This book is dedicated to all those of Ngati Kuia
descent. A huge mihi to Kim Hippolite for sharing your
knowledge, wisdom and stories with me.
A very special acknowledgement to some of the tamariki
at Tahunanui Kindergarten. Kia ora for letting me honour
your beautiful artwork.

He mihi aroha kei a koe e te rangatira a Kim. Tena koe
mo tou matauranga ki ahau.

He mihi, he mihi, he mihi.

This book was created and published on StoryJumper™

Publish your own children's book:

www.storyjumper.com

My Koro and his whanau used to live on the Boulder Bank in
Whakatu, Nelson.
They used to fish everyday. When I close my eyes, I can almost
imagine I was there too.
My tupuna would fish for Tamure, or Snapper as you may know it.

They were really great fishermen.

They would then take the Tamure back for the village to cook and
eat. There was always plenty of Tamure for everyone to share.

My Koro would say special karakia before they fished, before they
cooked the Tamure and before they ate it.

There was always so much to remember and so many tupuna to
give thanks to everyday.

My Koro would acknowledge Ranginui the Sky Father and Papatuanuku
the Earth Mother to ask for their guidance and permission to fish.

He would then greet Tangaroa the guardian of the moana,
asking Tangaroa to give them enough Tamure to feed the
village.

There was always enough Tamure for everyone to share. Not one person
was ever hungry.

For a long, long time, my tupuna fished day after day.

My Koro taught his mokopuna and tamariki how to recite the karakia, how
to throw out the nets and pull them back in, and how to cook and feed the
village.

They were very special times sharing traditions and knowledge.

It was a beautiful day. The Ra was shining and the manu
were singing their stunning tunes.

On the horizon, my Koro could see a boat sailing into
Whakatu. It was a huge, tall boat and nothing like my Koro
had ever seen before.

It was about one hundred times as big as his waka.

They people on the boat were dressed in funny clothes and
they were speaking a language that my Koro had never
heard before. He could not understand them.

They threw out handfuls of fishing nets and started to catch
a lot of Tamure. More than my Koro knew lived there.