Rongo Morrell, left, and Messiah Cunningham, of Flaxmere College, get to grips with kia o rahi at Flaxmere Park, Hastings. Photo / Paul Taylor
Rongo Morrell, left, and Messiah Cunningham, of Flaxmere College, get to grips with kia o rahi at Flaxmere Park, Hastings. Photo / Paul Taylor
It was almost ticking off another item on the bucket list for war veteran Nolan Raihania as he finally got to watch a game of ki o rahi in Flaxmere on Friday.
The 88-year-old Mr Raihania first became aware of the game before he went off to serve in WorldWar II at the age of 17, the longer-serving soldiers had played ki o rahi to pass the time when the desert campaigns in northern Africa had ended.
"I never got any chance to see it played," he said, after travelling from Nuhaka to the dedication of Hawke's Bay's first ki o rahi venue in Flaxmere Park, with its seven outer-circle pou and central, carved Oamaru-stone tupu.
Mr Raihania told a gathering, he was at Te Aute College when a former staff member, invalided out in the war, returned - "all bandaged up" - and told the students about the events abroad, including the game, in which two sides battle for points scored mainly by touching a central post with a ball, or whatever other object which could be used instead.
Mr Raihania then went on to serve in Italy, and is now one of four surviving members the 28th Maori Battalion credited for reviving the game.
On Friday, he sat with former New Zealand Rugby Union councillor and Maori Advisory Board member Tom Mulligan, their two white plastic seats symbolising a hospitality box, harbouring for a short time the Ranfurly Shield, as they watched two teams from Flaxmere College, and referee Rakei Ngaia.
Mr Mulligan, who said Maori All Black teams would not have been aware of the game, but suggested had they been, history may have taken another course.
He was at Te Aute in 1951-53, in the rugby 1st XV, but said: "Had we known about this game, we would have played it."
The seven pou were carved under the direction of Flaxmere resident Thompson Hokianga, who blessed each around the perimeter, before Mr Raihania unveiled the tupu, carved by John George, from Omahu. Yesterday's ball, or ki as it is known, was made from good local flax or harakeke.
Competitions are being developed in schools, but Flaxmere's ever-enthusiastic Hastings district councillor Henare O'Keefe, a former rugby player, reckoned the village is about to become the "headquarters".
"Teams will come here to challenge Flaxmere, but we'll be sending them away with their tails between their legs," he said. "Well, that's the intention, anyway."
