Tenei au, Tenei au

Tauparapara
Chant

Tenei au, tenei au
Ko te hokai nei i taku tapuwae
Ko te hokai-nuku
Ko te hokai-rangi
Ko te hokai o to tipuna
A Tane-nui-a-rangi
I pikitia ai
Ki te Rangi-tuhaha
Ki Tihi-o-manono
I rokohina atu ra
Ko Io-Matua-Kore anake
I riro iho ai
Nga Kete o te Wananga
ko te Kete Tuauri
ko te Kete Tuatea
ko te Kete Aronui
Ka tiritiria, ka poupoua
Ki a Papatuanuku
Ka puta te Ira-tangata
Ki te whai-ao
Ki te Ao-marama

Tihei mauri ora!

Here am I, here am I
here am I swiftly moving by
the power of my karakia for swift movement
Swiftly moving over the earth
Swiftly moving through the heavens
the swift movement of your ancestor
Tane-nui-a-rangi
who climbed up
to the isolated realms
to the summit of Manono
and there found
Io-the-Parentless alone
He brought back down
the Baskets of Knowledge
the Basket called Tuauri
the Basket called Tuatea
the Basket called Aronui.
Portioned out, planted
in Mother Earth
the life principle of humankind
comes forth into the dawn
into the world of light

I sneeze, there is life!

Home › About › Knowledge Baskets Legend

Knowledge Baskets Legend

When Tāne decided to climb up to the heavens to seek the baskets of knowledge for mankind, his brother Whiro was angry. Whiro thought he had more right to the baskets than Tāne, because he was the elder brother.

The two brothers struggled for power, but it was Tāne who was favoured by Io, the supreme power, so Tāne was allowed to ascend the twelve heavens.

His task was made more difficult by Whiro who sent plagues of insects, reptiles and carrion-eating birds to attack Tāne.

But Tāne, with the aid of the winds, was able to proceed until he reached the summit of all the heavens.

Here, at Toi-ō-ngā-rangi, he was welcomed by Io and received the three baskets of knowledge and the two sacred stones.
The baskets, or kete were –

The kete-aronui which held all the knowledge that could help mankind

The kete-tuauri which held the knowledge of ritual, memory and prayer

and the kete-tuatea which contained knowledge of evil or makutu, which was harmful to mankind.

The stones, or whatukura held the power of knowledge and added mana to the teaching of knowledge.

On his return journey, Tāne was again attacked by Whiro and his allies, the birds and insects. Tāne would have been defeated if the winds had not once more, come to his rescue. The winds blew the birds and insects back down to earth where they remain today.

When Tāne finally reached earth again he placed the baskets and stones in a special house of knowledge – whare kura, which he had built before his journey to the heavens.

Whiro was back on earth too, and he demanded that he should be the one to take care of the treasures.

But Tāne and his supporters refused Whiro’s demands and Whiro was eventually banished to the underworld where he still lives, and continually tries to cause trouble for gods and mankind.

Tane-te-wānanga-ā-rangi (Tāne, bringer of knowledge from the sky) was left to maintain order on earth.

Na Tane

Na tane i piki ake ki te toi ahurewa   

Ki tiki i nga kete o te matauranga

Ko te kete tuauri  
Ko te kete tuatea

Ko te kete aronui 
Katahi ka hora ki te ao kikokiko

Ki te ao hurihuri
Ki o tatou tipuna

Ka hao te taura herenga tangata

O te kura o Ara Raki e

O te kura o Ara Raki e

O te tima o Roimata Toroa