Retelling of Rata and the Totara Tree.

Hundreds of years ago, when the maori made up most of the population there lived a man named Rata. Rata had been commanded by his chief to craft a giant waka so their tribe could go on a voyage. The chief wanted the waka to be made of the tallest tree in the forest so Raata and his men set off the find a tree.

After many days of tramping through the bush Rata and his men found a tree great enough to be their victim. They began to chop down the tree but Rata had forgotten to recite the chant which would grant him the tree for Tane the god of the forest . The  men finished chopping down the tree and then walked home. They came back the next day and there the tree was standing in all its glory without any sign of damage. This carried on for the next couple of days until on night Rata to see what was going on. He hid in a bush and saw many bug-a-lugs come and restore the tree.

It was then he realized that he had forgotten to say the chant to tank Tane. He repeated the ancient chant and the the next day he and his men chopped down the tree again and that night instead of the animals renewing the tree the crafted it into a waka for all the men and woman!.

The End