Kī-o-rahi pūrākau

Ākonga from Te Akau ki Pāpāmoa retell the story of Rahitukahahina and Taiakurapakewai, from which the traditional Māori game kī-o-rahi was derived.

Kupu Māori

• Haerenga – journey.

• Harakeke – New Zealand flax (Phormium tenax).

• Hau – wind.

• Karakia – incantation, prayer.

• Kī – flax kit.

• Kōhatu – stone, rock.

• Manu tangata – bird man.

• Maunga – mountain.

• Mauri – life force or energy.

• Ope taua – war party.

• Pā – fortified village.

• Paturaiarehe – fairy folk; fair-skinned mythical people who live in the bush on mountains.

• Tāwhirimātea – Māori deity of wind.

• Tohunga – skilled person, chosen expert, priest, healer.

• Toka – large rock.

• Whānau – family.

Transcript

Voice over (multiple voices)

Long ago, there lived a great rangitara called Rahitutakahina who lived with his beautiful wife Tiarakurapakewai.

They enjoyed a peaceful life in their pā living alongside their whānau.

One day, an ope taua of patupaiarehe came from beyond the mountains to shatter that peace. They had come to abduct Tiara and take her to their home.

As they took Tiara back over the mountains, Rahi tried his hardest to chase after them. However, Te Puhuru, a tohunga of the patupaiarehe, used his powers to create a vast forest, preventing Rahi to continue his pursuit.

Rahi returned to his people and asked for their help. He worked together with his whānau to create a great kite, called a manu tangata, which could carry him over the forest.

Before he set off on his haerenga, Rahi gathered several more eggs and wrapped them in harakeke, making kī for his journey.

Rahi and his whānau gathered together and spoke a karakia to the great atua of the four winds, Tāwhirimātea. As Rahi set off, Tāwhirimātea sent a great gust of wind to help his manu tangata soar.

As Tiara was being led through the dense forest, she began turning over the leaves of the ponga tree to show the silver underside so that Rahi could track her.

Te Puhuru, sensing Rahi getting closer, summoned the sun sister Hinenui-te-rā to stop him. The intense heat from the two suns caused Rahi’s kite to catch fire, forcing him in to crash land. The forest around him withered in the scorching blaze. A great gust of hau blew all the dead plants and trees away.

Under the scorching sun and with no clear trail for Rahi to follow, he sat down under the shade of a great yellow kōhatu – rock. As Rahi sat under this great toka, he realised that it was one of his tīpuna looking to protect him. As he sat there, the toka slowly changed colour to a calmly green.

Just at this moment, Namu, a giant friendly eagle that lived near Rahi’s pā, arrived and perched on top of the rock. Gently, the giant eagle trickled water from her beak onto Rahi’s face.

Suddenly, however, an enormous charging lizard appeared. The lizard tried to charge, but it was unable to approach near enough to the rock owing to a double force field created by both the rock and Rahi’s mauri.

Frustrated, the lizard changed its tactics. It began relentlessly circling the rocks, its huge tail thrashing all the while, uprooting rock, stones and sand.

The persistent circling and thrashing of the lizard eventually produced a deep canyon, which surrounded the rock and which soon filled with refreshing spring water. The giant lizard transformed into a huge water monster taniwha called Utumai.

Rahi now found himself alone on the island. Just when he thought it couldn’t get worse, the tohunga Te Puhuru spoke another karakia, this time making the two suns disappear, producing a cold, dark night. The giant eagle Namu was still perched on the toka.

Just then, Rahi looked up. He saw three stars aligned in the sky. He realised his father Eru has spoken a sacred karakia from the top of their maunga. As Rahi watched, a narrow ice bridge formed, causing no harm to Rahi and Namu with the constant lashing at his head. Utumai eventually broke his own neck and sank lifelessly into the depths of the water.

As if to celebrate, the sun came out once Rahi reached shore in the healing sunrise.

Namu was soon warm enough to fly home. Rahi was able to join his tribe who had been desperately searching for him, and all together they headed for the mountains to free Tiara.

Rahi and his tribe eventually arrived at the entrance to a cave at the foot of the mountains. In the cave lived the patupaiarehe and the captive Tiara.

After a while, Rahi and his tribe used a number of heavy kōhatu to block the steam vents, which covered the maunga. Soon steam began to billow from the cave. In the searing heat, the Patupaiarehe began to flee from the cave, Tiara among them.

As Rahi and Tiara fell into each other’s arms, earthquakes and shockwaves began to take place all around, forcing everyone to flee to safety. The next day, an enormous explosion took place, hurling the mountains high into the sky.

The tohunga, Te Puhuru, had remained inside the mountain when it exploded. Te Puhuru was blasted into heavens where he now remained, continuing to play out his mischief.

The two tribes gathered on the shores of the lake where Rahi had been left on and decided to make peace. The great taniwha was cooked, and for many days, the two tribes ate and discussed together. They came to the conclusion that it was quite possible to live peacefully in harmony without war.

It was here on these shores that two tribal councils invented a meaning to ensure that lasting peace forever.

They created a game representing attempted abduction for Tiara, which tribes played together, keeping the peace.

This is how the game of kī-o-rahi came into being.

Acknowledgements

Created and retold by Ada, Jonty, Kerenga, Kora, Hailo, Kupa-Tāne and Skyla, Te Ākau ki Pāpāmoa School