Purapurawhetu
by Hana Weka

In the dark folds of ranginui the Skyfather’s great cloak lived the forgotten brother of Tane Mahuta, Tangaroa, Rongomatane, Tawhiri Matea, Tumatauenga, the gods of the new world, created when Tane Mahuta separted his mother the Earth, and his father the Sky.

Uru was so silent that even his father Rangunui, had forgotten about him.

Sometimes his brother, Tawhiri Matea, god of the Wind would roar over Ranginui and peer curiously into the dark creases of Ranginui, and then whirl madly back to Papatuanuku, the mother of the gods, convinced nobody lived with his father.

The forgotten brother would weep silent tears which hardened as they slipped down his face and fell twinkling at his feet. Uru would gather up his teardrops and quickly hide them in a basket. "Firstborn though I am" he mourned silently, "what use am I to this new world that is being created by my brothers?" And once again the tears would come an Uru would stoop quickly and gather up his twinkling tears.

Far below him he could see his mother, Papatuanuku being dressed by Tane Mahuta, in the most beautiful gown of green and yellow and rich purple. Around her rippled the glistening blue wathers of Tangaroa, god of the Sea, and now and then long, blue ribbons would weave in and out of Papa’s gown ending in little blue gems that sparkled in the light.

Seeing how beautiful Papatuanuku looked, his father Ranginui would weep for her and the world would disappear in a mist of grey wetness.

All the while, the tears in Uru’s basket grew and grew until there were many baskets at the feet of the forgotten brother. Then one still evening he heard his name being called. "Uru, my tuakana, I need your help." At once, Uru wrapped Ranginui’s black cloak around him and vanished.

The voice called. "Uru, Uru, my eldest brother, I need your help. Look at our father. See how unhappy he is. Our mother has sent me to teach him how to be happy again. But I need your help because you know him better than we do."

Uru replied, "What do you want me to do?"

Tane Mahuta answered, " I want your baskets."

"They are nothing," said Uru, " only the sadness of a forgotten brother."

Tane Mahuta smiled and touched the top of a basket, "Open it brother."

Uru lifted the lid and at once the sky was lit with bright lights that tumbled and chattered around him. Little feet danced all over him and little voices called to Uru, "Father, father, here we are, your little seed of light. Your purapurawhetu."

"Just two baskets, " said Tane. "Our father will not be lonely in the dark anymore if some of your children are with him."

Uru nodded and said, "Take two baskets, my brother, but don’t come back again. My children and I shall not be here should you return."

Tane Mahuta scooped up two baskets and hurried away and as he went he sprinkled little gatherings of stars all over Ranginui until he glowed with millions of lights. Then he took the empty baskets and shook the stardust into the air and flung the baskets into space. One fell away into the west like a giant orange globe and the other spun itself into a pale, silvery ball that hung above Ranginui and Uru’s children.

As Tane Mahuta returned to Papatuanuku he thought he heard Ranginui chuckle and high, piping voices calling to each other as they twinkled in the night sky.

"Father, Father, here we are, your purapurawhetu."

                                                            The End