Ko te Orokohanga mai o te Ao ki tā Ngāi Tahu

Ngāi Tahu Creation Story

Hei tā Ngāi Tahu, i moe a Papatūānuku i a Takaroa. Ka puta mai ā rāua kawariki.

Ngāi Tahu legend says that Papatūānuku and Takaroa had a family.

I kawea ake e Takaroa te ewe o tāna whakapākanga kia nehua ki te wāhi tika.

Takaroa took their child's placenta and went looking for the right place to bury it.

Ka ngaro a Takaroa, ka moe tāhae nei a Rakinui rāua ko Papatūānuku, he kawariki huhua te otinga o te piringa pūremu rā.

While he was away Rakinui and Papatūānuku partnered and had many children.  

I te aurakitanga mai o Takaroa, ka wheke, ka whakatūpehupehu ia. Ka taotū a Rakinui i tana ito, ka taumaha haere ia. Nāwai rā ka waihape atu a Takaroa ki te moana, ka wātea ai a Rakinui kia hoki ki tana ipo, ki a Papatūānuku.

When Takaroa finally returned he was very angry.  He badly wounded Rakinui who became very ill.  Takaroa returned to the sea and Rakinui was able to return to Papatūānuku.

Heoi anō, nā ngā taotūnga o Rakinui, i whānau hauā haere mai ngā uri o Rakinui.

Their children began to be born unwell because of Rakinui's wounds.  

I ui atu a Rakinui ki tana tama, ki a Tāne kia hāpaingia ia ki runga ake i ā rātou, i āna kawariki, ka mahue ai rātou ko Papatūānuku kia whitikina ai e te ao mārama.

Rakinui asked his son Tāne to lift him up above his children, with Papatūānuku below, so that the sunlight would fall on his children.

Ka whakakākahutia e Tāne a Papatūānuku ki ngā rākau, ki ngā rarauwhe anō hoki, a Rakinui ki ngā raukura whero. Ka piri noa iho nei ngā raukura i te pūaotanga o te rā, ka mutu ko tēnei te  uranga mai o te rā e kitea ana i ēnei rangi.

Tāne used trees and shrubs to cloth Papatūāuku and red feathers for Rakinui.  The feathers would only stick at dawn and are the sunrise we see today.  

Kia miria a Papatūānuku e te haukū, kia uhia e Hinepūkohurangi, ka kīia atu rā, he tohu aroha o Rakinui ki tana makau, ki a Papatūānuku.

When summer dew and mists arrive we know that its Rakinui remembering his beloved Papatūānuku.