On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr spoke to the crowds marching on Washington for jobs and freedom.
In 2022, Chey Milne, Ani-Piki Tuari and Dr Anaha Hiini had a go at translating some of his inspiring words into te reo Māori.
Mr King's speech is one of the best known speeches in human history. Discover whether the team manages to raise, join hands and sing out, free at last.
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TRANSLATIONS - printable version here
Nā Anaha Hiini
English: “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.”
Whakamāori: He koronga tōku, ka tū motuhake te iwi nei ā tōna wā e mārama kehokeho ai ia ki tōna anō whakapono e mea ana: “He ariari ēnei tūāhua motuhenga, he ōrite te mana o ngā tāngata katoa i te wherereitanga mai.
He koronga tōku, ka noho tahi ngā uri a ngā taurekareka me ngā uri a ngā rangatira o aua taurekareka rā ki ngā puke kura o Georgia i runga i te rangimārie, i te ngākau pono, me te whakaaro kotahi.
He koronga tōku, ka mutu ngā kino i te takiwā o Mississippi. Te takiwā nei kei taumata anō o te tūkinotanga me te whakawhiunga, heoi, ka huri kē hei wāhi herekore e kitea whānuihia ai te manatika.
Nā Ani-Piki Tuari
English: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today! I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."
Whakamāori: He wawata tōku, hai tētahi rā ka tipu mai aku tamariki e whā ki tētahi iwi whakahāwea kore ki te momo o tō rātou kiri, engari kia tirohia kētia te momo o tō rātou autaia. He wawata tōku i tēnei rā tonu.
He wawata tōku hai tētahi rā, i Alabama tonu me tā rātou hunga tino kaikiri, tō rātou Kāwana me ōna ngutu kau e pātere ana i ngā kupu pēnei i te whakataurekarekatia o te tangata, i te whakakorenga o te tangata – hai raurangi, i Alabama anō, ka āhei ngā tamatāne kirimangu, ngā tamawāhine kirimangu hoki ki te mau ringa ki ngā tamatāne kiritea, ki ngā tamawāhine kiritea ānō he taina, he tuakana rātou ki a rātou anō.
He wawata tōku i tēnei rā tonu! He wawata tōku, hai te wā ka whakanuia ngā kōawaawa, me te aha, ka whakaheke te rahi o ngā puke, o ngā maunga, ka mania ngā wāhi mātoretore (or is it tuarangaranga in that it seems to be talking about land?), ā, ka tika ngā wāhi kōnukenuke, ka huraina mai te kororia o te atua hai kitenga mā te iwi katoa.
Nā Chey Milne
English: “And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. But not only that:
Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”
Whakamāori: Nō reira perea te mana Motuhake mai i ngā pukepuke rau o New Hampshire. Perea te mana Motuhake mai i ngā tihi tapu o New York. Perea te mana Motuhake mai i ngā pae whakahirahira o Alleghenies i Pennsylvania. Perea te mana Motuhake mai I ngā Aorangi o Colorado. Perea te mana Motuhake mai I ngā pīnakitanga o California.
Tuia ki tērā. Perea te mana Motuhake mai I Maunga Pōhatu I Georgia. Perea te mana Motuhake mai I Maunga Mātairangi I Tennessee.Tukuna kia perea te mana Motuhake mai I ia puke, I ia hiwi o Mississippi. Mai I ia raorao, perea te mana Motuhake.
Kia tatū rā anō tēnei, kia oti I a tātou te pāoro I te pere o te mana Motuhake, kia rīngi ki ia kainga, ki ia hapori, ki ia whaitua, ki ia tāone. Ka horo mai te rā, e kōtahi ai ngā tamariki a Ihowā, Kirimangu, Pākeha, Hūrae, tauiwi, Porotehana, Katorika, ka mau ringa katoa, ka waiatahia ngā kupu tuku iho a te hīmene Kirimangu.
Kua wātea, kua wātea! Korōria te atua. Āe rā, kua wātea tātou!
- Martin Luther King Jr, Washington - August 28, 1963
Made for RNZ by Arataua
