimihi ‘round of introductions’; that word and the rest of the vocabulary of a hui are in Māori words at work. On a formal occasion a karakia also completes a welcome: Massey University’s guidelines say an incantation or prayer “is used to complete the formal process of a pōwhiri or mihi whakatau”, and pōwhiri explained walks through that ceremony. For more ways to bring te reo into a workplace, Māori Language Week is covered in Te Wiki o te Reo Māori.

Going further

Most of the words in these karakia are everyday Māori: hau ‘wind’, tonga ‘south’, uta ‘inland’, tai ‘sea’, ata ‘morning’, huka ‘snow’, ara ‘path’ and hui ‘meeting’ are all in the course vocabulary. The free te reo Māori course teaches them, with the grammar of kia that runs through every closing karakia, one lesson a day.