A Dog Barks in the Night

Te Ao Hou, May 1957, Page 44

A Dog Barks in the Night by Mereana. Form II Tawera Maori School KA PAHUPAHU HE KURI I TE PO Ko to matou kainga kei Whakatane, i tua mai o Ruatoki i te putatanga mai o te awa i nga awaawa ki te mania. Nga korero o te pakiwaitara nei mo Taneatua teina o Toroa, te Kapene o Mataatua. I nga wa o mua, tera te tamaiti tuatahi a Taneatua ko Mariko te ingoa me tana kuri. Te Kuri nei he tipua a te ahua he atua hoki ina e maharatia ana e nga tangata o enei wa. Te ingoa o te kuri nei ko Okiwa, a i ana mahi whekiki i tetahi tangata ko Irakahanui te ingoa, patua ana e Irakahanui kia mate, whiu atu ana ki roto i tetahi roto. Kahore te roto nei e kitea ana i enei wa, engari, ka ta ana te kuri nei i tana manawa, ka pupuhi te hau Okiwa i waho o te awaawa o Whakatane, ka hari mai hoki i te kohu mai o Ruatoki ki Opouriao. Kei te po anake pupuhi ai te hau nei, kia kore ai e mate nga hua i te huka, a, mehemea he toa koe ki te noho i reira, ka rongo koe i te kuri nei e pahupahu ana i etahi o nga po. We live in the Whakatane Valley near Ruatoki where the river flows out of the gorges on to the plain. This story concerns Taneatua who was a brother of Toroa, captain of the Mataatua canoe. Long; long ago, Taneatua's eldest child named Mariko owned a demon dog. Evidently this dog was a tipua with supernatural powers, because it is still known to the people of today. This dog, Okiwa, annoyed a certain man called Irakahanui who killed it and threw the body into a pond. Nowadays the pond is invisible but whenever the dog breathes the Okiwa wind blows out of the Whakatane gorge, bringing fog and mist from Ruatoki to Opouriao. The wind blows only during the hours of darkness, to protect the crops from frost on certain nights. If you are brave enough to camp where this happened, you will hear this dog barking on certain nights.