Tu and Rei and Tuherepunga

Cook Island Legend

Tu and Rei and Tuherepunga

Once upon a time in the olden days, there was a legend about a husband Tu and wife Rei. Rei was pregnant with a pepe without Tu knowing. There’s also a ferocious Taniwha called Tuherepunga, that lives in the Lagoon. One day Tu and Rei decided to go and catch fish for their dinner. So they got into their canoe and paddled off into the Lagoon. As soon as they reached their perfect destination, Tu got his fishing gear out and started to fish. After a while Tu caught some fish for dinner. Rei was very pleased with her husband. Rei wanted to also dive down and get some clams. So she asked her husband, he straight away said No. But she really wanted to go down just once, he let her. He then said before she went down “ I’ll drop down the last line, before we go home.” When Rei went down Tuherepunga came up, looking like REI! (Tuherepunga can always change her appearance, she's like a shapeshifter.) When Tuherepunga was up on the canoe, Tu told her to get inside so they can go to shore. That’s when Rei came up and saw her husband paddling away from her. As she still saw the canoe insight she yelled out to her husband. “Come back to me and get me.” But Tuherepunga kept saying to Tu “Don’t listen to her, I’m your wife , listen to me, she is Tuherepunga.” Rei called to her husband 3 times, but he didn’t go back. Tuherepunga was too convincing. That’s when Rei started her calling to make the sea’s wave build up so high, to try and capsized the canoe. The chant was:

“ Tengaru, Tengaru nei e

Akapukehia, kia tiketike, kia hakahaka

Kare te papa i mua

Kua tikona, ete fai nga hitu

After Rei’s chant she called over and over again till the sea’s wave was so high. Rei end up drifting with the tide and Tu and Rei’s canoe end up capsizing. When their canoe went down Tuherepunga the Taniwha took Tu’s body with her. Rei was saved by the sea. So she went to shore and build a house on the beach. A couple months later she had a pepe boy. His name was Tu. He was named after his father. So every time Rei and pepe Tu came outside their beach house. They would always look out to the sea hoping they would see and find him.

The End