Luke Trego

My mum told me this story about village sports in the past. This story tells us about how the village was more of a family in the past.

Village Sports

Back in the days in Tupapa, there would be a Saturday where the village would have a Gala for everyone. The Gala would always be held at the Tupapa Field also known as Victoria Park. The village would be split in two where from Papa Dan Kamana’s house to Takuvaine would be the red team and after Papa Dan’s house towards upper Tupapa would be the blue team. There would be sports events like relay, bike race, egg race, volleyball and so on and everyone would get a chance to play or join in. But, the very favourite for all the kids would be almost the end, where there would be lolly scrambles, and of course, the kids would try and see who gets the most lollies.

To the left is the symbol for the centipede with a poisonous bite. It is a common totem of chiefs and is normally tattooed on the chief’s back.

The totem represents one clan’s affiliation while they can also show one’s specific role as ariki or otherwise within the clan.