Taniwha's with Mrs Paki

Mrs Paki helped LC6 create wonderful Taniwhas last week.

How Maui found his father and the magic jawbone

Emma Minshull completed this beautiful sun based on the book above. 

My Taniwha

My taniwha has colourful scales.  It is a man eating taniwha.  It has teeth so sharp and shiny it can almost blind its enemy.  But the worst part about him is he can be camouflaged to anything.  He has a really big scar on his face.  His best power is breathing flames from his mouth.  He has a big roar.   By Josh B

My terrible taniwha has a round head, spikey teeth and 6 pitch black legs.  His body moves like a slithering snake.  It looks like a terrifying monster.  His shiny, slippery scales are indigo.  The taniwha lives in the long grass.  He loves hiding in the long grass.  My taniwha goes roar when he sees a person.  There are lots of korus and stripes on his body.   By Isabel

My Taniwha is black with maori patterns over it.  It is a very terrifying taniwha.  It has a loud roar.  It is black, silver, orange, gold and brown.  It is a very big taniwha.  It is very evil.  It has sharp shiny claws and shiny teeth with blood dripping from them.  It has six legs and a very long tail.  By Jack Conley

Matariki

Today we celebrated Matariki (the maori new year) with our Buddy Class LC3.  We made kites and stars.

In late May, the constellation of stars known as Matariki rises approximately half an hour before the sun. Approaching the shortest day of the year in the Southern Hemisphere, Matariki marks the time when the sun, drifting north, turns around when it reaches Matariki and starts moving south again. In Māori mythology Matariki and her six daughters assisted Ra (the sun) whose winter journey from the North left him weakened. Traditionally, a look-out was posted to watch for the rise of Matariki. 

Football in Schools

Our Football in Schools programme with Andrea is going really well.  We are all learning lots of ball skills and having fun playing against each other.

Pingao & Kakaho

Pingao was the daughter of Tangaroa the god of the ocean, and Kakaho (the stem of Toetoe) a son of Tane Mahuta, the god of the forest.

Day after day, Pingao would gaze longingly from the lapping waves as Toetoe’s beautiful white plumes blew in the wind and serenaded her from the shoreline. One day she rode the incoming tide as far as she could and clambered up the sand dunes. Unfortunately the sun was beating down and without the water of the ocean to sustain her she never made it to her lover’s side. 

As Tane Mahuta and Tangaroa were enemies, some say that Tane Mahuta made his son stick in the ground so he could move to help her, and that Tangaroa sent a wave to wash his daughter away.

Weavers now gather the golden leaves of Pingao and stitch them together with the stems of Kakaho to weave the beautiful patterned Tukutuku panels that can be found in the Wharenui (meeting house) to be honored and admired by the people and bound together for eternity.

 Toetoe                                                                          Pingao  

Patupaiarehe - the ghost like fairy

The Short Story

A quick, easy summary

Read the Full Story

In Māori traditions, patupaiarehe are fairy-like people who live in the forest or on the misty mountain tops. Sometimes they are called tūrehu or pakepakehā.

What did they look like?

Patupaiarehe had light skin and red or fair hair. They did not have tattoos. Some people said they were small, and others said they were a normal size. In Whanganui stories, patupaiarehe were giants.

Where were they found?

Patupaiarehe were seldom seen. They were thought to live in several places in the North Island, including in the Waikato, around Rotorua and in the Urewera mountains. They also lived in some places in the South Island.

What were they like?

Patupaiarehe were afraid of the light, and were only seen at twilight or in the mist. They wore mats and red flax clothes, and could sometimes be heard playing their flutes.

What happened when they met people?

Sometimes patupaiarehe would put people under a spell and steal them away. They made love to beautiful women, and some people thought their children were the redheads called urukehu. To keep them away, people would paint themselves with smelly mixtures, or cook food, because patupaiarehe hated the smell. Fire and light would also frighten them away.

Patupaiarehe sometimes taught people magical chants and other skills. They were good at fishing, and one chief spied on them to learn how to make nets.

Matangi and the Taniwhai

A man called Matangi was a famous hunter.  He came over to the Manawatu because he hears there were lots of birds that he could hunt.  He was supposed to go home afterwards but decided to stay.  He sent for his whanau to come and join him.

Now, there was a Taniwha.  He had a red horn on his horn, sparkling blue scales and six legs.

As Matangi's whanau were coming over the hills the Taniwha ate 12 of them.

Matangi was so angry he picked 12 of his best warriors to help him fight the Taniwha.  They had spears, fir poi and nets made of flax.  They made a trap for the Taniwha.  They called him names and the Taniwha roared at them.  They fought for 12 hours.  Then, the Taniwha tripped on a stump.  Matangi and his warriors caught him with their net.  They killed him and buried him in a swamp.

Today the swamp is still there.  It has black water.  The swamp is said to be tapu (or sacred).

Matangi and his whanau lived happily ever after.