The Legend of the Breathing Lake

Today Charlie brought in a book for us to read called 'The Legend of the Breathing Lake', it explains why Lake Whakatipu moves up and down. The legend goes that a giant who stole a chiefs daughter was burnt to death by a warrior to prevent him from terrorising the tribe again. As he burnt a hole developed beneath him making the base for the lake, the fire spread up the hill melting the ice that then became the lakes water supply. The rising and falling of the lake is caused by the giant breathing beneath the water. The book made a number of references to tools the Maori used and what they were made of. It mentioned the use of flax for rope, stone and greenstone for tools and a fire stick that was used instead of matches. The children decided that the Maori actually made the things they needed, where as we would just go to the shops. They developed the theory that the Maori did not have shops, as previously they had thought, and that the made everything.