CHAPTER 1
Way back before we had houses and cars there was a beautiful stream that sparkled and glistened in the sun. The stream was clean and pure and was life-giving. Living within this beautiful place were Maori tribes that cared about the streams. The Maori tribes used the stream for cleaning and cooking and for playing in. Around the stream they built where to live in. Everyday you could hear the birds singing and hear cicadas. The chief of one of these tribes was called Chief Panuku. Everyday he cared for all the animals and creatures that lived in the stream. He used the stream for finding food and rocks for the hangi pit. The clothes the Maori wore were piupiu and cloaks made out of flax. You always heard the children laughing when they were playing in the stream.
CHAPTER 2
One day Chief Panuku was walking down the stream looking for rocks to put in the hangi pit when suddenly he saw a glow come from grassy banks of the stream. When he got closer he saw it was a stone. The stone was beautiful it had amazing Maori designs on it that glowed in the shimmering sun. When he picked it up he knew it was the Mauri stone that symbolizes the connection between man and nature. He also knew that it symbolizes the harmony and peace between man and nature. He went down to stream more and more. He put the Mauri stone in the river and knew it would be protected by everything in the underwater world. He put the Mauri stone in very carefully in case it broke. In the water the stone glistened and shimmered just like the rest of the river.
CHAPTER 3
When Chief Panuku got older, he died - we were born and we built houses, roads, supermarkets and many other things. People began to forget about the streams and started to throw their rubbish in the streams and they became polluted. Now people can't use the streams and rivers. This made Tane-Mahuta very angry and upset so he decided to get someone to protect the Mauri stone. He thought for a long time and he finally made up his mind. He called to Te Awhiorangi, a great taniwha, and said, "I want you to be the Kaitiaki of the Mauri stone". So Te Awhiorangi went to the streams and rivers and was the Kaitiaki of the Mauri stone - he protects it. He makes sure that the connection to man and nature stays alive. Te Awhiorangi qwells in the clean pure water at the source of the stream.
