We Know the Way

I've watched bits and pieces of Disney's "Moana" since we first purchased it for our kids, but for the first time Saturday night I was able to sit and really watch it from start to finish.  It's a great movie, very entertaining, engaging and fun.  The music is great too so I wasn't surprised when one of its songs got stuck in my head Sunday morning.

I'm horrible with lyrics- I talk about it a lot here, but I'm just now realizing most of this song is in native Tokelauan.  I thought they were saying "Away, Away" in this song but they're not!  They're saying "Aue Aue" and not because they can't spell, because they're not singing in English, sillies!

"Aue, Aue" means "Oh, oh" for the record.

In fact, just for funzies, I'll give you the meaning of the lyrics in English cause I'm helpful.

Tatou o tagata folau e vala’auina	We are voyagers summoned by the mighty gods
E le atua o le sami tele e o mai	Of this mighty ocean to come
Ia ava’e le lu’itau e lelei	We take up the good challenge
Tapenapena	Get ready

[Hook 1: Chorus, Opetaia Foa'i]	[Translation from Tokelauan]
Aue, aue	Oh! Oh!
Nuku i mua	There is land up ahead
Te manulele e tataki e	A bird in flight to take us there
Aue, aue	Oh! Oh!
Te fenua te mālie	This beautiful land
Nae ko hakilia mo kaiga e	The place I was looking for, we will make our home

We read the wind and the sky when the sun is high
We sail the length of the seas on the ocean breeze
At night, we name every star
We know where we are
We know who we are, who we are


Aue, aue
We set a course to find
A brand new island everywhere we roam
Aue, aue
We keep our island in our mind
And when it's time to find home
We know the way

	[Translation from Tokulean]
Aue, aue	Oh! Oh!
We are explorers reading every sign
We tell the stories of our elders in a never-ending chain
Aue, aue	Oh! Oh!
Te fenua te mālie	This beautiful land
Nae ko hakilia	The place I was looking for Copying and pasting messed up the margins on my page and I can't fix it- aue well! My aue my we had some fun today.  I hope you enjoyed the song stuck in my head.