In 2018, three friends sat around the fire with a desire to have fun with te reo Māori. In 2020, Kura Rēhia was founded. With immense support and enthusiasm from our community, we are proud to share our first board game, KAUPAPA.
Kura Rēhia is about celebrating te reo Māori through play.
Our bilingual games help whānau and school communities learn te reo Māori by playing together (rather than memorising lists), creating deep learning and connection.
Our aim is for Aotearoa to experience te reo Māori as central to how we have fun together as whānau and friends.
Kia kawea tātou e te rēhia.
Let us be taken by the spirit of play.
Kia ora! We are happy you're here.
We are Kura Rēhia's co-founders, Rosie Remmerswaal and Kuruho Wereta. As flatmates, we wanted to play together in te reo, so we made Kaupapa for ourselves.
When we realised how much our community wanted to play too, we reached out to Aroha Tamihana and Hēmi Kelly to collaborate and soon, Kura Rēhia was born. In 2023, Kuruho returned to his kāinga to create alongside his whānau, and we formed a Pae Ruruhau to work alongside Rosie to continue to grow the kaupapa.
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Excellence in Physical Games
The Pavs: NZ Game Awards 2022
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Voted Top 50 & Top 10
Aotearoa Top 50 Māori Products
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Excellence in Accessibility
The Pavs: NZ Game Awards 2022
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The Tactile Taste
The Pavs: NZ Game Awards 2022
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Gold Award Winner
Pride in Print Awards 2022
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The Accessible Ambrosia
The Pavs: NZ Game Awards 2022
Te Pae Ruruhau
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Kingi Biddle (Ngati Whakaue, Te Arawa)
Kingi Areta Richard Biddle was raised in the pride-lands of Rotorua. He pūkenga mātauranga, he pūkōrero, he pou tikanga, a weaver of worlds and an emanator of aroha, Kingi brings a puna of kōrero, connection and depth to the Pae Ruruhau o Kura Rēhia.
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Renei Ngawati (Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Pōrou)
Renei is a wellspring of experience in the fields of education, health, recreation and Māori development. She brings her dedication to creating accessible and equitable outcomes to the Pae Ruruhau, creating those connections with the things that help whānau thrive.
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Aroha Tamihana (Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāti Raukawa)
As the graphic designer for Kaupapa, Aroha brings her depth of understanding to the Pae Ruruhau. She also lends her wealth of experience garnered by reconnecting her whakapapa line to te reo Māori, and creating her business, Maimoa Creative.
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Rewa Worley (Ngā Puhi, Ngāti Porou)
A long-time game nerd, poet and kaiako, Rewa Worley knows first-hand the benefits of making things fun. Connecting the worlds of science, reo Māori and play, Rewa brings a huge sense of fun and creativity to the Pae Ruruhau.
The team behind Kaupapa
Rosie Remmerswaal
A designer, teacher, facilitator and a life-long learner. Rosie's love of play, respect for te reo Māori and commitment to Te Tiriti led to collaborations to create tools to fuel awareness, learning and passion for te reo. Rosie's background is in designing worlds for films and television, and she continues to see the world through this lens.
Rosie is of Dutch, Irish, Welsh and Scottish descent and currently lives in Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland.
Kuruho Wereta
As a weaver and wood carver, Kuruho integrates mahi toi and tikanga Māori into every component of Kura Rēhia’s work. Kuruho’s commitment to tikanga is also reflected in his work with rangatahi, as a wānanga facilitator, in the environmental and recreation sectors across the motu with DOC and on Te Kāhui Kura Māori (Māori Advisory Board) of Recreation Aotearoa.
Kuruho is of Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga, Te Ati Awa and Ngāti Toa Rangatira descent.
Aroha Tamihana
Aroha grew up separated from her Māori culture but in adulthood felt called to reconnect with her Māori heritage and identity. Aroha and her husband are committed to their tamariki growing up bilingual in a country where the Māori language is alive and thriving. As well as her work with Kura Rēhia, Aroha is the owner of Maimoa Creative, which was born out of her desire to fuse her passions of design and te ao Māori to help normalise te reo Māori in Aotearoa.
Aroha is of Ngāti Raukawa and Ngāti Ranginui descent and currently lives in Tauranga.
Photo: Catherine Smith
Hēmi Kelly
Hēmi Kelly is a Teacher of te reo Māori, a licensed Translator and graduate of Te Panekiretanga o Te Reo (The Institute of Excellence in the Māori Language). He is involved in Māori language planning and revitalisation initiatives in a number of organisations, including his own iwi. Hēmi translated Witi Ihimaera’s novella Sleeps Standing, and he published books including A Māori Word a Day and A Māori Phrase a Day. Hēmi published his first creative writing piece in English in Pūrākau, a collection of Māori myths retold by Māori writers.
Hēmi is of Ngāti Maniapoto & Ngāti Tahu–Ngāti Whāoa descent and currently lives in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland).
Photo: Te Rawhitiroa Bosch
Want to find out more?
Read this article in the Guardian about our event 'Te Reo o te Rēhia': ‘They help us stay connected’: how Māori games enthusiasts are reviving tradition.
Watch this Interview on Te Ao which speaks to the gameplay.
Read the cover feature article Hidden Treasure in Act of Play in Eastlife Magazine which covers the story of the game's creation.
Pōhutukawa Coast Times cover article: Sell-out crowd attends Kaupapa game launch.
Check out this Waka Huia episode (particularly the second half), which gives a sense of the gameplay even across varying levels of fluency.
Listen to this interview on Tainui Radio about the game’s creation and benefits.
Watch the Toi Ako Webinar about Kaupapa.
Check out this piece from the Toi Tangata Kura Reo - an Interview with Kaupapa's co-creator Kuruho.
Rosie was interviewed for this article in The Guardian: Gentle, respectful, humble: how non-Māori can help revitalise te reo.
Blog posts
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HĀ TUA - Issue 03 - Mahuru 2023 As part of Mahuru Māori, the month of September, a time in which we celebrate te reo Māori at all levels, we...
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HĀ TUA - Issue 03 - Mahuru 2023 As part of Mahuru Māori, the month of September, a time in which we celebrate te reo Māori at all levels, we...
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Te Pae Ruruhau
We take this moment to share the creation of Kura Rēhia’s Pae Ruruhau, a rōpū formed to manaaki the kaupapa moving forward, alongside Kura Rēhia’s remaining Director. The rōpū will...
Te Pae Ruruhau
We take this moment to share the creation of Kura Rēhia’s Pae Ruruhau, a rōpū formed to manaaki the kaupapa moving forward, alongside Kura Rēhia’s remaining Director. The rōpū will...
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From Reo Zero to Kōrero Heroes
I love how it brings out the cheeky, competitive, and playful side of people. So often learning a new language (or anything) is associated with memorising a list of words,...
From Reo Zero to Kōrero Heroes
I love how it brings out the cheeky, competitive, and playful side of people. So often learning a new language (or anything) is associated with memorising a list of words,...
