Croatian’s have a long history in New Zealand, in particular the southern part of Croatia known as Dalmatia. Dalmatians first came out to dig Kauri gum more than 130 years ago, they settled up north and became very close with the Maori. Finding themselves so far away from their families, loved ones and friends the Maori took many of them in and many Dalmatians soon found themselves with Maori wives. This song is about just that – it’s an adapation of an old song that Dalmatian’s used to sing, and then the last part is about their new found home in New Zealand. As you can hear – the last line is ‘Haere-Mai Tarara. ‘Tarara’ is what they Maori dubbed the Dalmatian’s – meaning ‘fast talkers’.
About Beats In Our Backyard with Nick Dwyer
Beats In Our Backyard is an exploration of New Zealand's multi-culture through music. All my life I've been all consumed with the discovery of new music and over the last ten years I've been traveling the world in search of new and exotic sounds from all around the globe - especially in the last 4 years with a TV series I present and direct called 'Making Tracks'. Last year I was given the opportunity to host at the Auckland Cultural Festival and it was really then that I realized the extent of our ethnic diversity. From Burundi and Somalia in Africa to Mongolia and Nepal in Asia to nearly every Caribbean Island nation - New Zealand is home to over 150 different nations - each of these people has an extraordinary story to tell, and for alot of them the best way to do that is through their music, which they are all incredibly proud of. The idea behind Beats In Our Backyard is to shine the spotlight on these communities and their music, and hopefully as a by-product you'll learn a little bit more about your relatively new neighbors along the way.