Taniwha tales painted in oils

It’s hard not to get a sense of excitement, wonder and drama when Kahu Paki Paki tells you about his favourite artwork. Elegantly simple and painted by Kahu himself, Heke Pūrere (to flee or escape) portrays the spectacular demise of a taniwha named Ngarara Huarau. The artist and Nelson City Councillor sat down for a chat with Matt Lawrey.

The story goes, Ngarara Huarau, who lived in Mohua/Golden Bay, was holding a woman from Whakatū, named Ruru, captive at Wainui Bay. One day the creature, who was devouring people from across the region, started bringing victims home for Ruru to prepare for him to eat. Ruru went along with this until her captor brought home members of her own whanau. Mortified, Ruru came up with a plan. After biding her time, she suggested Ngarara Huarau should travel to Whakatū to meet her family. The taniwha agreed thinking the invitation would lead to more people for him to eat. Ruru told him she would go ahead to prepare for his visit. In Whakatū, she and her family built a house for Ngarara Huarau to sleep in during his stay. On the evening of the taniwha’s arrival, the family and their guest feasted, danced and sang waiata. When Ngarara Huarau went to bed, Ruru’s family waited until he was asleep, barred the door and set fire to the house. Ngarara Huarau awoke, found himself on fire, and smashed his way out of the burning building. Still alight, he ran all the way to the top of Pikikirunga/Takaka Hill and, knowing that there was water inside the hill, desperately dug into it. The legend goes that, in the process, he created Howard’s Hole and that the stones that litter the top of the hill today are scales that fell from this body as he smashed his way into the earth. Mortally wounded, the taniwha died deep inside the hill; red rocks at Wainui Bay depict the blood that came from his body.

Painted in oil on muka, fabric created from the leftovers from harakeke weaving, the artwork depicts Ngarara Huarau descending, with flames coming off him, towards his death.

Kahu says the painting may be simple but it has a “huge whakapapa” behind it.

“I struggle to find the meaning, the moral of the story, but I think it allows us an insight into the minds of the people who first told the story,” he said.

“I started freehand and I was going to do something very complicated but the less I did on it, the better it looked.”

Kahu whakapapas through Te Ātiawa and is an artist, politician, builder, hunter, te reo student, husband and father of three. Born in Kaikoura, he grew up in towns all over the South Island as a result of his dad’s work with the Forestry Service.

“I think I went to 14 different schools in about seven years,” Kahu said.

After leaving school at 15 to study carpentry at Nelson Polytechnic, Kahu was hired by Ngati Koata at 18 to be a youth worker. The connection with Ngati Koata would end up having a huge impact on his life and lead to him attending a young leaders programme at the United Nations University in Japan.

Ngati Koata then joined Te Ātiawa in supporting Kahu through his studies at the University of Otago from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Governance. It was during his time in Dunedin that he met his future wife, Soraya. After a stint working for Corrections (Kahu) and the university (Soraya), the couple headed to Australia where Kahu worked for a building company in Brisbane. Three years later he owned the business. It was during these years that Kahu and Soraya’s three boys were born. Life and business were good in Queensland but eventually family ties and a desire for the kids to learn te reo pulled them back across The Ditch. When Soraya’s father got sick and she told Kahu she wanted to go home, he was all for it.

“I always knew that I had a debt. Whenever I would come back to Nelson, I would hide. I wouldn’t let people know that I was coming back because I knew the aunties would ask me ‘when are you coming back?”

The family settled in Stoke seven years ago. Kahu managed to keep a low profile for a few months but life changed when local iwi leader Barney Thomas heard that he had been spotted in the supermarket.

“Barney tracked me down and pretty much immediately I started being dragged into the stuff that I suppose I should have been doing,” he said.

Since then Kahu’s been busy in the community, including helping to redevelop the carving school at Te Āwhina Marae, and working in Wakatū Incorporation’s property department. Last year he successfully ran for Nelson City Council in the new Māori Ward after being “volun-told” to run by iwi leaders. It’s a role he’s relishing.

“It’s the best Master’s Degree you could ever do to learn how to be the CEO of a large corporation. You are exposed to a lot of very competent, capable people who provide you with a lot of very good competent advice in an environment that’s reasonably well-structured for mutual success,” he said. “It’s a lot better than I expected.”