Through the eyes of the tekoteko.

Perched on top of Hohepa whare at Mangamaungu Marae there is a tekoteko. The tamariki were asked to create a piece of writing looking through the eyes of the tekoteko. Here are some of their ideas.

The Attack of Te Rauparaha.  

Na Jacinda

For many years I have looked over the same ocean and village. People have come and gone but I haven't. I still remember the people raising me up and feeling so proud of themselves. Over all these years on a roof I still remember the beautiful singing of the manu in the forest and the combined smell of the sea and forest.  The tall trees with their long, green leaves leaned over me sheltering and protecting me from the sun and rain. I look into the dark, blue, misty night. I see a light on the ocean.

“He aha tena?” I think to myself. I look a little closer and realise what it is.

“Kia tupato. E haere mai a Te Rauparaha!” I kept screaming.

“Kia tupato, kia tupato, e haere mai a Te Rauparaha!”

But nobody heard me, I kept screaming out but when they finally found out it was too late...

I am the Tekoteko. Na Ezekiel

I was standing up on the red roof, my big shining paua eyes were glittering in the shining yellow sun.

Over the years  I saw heaps of people come and go. When I was by myself I would look at the beautiful blue sea. I got put up there around  130 years ago, I am really really old.

I have seen some wars here, I have seen some kids come to stay on this marae they stayed for 3 days.  I saw their treehouses and when they got welcomed  onto the marae I was so happy to see them to come on to the marae.

I was watching over them wherever they went. I saw when they went to the beach to find some stuff to put on their mobiles. I saw when they went to bed. I looked at the stars and the big blue sky with the moon there were heaps of stars when they when to bed.

I will close my eyes and dream to see what they will do tomorrow.  When I do that I will think about when I got put up on top of Hohepa whare.  I think about how they live in there houses and I wish that I lived like them but I don’t.

When I think about them,  I think about when I got put up on the roof and when I look at the roof I think about all of the different people I have seen over the 130 years.  But I am still on top of Mangamaunu marae.

Mangamaungu Marae. Na Waisea

I am a red tekoteko with green paua shell eyes.  I see some enemies coming towards Mangamaungu. It is an army  of people firing flames towards us. I say in my head “Stop!”  The marae has been alive for 130 years and I have seen everything since I was built. Today I see a white man in a tuxedo coming onto the marae he is in a coffin and it is a blue one.  I think it is Slender man but I can’t see his face because it is so dark. It is night time and because the marae doesn’t have any electricity I can’t see properly. It is not Slender man the person I saw had been whaling and he had drowned in the dark mysterious ocean he is dead now. I am still at the top of Mangamaungu marae and I will be there forever protecting the people of this marae.