TOITŪ TE KUPU

MANU TUKUTUKU... FLYING HIGH!

Today I’d like to talk about something that can be a little playful, somewhat formal and in some cases, downright dreadful.

KITES. Yep, kites!

Our tīpuna Māori o mua, our Māori ancestors of times gone by, had kites and they gave them several names depending on what the kites were made of or what they were used for.

Let’s start with the nice generic name of “manu tukutuku”.

As we already know, manu is Māori for bird, which in the case of a kite makes sense.

Then there is the second part of the name, “tukutuku”.

The word, tukutuku comes from the verb, “tuku” which means “to release”.

This word is used to describe the action of releasing the “aho” or “line” that is attached to the kite and held by the kite-flyer.

Another ingoa Māori for kite is “manu aute”, aute being the tree, the paper mulberry, whose bark was used to make the kite.

Manu tukutuku and manu aute were used for fun, just like they are today, with midair fights, competitions based on tricks and seeing who could go the highest.

Manu tukutuku and manu aute were also used to send messages.

For example, upon the death of my ancestor, Porourangi, the eponymous ancestor of Ngāti Porou in Whāngārā, a manu was flown to announce his passing and it is said that his younger brother, Tahu Pōtiki, the eponymous ancestor of Kāi Tahu could see it flying from his home in Te Waipounamu.

These manu were also used to read “tohu” or signs, such as predictions as to how an upcoming battle would end, or to track down the location of someone who had done wrong and needed to be brought to justice.

Manu tukutuku... A little bit of fun, a little bit of serious.