Most New Zealanders will be familiar with the Māori story of how Māui, a demigod, fished up the North Island. Māui is also credited with bringing fire to the world after tricking the goddess of fire, Mahuika, into giving him her fingernails of fire.
Furious at his trickery, she threw a burning toenail on the ground to set the mountain on fire as Māui fled. He changed into a hawk (kāhu) and escaped the flames, but his wings' underside was singed a glowing red.
Kāhu, our majestic native bird of prey, is embodied in lore as a messenger to the gods –smart, cheeky and discerning. So it seemed the perfect mascot to represent NZME's section, introduced eight months ago, devoted to Māori content.
Kāhu is NZME's digital platform that showcases Māori stories and talent drawn from our newsrooms across Aotearoa. It features our exciting young Māori journalists: Leah Tebbutt, Te Rina Triponel, Julia Gabel, Zoe Holland, Astley Nathan and Will Terite; provocative commentators Shane Te Pou, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Merepeka Raukawa-Tait; and contributing columnists Stacey Morrison and Aroha Awarau. Kāhu's content is complemented by the best of Māori news from media partners Māori Television, and RNZ, including Moana Maniapoto's award-winning news show, Te Ao with Moana.
On Monday, we launch a refreshed Kāhu simple in design, enhanced by a colour palette reflecting the hawk's natural environment. Kāhu's Instagram account will also be launched as @kahunews.