Tamariki A Ihowa Issue 25

TAMARIKI A IHOWĀ Tamariki Me Te Taiohi Pukapuka

MĀORI POSTAL AOTEAROA Issue 25, Hakihea 2021 Children’s and Teens Magazine

As you hold these candies, turn them and you will see …….

The M becomes a W, an E, and then a 3.

They tell a Kirihimete story. It’s one I’m sure you know. It took place in a stable a long, long time ago.

The E is for the East where the whetu shone so bright.

The M is for the Manger where pēpi Ihu slept that pō.

The 3 is for the Wise Men bringing koha for the King.

W is for Worship. anahera sing!

“Hallelujah” the

So as you eat these candies or share them with whānau, remember Ihu is the reason for Kirihimete here below.

Kirihimete – A Koha from Ihowā ……. 03 God’s Gift to Us ……. 07 The Tama of Ihowā is Born ……. 08 Henare Wiremu Taratoa ……. 09 Candy Cane Poem ..….. 11 Connect the Dots ……. 12 Why Celebrate Kirihimete? …… 13 Waiata “Kirihimete O Aotearoa” …… 14 He Kirihimete Pohutukawa ……. 15 He Mahere a Te Atua Mo Koe ……. 16 Rapua Nga Rereketanga Tekau ……. 17 I Spy ……. 18 Te Tunu Me Te Maraki ……. 19 The First Kiwi Christmas ……. 21 Enrolment Form ……. 22 Translation of Words Used in this Issue: Anahera – Angel Aroha – Love Hari – Happy Hepara – Shepherd Hoa – Friend Ihowā – Jehovah God Ihu Karaiti – Jesus Christ Kaiako – Teacher Kararehe – Animals Kareti – Carrrot Kingi – King Kino – Bad

Kirihimete – Christmas Koha – Gift Kukamo – Cucumber Kura – School Mā – White Motu – Country Paipera Tapu – Holy Bible Pēpi – Baby Pō – Night Pōuri – Sad Ripeka – Cross Ruka – Luke

Taitāhake – Young Man Tama – Son Tamaiti – Child Tāmaki Makaurau – Auckland Tāngata – People Titiro – Look Toru – Three Wāhine – Woman Waru – Eight Whakapono – Trust Whāma – Farm Whānau – Family Whare – Home Whero – Red Whetu – Star

KIRIHIMETE / CHRISTMAS A KOHA FROM IHOWĀ A long time ago Ihowā sent an anahera called Gabriel to the town of Nazareth in Israel. A young wāhine lived there called Mere, and the anahera had a very important message for her. She was going to have a pēpi and he was to be called Ihu, because he was the tama of Ihowā. Mere wondered how this would happen as she was not married but told the anahera “Let it happen as Ihowā says”.

Mere was going to marry a taitāhake called Hohepa. She had a lot of aroha for him. When he found out about the pēpi, he didn’t understand and was pōuri. He decided he wasn’t going to marry Mere.

That pō Hohepa had a dream. He saw the anahera who told him it was ok to marry Mere. The anahera explained the pēpi she was having was the tama of Ihowā.

He was to be named Ihu and would save tāngata from their sins, just as Ihowā had promised a long time before to the prophet Ihaia.

When Hohepa woke up, he did as the anahera had told him and married Mere.

They both aroha Ihowā and each other very much, and were very hari about being chosen to have the tama of Ihowā.

Before Mere had the pēpi Ihu, a ruler called Augustus wanted to count all the tāngata in his kingdom. Mere and Hohepa had to be counted as well. They needed to travel to a city called Bethlehem.

They set off early one morning because the city was a long way from where they lived in Nazareth.

It took Mere and Hohepa quite a few days to reach the city of Bethlehem.

By the time they arrived, they were very tired.

As they entered the city, they saw many tāngata who had all come to be counted. Everyone was looking for a place to stay. Mere and Hohepa wondered where they would find a place to rest before the pēpi was born.

Every room in the city was full, and Mere and Hohepa could not find anywhere to stay. Not even the innkeeper had a place. He said there was no room for them.

But then the inn-keeper told them they could rest in the place where the kararehe lived.

That night pēpi Ihu was born. Mere wrapped him in warm strips of cloth and laid him in the manger. (A manger was a large trough where the kararehe fed from.)

This pēpi was the koha of aroha from Ihowā to the world.

Nearby on a hill another exciting thing happened. An anahera was telling a group of hēpara that the Saviour, Ihu Karaiti, had been born in Bethlehem and to go and see him.

After the anahera finished speaking, the sky was filled with lots and lots of beautiful anahera singing praises to Ihowā.

As soon as the anahera left, the hepara went down to Bethlehem and found Mere, Hohepa and Ihu. They were so hari to see this special pēpi who was the tama of Ihowā.

When they had seen the pēpi, they went to tell everyone the good news that Ihu had been born!!

Some time later,a long way from Bethlehem, some wise men were following a beautiful, bright whetu.

They knew a very special Kingi was going to be born sometime, and the whetu was going to lead them to him.

The wise men followed the whetu day and night until at last it came to the place where Mere, Hohepa and Ihu lived. They gave Ihu a koha of gold, frankincense and myrrh and they worshipped him.

For unto us a tamaiti is born, to us a tama is given, and the Government will be on his shoulders. And He shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Ihaia 9:6

THE TAMA OF IHOWĀ IS BORN Ruka 2 Mere and Hohepa stayed in a stable. During the pō, a wonderful thing happened! Mere gave birth to Ihu – the tama of Ihowā. She wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger.

Use the code to colour the Picture.

1 – Kōwhai 2 – Pango

3 – Parauri 4 – Whero

5 – Kikorangi 6 – Poroporo

HENARE WIREMU TARATOA Henare was born about 1830 on Matakana Island near Tauranga.

When he grew older he met missionary Henry Williams, who lived in the Bay of Islands. Henare learned about Ihu Karaiti from the Paipera Tapu and decided to follow Him. When he was baptised to show that he had put his whakapono in Ihu, Henare took Henry Williams name and became known as Henare Wiremu Taratoa.

Sometime later, Henare trained as a kaiako at St John’s College in Tāmaki Makaurau, which had been built by Bishop Selwyn. The College also trained missionaries, had a kura and a whāma.

Later Henare became a kaiako at a kura in Otaki. He became very unhappy with the kino things that were happening around the motu – Māori land was being taken unfairly and there was fighting in different areas between the local iwi and the Government soldiers.

In 1861 Henare returned to Tauranga and opened a Christian kura. As the fighting got closer, Henare felt he should defend his people because he was a rangatira of Ngai Te Rangi iwi.

Reverend Browne had a mission station at Pukehinahina. Chief Rāwiri Puhirake, Henare and their toa built a pa right next to it as they didn’t think it was right to fight on mission land. They also built a pahiko and a kēti on the boundary, and this is why it is called Gate Pa. The British soldiers were coming to the Bay of Plenty after fighting in the Waikato. The Commander knew that Māori toa were coming from the south to help their hoa, and that a lot of kai Was being brought up from the East Coast to feed them. The Commander sent Colonel Henry Greer and his men to Tauranga, and then he ordered some kaipuke to block the harbour so that the waka bringing the toa and kai could not get through.

Before the battle began, Henare wrote to Colonel Greer asking that they follow some tikanga about being kind to any soldiers or Māori toa who were hurt in battle or taken prisoner. At the top of his tikanga Henare had written the kupu of Ihu from the Paipera Tapu – “If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him drink .” Colonel Greer agreed to follow this tikanga.

Chief Rāwiri Puhirake got 250 men to build a strong fort with many tunnels where his toa could wait for the enemy. It was very cleverly built. They were ready for battle.

On 28/29 April 1864 the battle at Gate Pa (Pukehinahina) was fought.

Colonel Greer had over 1600 soldiers that began to attack the pa. However, the Māori defences were so strong that many of the first soldiers to enter the pa were killed.

They also became confused during the fighting in the trenches and with so many tunnels, that by evening Colonel Greer commanded them to retreat.

During the pō Henare Taratoa remembered the kupu of Ihu and the tikanga of the battle, so took wai to the hurt and dying British soldiers.

In the morning, everyone was amazed the Māori had won the battle against such a large army Sadly Henare Taratoa did not live to see rangimārie for his people. Two months later he and Rāwiri Puhirake were killed during another battle at Te Ranga.

On his body there was found a copy of his tikanga for battle and some pages from the Paipera Tapu. Even on the battlefield, Henare wanted to show aroha to his enemies.

Titiro at a CANDY CANE WHAT DO YOU SEE? Stripes that are Whero LIKE HIS BLOOD SHED FOR ME!

Ma for my Saviour, WHO’S SINLESS AND PURE!

“J” is for Jesus, MY LORD, THAT’S FOR SURE!

TURN IT AROUND and a staff you will see.

Jesus, MY HĒPARA, is coming for me!

Connect the Dots.

Colour the Candy Cane.

WHY CELEBRATE KIRIHIMETE? Ever wonder WHY? Why do we have Kirihimete? Why did Ihowā send His only tama, Ihu, to earth?

Ihu is a koha from Ihowā to us. We remember this at Kirihimete and may even give a koha to our hoa or whānau, as a way of remembering that Ihowā gave the greatest koha to us.

This is how much Ihowā aroha YOU!! Ihu left His whare in heaven to make a way for us to be a hoa with Him. Heaven has no sickness, sadness or badness. He came to earth where there’s a lot of sickness, sadness and bad things happening because He aroha you soooo much that He wanted to give you a way that you could have your sins forgiven and be accepted into the whānau of Ihowā.

Before Ihu came to earth, there was no way we were able to be a hoa of Ihowā but Ihu came to change that. Would you like to be a hoa of Ihu? Do you know you are a sinner? Have you ever told a lie? Ihowā says to “Obey your parents.” Have you ever disobeyed your parents? The Paipera Tapu calls the wrong things we do “sin”, and because we all do wrong things, we are all sinners.

Did you know that Ihu lived a perfect life, died on a wooden ripeka and then came back to life toru days later? Ihu was punished for your sin. He did this because He aroha you and wants you to become a hoa of His and a tamaiti of Ihowā?

You can pray/talk to Ihowā and tell Him you are sorry. Tell Him you understand Ihu was punished so you didn’t have to be, and you want Ihu to take charge of your life. You are choosing to live for Him and aroha Him with all your heart, mind and soul.

When you receive Ihu you will still be a tamaiti of your whānau, but you will also be a part of the whānau of Ihowā!

On the first day of Christmas My true love gave to me A pukeko in a ponga tree On the second day of Christmas My true love gave to me Two kumara And a pukeko in a ponga tree On the third day of Christmas … and so on, until ….

On the twelfth day of Christmas My true love gave to me Twelve piupiu swinging Eleven haka lessons Ten juicy fish heads Nine sacks of pipis Eight plants of puha Seven eels a swimming Six pois a twirling Five – big – fat – pigs!!

Four huhu grubs Three flax kits Two kumara And a pukeko in a ponga tree!

So how did the Pohutukawa tree come to be known as our Kirihimete tree?

In 1833 Henry Williams held a Kirihimete church service underneath the native Pohutukawa.

It wasn’t until 1867 that it was written down that the Pohutukawa tree was thought of as a Kirihimete tree by New Zealanders.

Ferdinand von Hochstetter noted that the early pakeha settlers decorated their churches and homes with its branches and beautiful whero flowers.

In 1941 a Kirihimete carol was written about the Pohutukawa tree. Ted Forsman said that the tufts (flowers) were “our snow”.

HE KIRIHIMETE POHUTUKAWA

When people think of Kirihimete trees they often think of pine trees. However, in Aotearoa, the Pohutukawa tree is often called our Kirihimete tree. It is often seen on Kirihimete items in stores. One reason is because it is the traditional Kirihimete colours of whero and kakariki.

It also flowers around Kirihimete time.

RAPUA NGA REREKETANGA TEKAU

FIND TEN DIFFERENCES

TE TUNU ME TE MARAKI Cooking with Maraki

INGREDIENTS: 1 KARETI 1 KUKAMO

CUCUMBER CHRISTMAS TREE

Peel the kareti. Cut off the top and the bottom.

From the thick end of the kareti, cut waru rounds, about ½ cm thick.

Using a mini whetu shaped cutter, cut a whetu from each piece of kareti.

Divide and cut the remaining piece of kareti into waru pieces to form the trunks of your kukamo trees.

Put the whetu and kareti pieces to one side.

Using a vegetable peeler, cut long strips from the kukamo – the entire length long.

KUKAMO RAKAU KIRIHIMETE Starting at the smallest end, carefully fold a strip of kukamo back and forth, starting with small folds and getting gradually bigger with each one, until you have created a rakau shape.

Push the folds together, and push a cocktail stick through to skewer them from the top to the bottom.

Push the cocktail stick into one of the kareti pieces, big fold down.

Push a whetu onto the other end of the cocktail stick.

Carefully separate the two folds a little so that the kukamo fills the space between the kareti pieces.

Stand your edible kukamo rakau Kirihimete on a plate.

Repeat until you have made as many as you need.

Would you or someone in your whānau like to know more about Ihowā and the Paipera Tapu?

Ask an adult in your whānau to fill in this form, and send it to us. You will receive lessons each month teaching you about Ihowā.

Send them back to us for marking, and earn certificates (3 month, 6 month & yearly thereafter).

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Send this form to: Māori Postal Aotearoa P O Box 10 Whanganui 4500

MĀORI POSTAL AOTEAROA P O Box 10, Whanganui info.maoripostal@gmail.com www.maoripostal.co.nz