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.

  • Excellence in Physical Games

    The Pavs: NZ Game Awards 2022

  • Voted Top 50 & Top 10

    Aotearoa Top 50 Māori Products

  • Excellence in Accessibility

    The Pavs: NZ Game Awards 2022

  • The Tactile Taste

    The Pavs: NZ Game Awards 2022

  • Gold Award Winner

    Pride in Print Awards 2022

  • The Accessible Ambrosia

    The Pavs: NZ Game Awards 2022

Kia ora! We’re happy you found us.

We are the humans behind Kura Rēhia. 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, Rosie & Kuruho reached out to Aroha Tamihana and Hēmi Kelly to collaborate and soon, Kura Rēhia was born. Āio Mataira Wharerarauwhe, Tūī Hawke & Sara Moana have joined the waka since then and we are finding our flow - with some very exciting projects on the horizon.

The Kura Rēhia crew:

  • Rosie Remmerswaal

    Rosie co-founded Kura Rēhia with Kuruho Wereta, and is our Ringa Rauhī, bringing everything together.

  • Āio Mataira Wharerarauwhe

    Āio is our Pou Whakapuāwai, creating new games and working collaboratively to make ideas bloom.

  • Tūī Hawke

    Tūī is our Pou Hapori, connecting the Kura Rēhia community and creating crackup memes along the way.

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 

Te Pae Ruruhau

  • Kingi Biddle Kura Rēhia Pae Ruruahu Member

    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. 

  • 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. 

  • 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. 

  • 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.

Want to find out more?

  • Pānuitia: Read the Mahuru Māori - Embracing te reo Māori through fun and play - in English and te reo Māori.

  • Watch this episode of Kea Kids News - New te reo Māori board game inspires English and Māori speakers.

  • Watch 1 News & Te Karere programmes about the launching of the ReoSpace in Auckland University’s library, which includes the first ever giant Kaupapa table. 

  • Check out this Waka Huia episode (particularly the second half), which gives a sense of the gameplay even across varying levels of fluency. 

  • German TV show ARD Weltspiegel featured Kaupapa & and interviewed Miriama Kamo, Rawiri Waititi and Rosie for an episode about the revitalisation of te reo Māori. Watch: 7min ep / 1min section

Read more in the Kura Rēhia Blog

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