The South Island

Hero image: Te Waipounamu tangata whenua place names map [screenshot]. Retrieved from the Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand website, in 2025.

The Canoe of Māui, Place of Greenstone

Most people will be familiar with the destictive ‘k’ sound used by Kāi Tahu, heard in words such as ‘rakatira’ and ‘rakatahi’. The iwi also use their own local words: for example, ‘poua’ and ‘taua’ are used to refer to female and male elders, respectively.

These linguistic features continue to be celebrated today, keeping the dialect alive in whānau, marae, and educational settings – as there was a time very few people of Kāi Tahu spoke their own dialect.

Hana O’Regan (Potiki): The language and people of Kāi Tahu

Iwi: Kāi Tahu

My language is my awakening

Hana grew up in the region of her Kāi Tahu people and later dedicated herself to reviving their dialect.

The Kotahi Mano Kāika project was established to assist whānau to speak Māori and to enable children to be raised in their own dialect. This project has been running for many years, and now an entire generation has been raised speaking the Kāi Tahu dialect, assisting in its revitalisation for the future.

Tūhawaiki is the person

Listen to Hana talk about the ancestor Tūhawaiki, who is being discussed at a hui. He left behind many lessons for the younger generations, along with remarkable examples of courage and leadership shown during his lifetime.

The purpose of these hui is to build the people in the spirit of aroha and to deepen their learnings of the land. The ancestors have walked this land for generations – now it is the responsibility of the young people to carry these traditions and local practices into the future.

Going back to the marae

When people return to their marae, they are then able to strengthen their identity.

While Kāi Tahu reside in the modern world, their young people look to both the future and the wisdom of tradition to guide them. Drawing on Pākehā education and Māori knowledge alike, they weave together the skills and insights that will shape their paths in life.

Words and phrases unique to this region heard in the excerpts:

● Kāi Tahu / Ngāi Tahu

● takata / people

● kā taoka / the treasures

● whānuitaka / breadth

● whanauka / relation

● rika / hand

● rakatahi / youth

● tikaka / traditions / practices

● mātauraka / education

● akoraka / learnings

● tētahi / a (singular)