kākahi
1. (noun) freshwater mussel, Hyridella menziesi - a bivalve mollusc which lives in fine mud or sand in freshwater lakes, ponds, streams and rivers. Has a dark, olive-brown coated shell and the inside is grayish-white.
Tōna maunga ko Ngongotahā, te moana ko Rotorua, ngā ika o roto he kōura, he kākahi, he īnanga (H 1992:50). / His mountain is Ngongotahā, the lake is Rotorua and the fish in it are crayfish, freshwater mussels and whitebait.
2. (noun) whale, orca, killer whale, Orcinus orca - a large, black-and-white dolphin with a tall, vertical, sharply triangular dorsal fin in the male and shorter, slightly hooked fin in the female. Because of the orca's sophisticated hunting techniques and intelligence, chiefs were sometimes likened to kākahi, as in the second example below.
Ko te kākahi i te waiata nei mō te tohorā (M 2004:232). / The term 'kākahi' in this song refers to the whale.
Te kākahi whakairoiro o te moana (W 1971:80). / The mottled orca of the sea.
See also maki
3. (noun) mist, haze.
Ki a Te Ātiawa ko te kākahi, ko te kōrehurehu i runga i te moana āio; hei te rangi ātaahua ka āhua auahi mai i runga o te moana (M 2004:232). / To Te Ātiawa the 'kākahi' is the haze on the calm sea which is seen on fine days and looks a little like smoke on the sea.
Synonyms: kōnenehu, haumāringiringi, tuarehu, waikohu, tūkōrehu, pūnehu, kōnehunehu, pūnehunehu, pūkohu, pūnenehu, kōnenehu, tārehu, tuarehu, waikohu, pūrehu, kohu, rehu, haumaringi, au, tākohu
rou kākahi
1. (verb) to dredge for freshwater mussels.
He tāne rou kākahi ka moea, he tāne moe i roto i te whare kurua te takataka (TTT 1/10/1922:12). / The husband dexterous at dredging freshwater mussels will be slept with, but the husband who sleeps idly in the house will have his head thumped. (A whakataukī stressing the value of hard work and a wife's appreciation of a good provider.)
Tohu Kākahi
1. (personal name) (1828-1907) Taranaki, Te Āti Awa; leader and prophet who helped establish Parihaka and a passive resistance movement against Pākehā land confiscation.
(Te Kōhure Textbook (Ed. 2): 89-99; Te Kōhure Video Tapes (Ed. 1): 3;)
I te 11 o ngā hāora o te pō o te Mane, 11 o Pepuere 1907 ka mate a Tohu Kākahi, ki Parihaka, Taranaki (TP 3/1907:6). / At 11 pm on Monday, 11 February 1907 Tohu Kākahi died at Parihaka, Taranaki.
kākahi whakairoiro
1. (noun) supreme leader, mottled orca - a figurative term for a leader, just as the orca are the dominant killers of the sea.
Ka hoki ngā whakaaro ki a Wiremu Tāmihana, kākahi whakairoiro o Ngāti Hauā i ōna wā. / My thoughts return to Wiremu Tāmihana, supreme leader of Ngāti Hauā in his time.
