Kai Tahu legend of Aoraki.
This term, 4R and 4J have been learning the Kai Tahu legend of Aoraki. Please enjoy this pūrākāu, as retold, by our young storytellers.
AORAKI
Raki the sky father was peering down at his lovely second wife Papatūānuku. His four sons didn’t like having a second mother. They were sad for their mother but they couldn’t stop the change.
The four brothers decided to have a look at their new mother. They glided like a ferocious eagle on their magical waka. They landed in the waving water and started exploring. The brothers were tired of looking at their new mother, so they decided to sail the seas and look for more land.
Unfortunately there was no land to be seen, only sea. Suddenly the waves grow stronger and lightning started striking. The boat tossed and turned the waves roared and growled. The brothers thought their father Raki was sending the storm as a message telling them to scuttle on home.
Aoraki the oldest brother knew a way to calm the storm with a karakia. If he said it correctly the waka would lift off the water into the sky. Aoraki said the words but AUE! his brothers panicked while he was doing the karakia and a mistake was made. Instead of lifting off, the waka sank and flipped over stranding the brothers in the middle of the freezing sea.
The storm raged on. It was as fierce as a lion. The brothers clinged on to the floating wreckage of the waka. In the freezing cold, their hairturned as white as a polar bear. The brothers turned to stone and formed mountains what we now call Te Waka o-Aoraki.
BY JASMINE
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Aoraki Storytelling
By Olive
Watching from the heavens above Aoraki and his brothers were having a deep conversation. They were talking about Raki and their mother.
“Father is getting married.”
“Again!” exclaimed Rakiroa.
“What?”
“Why?” questioned Rarakiroa.
“I don’t know, but her name is Papatūānuku”
“Huh?”
“Papatūānuku,” he said annoyingly.
You see being the oldest Aoraki felt broken hearted when he found out that his father was going to get married to someone he hardly knew!!
The brothers sensed Aoraki’s sorrow, so Rakirua said, “Let us go and check her out, Aoraki.”
“Ok.”
They glided like a feather down to the whenua called by their ancestors Hawaiki. There lay Papatūānuku. As they circled her they felt a great wave of enthusiasm and hatred fill their mind. They obviously did not want her to be their mother. However, the same thought flashed through all their minds as Aoraki pointed South-West to the moana.
Oh My Gosh! I soo want to go and explore the ocean and look for more land.
“Um...Aoraki.”
“Can we?”
“Of course let's go!!”
It was going to be the longest voyage of their lives.
They filled their kowhaowhao and set off as curious as a mouse investigating a trap. Just as they were starting to get bored of the trip a great storm arose.
“Aue!” yelled Rakiroa.
“I will say the karakia,” proclaimed Aoraki
“Kia Inoi tatou………………………………….”
Alas, a mistake was made!
During the karakia Aoraki had made a mistake.
It has been thought that in the fury of the storm Aoraki and his brothers got scared and that is why the karakia had a mistake. Their waka overturned and Aoraki and his brothers scrambled to the edge of the waka. As the freezing cold overtook them they turned to stone, and they are now what we call The Southern Alps.
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Te Waka O Aoraki
Long ago Aoraki and his brothers descended from the heavens and leaped into their beautiful waka. Their mission was to investigate their father’s new wife Papatūānuku and make sure she was worthy enough for their father Raki. The brothers sailed in their waka off into the blue blue sea. But when they were in the waka all they could see was just more sea!
Without warning a big STORM arose they thought it was there father Raki letting them know they should come home. The brothers yelped. They were getting tired around but Aoraki the oldest therefore the leader decided to say a karakia to send the storm away.
AUE ! a mistake was made the storm grew bigger, higher and more deadly the boat started to sink! The western side was much higher than the eastern side. The brothers huddled together there hair turned white like snow and they turned to hard stone.
Nowadays they are mountains named Te Waka o Aoraki. The end.
By Charlize
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Raki the Skyfather flew down from the glorious heavens. Raki looked as if he were a man made from clouds. He descended down to meet up with his second wife, Papatūānuku. Aoraki (first born) and his brothers, Rakiroa, Rakirua, and Rarakiroa weren’t that enthusiastic about their new mother. So they decided to check her out in their supernatural waka. Their waka glided down, rocking gently from side to side like an autumn leaf falling from from a tree. When it finally touched down on the surface of the water, the four brothers eyes immediately locked onto Papatūānuku. Papatūānuku was covered in foliage, e.g. trees, ferns, and a massive amount of dirt (under the foliage, you could hardly see the dirt).
They weren’t that enthusiastic about her but what they were obviously enthusiastic about, was travelling the sea in search for new lands. They set off in their supernatural waka across the vast, blank salty sea. They did quite well on their journey, until large tempestuous clouds appeared from nowhere! Thunder lit up the sky while producing loud booming sounds that echoed across the sea.
Rain poured down filling their waka with small puddles. Aoraki, the first born, and therefore the leader should be the one with the knowledge to recite the correct karakia to calm the vicious, raging storm and levitate the supernatural waka into the air and send it back to the heavens. Unluckily they panicked and performed the karakia chant incorrectly.
Alas, not everything goes the way you want it to. Great long shafts of lightning bolts crackled down into the water, charging the salty water with electricity, resulting in an explosion. This event happened multiple times, and unfortunately one of these explosions happened quite close to Aoraki’s supernatural waka. Boom! A small but important part of the hull flew off and water leaked in, weighing it down and causing it to sink. The four brothers clung together in a huddle at the highest part of the waka. Eventually the four brothers froze and then turned to stone. They are now what we call the Southern Alps of the South Island of Aotearoa.
By Oliver
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Aoraki
Aoraki and his three brothers flew down from the heavens like a feather in their waka. The four brothers voyaged across the sea in a waka.
They saw a furious storm coming. The waka sank like a rock and the four brothers came to the top of the waka. And the four Brothers turned to stone and were frozen.
The four brothers then formed the Southern Alps.
By Jayden
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Aoraki
Aoraki and his three brothers came down from the sky in a waka to see the sky father Raki.
They sailed across the sea to visit their mother Papatūānuku. All they could see was more sea.
A big storm arose. Big waves crashed into the boat . The waka sank because Aoraki didn’t say the Karakia properly. He became Mt Aoraki. His brothers became the smaller Southern Alps because they were all frozen in the storm.
By Junior