Mō Kura Rēhia

Kura Rēhia is passionate about celebrating te reo Māori through play. We create board games, resources and events for a bilingual Aotearoa. 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. 

KAUPAPA creators Rosie Remmerswaal, Kuruho Wereta, Aroha Tamihana & Hēmi Kelly

Our approach is grounded in a deep connection and respect for te reo and Māori culture. The three facets of our mahi: kēmu (games), rauemi (resources) and hui (events) are joined by the threads of learning and fun. We want to help you to experience learning te reo as life giving, fun and deeply connecting. 

Kura Rēhia was founded in 2020 by Rosie Remmerswaal and Kuruho Wereta. Our story began in 2018, as friends sat around the fire with a desire to have fun with te reo Māori. With immense support and enthusiasm from our communities, this commitment is reflected in our first board game, KAUPAPA. 

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 Kuruho.

• Soar Print’s Blog about the production of Kaupapa.

• Rosie was interviewed for this article in The Guardian: Gentle, respectful, humble: how non-Māori can help revitalise te reo.

Our people 

Rosie Remmerswaal – Co-founder, Director

Rosie is a designer, facilitator, storyteller and teacher. As a graduate of Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School, Rosie’s background is in designing and creating worlds for stage and screen and she continues to view the world through this lens. Rosie began learning te reo Māori as an adult and is presently teaching te reo Māori at a secondary school. Rosie’s personal experiences and her commitment to authentic Tiriti partnership ignited in her a need to help create innovative tools to fuel awareness, learning and passion for te reo. Kura Rēhia reflects this work.

Rosie is a NZ Pākehā of Dutch, Irish, Welsh, Scottish and Swedish descent and currently lives in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland).

Kuruho Wereta – Co-founder

Kuruho grew up speaking Māori and after years in  te ao hurihuri, fell newly in love with the language. 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 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 Te Rauriki and Manahau 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, her business which promotes the Māori language through unique printed goods and resources. Maimoa Creative 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 – Quality Assurer & Translator 

Hēmi Kelly is a full-time lecturer in te reo Māori at the Auckland University of Technology. His academic research and writing focus on the revitalisation of the Māori language and translation studies. Hēmi is 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. In 2017, Hēmi translated Witi Ihimaera’s novella Sleeps Standing, and he published his first book A Māori Word a Day in 2018. In 2019, Hēmi published his first creative writing piece in English in Pūrākau, a collection of Māori myths retold by Māori writers and his second book A Māori Phrase a Day in 2020.

Hēmi is of Ngāti Maniapoto & Ngāti Tahu–Ngāti Whāoa descent and currently lives in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland).

 Photo: Te Rawhitiroa Bosch 

Sustainability 

KAUPAPA is designed and produced in Aotearoa.

Opting for sustainable materials and eco friendly printing processes, we are proud to support our local economy and make sustainable choices with Papatūānuku in mind.

We chose to work with Soar because they are New Zealand’s most environmentally-responsible independent print company. Soar have a fully-certified ISO 14001 environmental management system that maximises energy efficiency and minimises waste. Since 2009, Soar’s greenhouse gas emissions have reduced by more than 50%. Soar are also the first and only offset printing company in New Zealand to hold carboNZero (CertTM) certification as an organisation.