Tāne was in the depths of despair. No one would help him. Suddenly, a beautiful bird flopped at his feet. It had a delicate beak and delicate feet. Its wings were massive, and each feather was a different colour of the rainbow. "Kiwi, will you live on the forest floor and eat the insects so my trees can grow tall and strong?" asked Tāne. Without hesitating, Kiwi said, "Sweet as, I'll do it!"
"You will have to make massive sacrifices," Tāne warned Kiwi. "Your beak will grow long and unlike any other bird in the world, your nostrils will be at the end of your beak, so you can smell the insects I need you to eat. Your feet will grow strong, your feathers will fade to brown so you can hide on the forest floor. You will never see the sun again; you will never enjoy soaring above the canopy of the forest. You will spend your whole life in the damp and darkness of the forest floor. Will you, do it?"
"Of course," said Kiwi. "Kiwi will always help."
Tāne spoke to the other birds. "Tūī, you were too frightened to help. As a mark of your cowardice, I will place white feathers under your throat. Pūkeko, I will send you to live in the swamps, you will become the swamp hen. Koekoeā, never again will you build your own nest as you will lay your eggs in nests built by other birds. Ruru, you would not help because of your vanity. You will only fly in darkness."
Tāne turned to Kiwi. "Kiwi, because of your sacrifice, you will always be New Zealand's most loved bird. A whole nation, a country of people, will call themselves Kiwi after you."
Contrary to belief this is not a traditional Māori legend. It was in fact written by Alwyn Owen in 1965 and played on Radio New Zealand on Sunday mornings. It was one of my favourite childhood stories. My sister and I would hop into bed with our parents, dropping toast crumbs, eagerly waiting for story time. There have been many different versions told and retold over the years. This version is mine.
I started retelling it while working as a tour guide at Te Papa. As I walked through the natural history exhibition, Mountains to Sea, there was a tūī, a pūkeko, a koekoeā, a ruru and finally a kiwi, all lined up in a row, so I used those specific birds. I found visitors were more engaged when I wove a narrative around exhibitions rather than just giving facts.
It was not until I started working at the Whanganui Regional Museum that I began to question the authenticity of the story. The white feathers used as an emblem of cowardice gave it away. Māori were known to have worn white feathers for peace but never cowardice. It was a tradition that came from Britain during World War I when conscientious objectors were the victims of the ghastly practice of giving men white feathers to humiliate them into enlisting.
That aside, it is still a wonderful story, one that I enjoy re-telling because it gives the listener information about the habitats and behaviours of some of our favourite Aotearoa birds.
And it's inclusive for all of us who call ourselves Kiwi.
• Lisa Reweti is programmes presenter at Whanganui Regional Museum.
