Jossie Mateohorere Kaa née Green

Ngāti Porou

1934 -

Jossie Mateohorere was born at the Waipiro Bay Maternity Home, the daughter of Maria née Goldsmith and Hone Te Kauru Green. She was educated at Tikitiki Māori School, Rangitukia Primary School, Tikitiki District High School and St Joseph’s Māori Girls College. She attended Wellington Teachers’ College from 1952-53 and graduated with a Teacher’s Certificate. She also has a Diploma of Māoritanga from Victoria University. She has taught in several country schools and has been an Itinerant Teacher of Māori language. In 1958 she married Wiremu Kaa and they have a family of three boys, two girls, nine grandchildren and six great grandchildren. Jossie became interested in writing as a result of seeing the need for Māori picture books in schools during her time as an itinerant teacher. She has participated in a number of writing courses including a Whitireia Polytech writing course led by Joy Cowley, a Victoria University course called “Writing with Love” run by Mike Paterson, and a two-year Correspondence course with Writing School. She attended “Te Whakatairanga i te Reo” with Taura Whiri, the Māori Language Commission course.

Jossie has worked as an Editor for Māori publications with Learning Media, was coordinator for the Ngata Dictionary and spent one year as an out-marker for the Correspondence school. Since 1996 she has been editing Māori publications and writing for Huia Publishers. Jossie and Wiremu Kaa worked on the first all-Māori language dictionary, Tirohia Kimihia, with a team from Huia Publishers; this dictionary was a finalist in the 2007 Montana New Zealand Book Awards reference category. Josie writes short stories for children using the pen name Oho Kaa and has written levelled readers in Māori as part of the Ngā Kete Kōrero series produced by Huia Publishers. Her book Te Manawa O Kui O Koro E was shortlisted for Te Kura Pounamu Award - NZLIA children’s book award in 1998.

Jossie has been part of a writers group called Haukiwi based in Gisborne that recently published a collection of stories called Kare i ko atu, kare i ko mai, published by Crescent Publishing.

Jossie is associated with O Hine Waiapu Marae, Hinepare Marae, Karuwai Marae, Te Ao Hou Marae, as well as Te Rahui Marae. Most of the annotations below have been provided by Jossie Kaa and appear in quotation.



Biographical sources

  • “He Aitua/Dr Hone Kaa.” http://news.tangatawhenua.com/archives/16858
  • Correspondence and phone conversation with Jossie Kaa, 18 Nov. 1992, 10 Sept. 1998, 9 Nov. 2004, 6 June, 13 and 18 July 2007.

    Biography

  • There and Then: A Collection of Stories from the Twentieth Century. Comp. Colin R. Baker. [Wellington, N.Z.]: Published privately, 1996. 280.
  • Kaa writes ‘an autobiographical account of her education and subsequent work in Māori publications.’

    • Children's literature

  • "Tā Māua Haere." He Purapura. No details.
  • Reproduced on a Learning Media CD entitled Whakarongo 1, 2001
  • "Mahi Harakeke: Working with Flax." School Journal 3.2 (1988): 33-37. Rpt. in Māori only as "Te Mahi Harakeke." Te Tautoko 14. Wellington, N.Z.: Learning Media, Ministry of Education, 1991. 19-23.
  • Kaa presents guidelines for cutting flax and gives five rules for working with it. She provides an illustrated step-by-step guide to making a titi pārera/windmill and raranga ika/fish.
  • "Te Mahi Harakeke." Te Tautoko 14. Ed. W. Walker. Wellington, N.Z.: Learning Media, 1991.
  • Māori language version of the earlier story.
  • "Kua H˚kina Te Rāhui." He Purapura. Ed. H. Everitt. Wellington, N.Z.: Learning Media, 1992. Rpt. in Te Ao Mārama: Contemporary Māori Writing for Children. Comp. and ed. Witi Ihimaera. Contributing ed. Haare Williams, Irihapeti Ramsden and D. S. Long. Vol. 4: Te Ara o Te Hau: The Path of the Wind. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed, 1994. 77.
  • A Māori language reader about the lifting of a tapu.
  • "Pen Friends." School Journal 4.1 (1992): 7-11.
  • When Ruby and the narrator learn about pen friends at school they decide to trick their younger friends by sending them fictitious letters.
  • "Ko Huriana Ahau." Te Wharekura 56, 1998.
  • This story is available on audio cassette (#99106).
  • "The Long, Long Night." School Journal 2.1 (2004).
  • "Ma te Pukumahi Ka Ora." Te Huinga Raukura. Wellington, N.Z.: Te Poutaki Kōrero, 2004.
  • "Tukuna Ahau." Te Huinga Raukura Series. Wellington, N.Z.: Te Poutaki Kōrero, 2005.
  • "Te Oma a Renata." He Purapura Series. Wellington, N.Z.: Learning Media, 2006.
  • "Kua Puta a Matariki." He Purapura Series. Wellington, N.Z.: Learning Media, 2006.
  • "Matariki." Nga Kohikohinga 45 Series. Wellington, N.Z.: Te Poutaki Kōrero, 2006.
  • "Tutu Puehu." Nga Kohikohinga 47 Series. Wellington, N.Z.: Te Poutaki Kōrero, 2007.

  • Fiction

  • Stories by Kamla Patel, Cho Cho Bremner, Surendra Neupane, Moki Sipeli, Yvonne D’Souza, Jacqueline Forest, Malaeta Sauvao, Olosega Seu, Tuiolo Seymour, Tia Taylor, Novena Petelo, Nga Nguye, Duong Tran, Miriam Hill, Arimina Kaa, Oho Kaa, Maringi Kiwha, Prue Langbein & Nanda Thomas.
  • ‘A story about a weekly treat of ice cream.’
  • "My Favourite Treat." The Pig Trick & Other Stories from the Pacific. Porirua, N.Z.: Whitireia Polytech, 1995. 30.
  • "The Colonel’s Hangi." The Pig Trick & Other Stories from the Pacific. Porirua, N.Z.: Whitireia Polytech, 1995. 30.
  • ‘When the meat in the hangi is undercooked the narrator’s uncle has a creative compromise.’
  • "The Passage of Fear." The Pig Trick & Other Stories from the Pacific. Porirua, N.Z.: Whitireia Polytech, 1995. 32.
  • ‘A story about a child’s fear of a passage way.’
  • "You Didn’t Say Goodbye." The Pig Trick & Other Stories from the Pacific. Porirua, N.Z.: Whitireia Polytech, 1995. 33.
  • ‘The narrator tells of her love for her Papa Koroua and his passing away while she was at school.’
  • "All On A Moonlight Night." The Pig Trick & Other Stories from the Pacific. Porirua, N.Z.: Whitireia Polytech, 1995. 34.
  • ‘An imaginative story in which a young girl travels on a white pony to the land of Tane where her grandparents lived.’
  • "Hinepare." There and Then: A Collection of Stories from the Twentieth Century. Comp. Colin R. Baker. [Wellington, N.Z.]: Published privately, 1996. 11.
  • ‘A story about Jossie Kaa’s marae.’
  • "My Pāpā Koroua." There and Then: A Collection of Stories from the Twentieth Century. Comp. Colin R. Baker. [Wellington, N.Z.]: Published privately, 1996. 30.
  • ‘A story about the author’s grandfather.’
  • "Home to School." There and Then: A Collection of Stories from the Twentieth Century. Comp. Colin R. Baker. [Wellington, N.Z.]: Published privately, 1996. 84.
  • ‘An autobiographical story of Kaa’s first day at school in Rangitukia.’
  • "My First Day At St Joseph’s." There and Then: A Collection of Stories from the Twentieth Century. Comp. Colin R. Baker. [Wellington, N.Z.]: Published privately, 1996. 93.
  • ‘A story about Kaa’s first day at St Joseph’s learning all the school rules.’
  • "Where Did It Go?" There and Then: A Collection of Stories from the Twentieth Century. Comp. Colin R. Baker. [Wellington, N.Z.]: Published privately, 1996. 102.
  • ‘This story is about a purse that was lost on a train.’
  • "Crying." There and Then: A Collection of Stories from the Twentieth Century. Comp. Colin R. Baker. [Wellington, N.Z.]: Published privately, 1996. 139.
  • Kaa writes ‘about the time when her aunt and uncle came and told the family about the death of their father overseas.’
  • "Sooty." .” There and Then: A Collection of Stories from the Twentieth Century. Comp. Colin R. Baker. [Wellington, N.Z.]: Published privately, 1996. 201.
  • ‘A story about a cat.’
  • "Bilingual Aotearoa." There and Then: A Collection of Stories from the Twentieth Century. Comp. Colin R. Baker. [Wellington, N.Z.]: Published privately, 1996. 211.
  • ‘About the children of Matawaia School in Northland wanting to speak te reo Māori.’
  • "The Basket Social." There and Then: A Collection of Stories from the Twentieth Century. Comp. Colin R. Baker. [Wellington, N.Z.]: Published privately, 1996. 213.
  • ‘A story about fundraising at Matawaia School.’
  • "Karanga Seminar." There and Then: A Collection of Stories from the Twentieth Century. Comp. Colin R. Baker. [Wellington, N.Z.]: Published privately, 1996. 253.
  • A story about learning how to call.
  • "The Long Long Night." ibid. 32. Rpt. in School Journal 2.1, 2004.
  • ‘A story about the blackouts during the war.’ Kaa has also provided The Long, Long Night – Teachers’ Notes to accompany this story and includes an ‘overview, features to consider, readability, supports and challenges, responding to the text, suggested activities, cross-curricular links, and related websites.’ http://www.tki.org.nz/r/literacy_...4/the_long_long_night_e.php?part=2
  • "Te Hokinga Ki te Kainga Tuturu." Te Tu A Te Toka: He Ieretanga no Nga Tai e Wha. Ed. Piripi Walker and Huriana Raven. Te Whanganui-a-Tara [Wellington, N.Z.]: Toi Māori Aotearoa, Totika, 2006.
  • "He Uri Na Hinepare." Kare I Ko Atu, Kare I Ko Mai. Whanganui a Tara [Wellington, N.Z.]: Crescent, 2007.
  • Kaa writes that this story is ‘what happened when Wiremu, then principal of the school next door to Hinepare marae, sent the children’s stories about their thoughts on Hinepare marae. The story details the reaction of their parents.’

    • Music

  • Waiata Māori for Schools. Comp. W. Kaa, J. Tangaere, K. Jenkins, and J. Kaa. [Wellington, N.Z.]: Wellington, N.Z. Education Board, 1977. Rpt. 1987. Rpt. Wellington, N.Z.: Learning Media, Ministry of Education, 1991.
  • This is a collection of 112 waiata written in Māori with English translation and accompanied by a set of cassette tapes.
  • Waiho Kia Tamariki Ana. Commissioned by the Ministry of Education, New Zealand. Wellington, N.Z.: Huia, 1999.
  • Three Māori oral storytellers, Peti Nohotima, Hirini Reedy and Hera Taute, perform their work, and talk to Oho Kaa about storytelling. Five videos are in this kit.

    • Other

  • Ko Rapeti. Whanganui-a-Tara [Wellington, N.Z.]: [Māori and Island Education Division, Department of Education], 1984.
  • A story about a rabbit in which Kaa employs action words.
  • Papa Hipi Mangu. Whanganui-a-Tara [Wellington, N.Z.]: [Māori and Island Education Division, Department of Education] 1984.
  • ‘A reader for children in Māori based on the nursery rhyme "Baa baa black sheep".’
  • Te Paraoa Reka a Mererangi. Na nga uri a Hinepare. Wellington, N.Z.: Learning Media, 1992.
  • A Māori language reader about making fried bread.
  • Ngā Kōrero a Reweti Kohere Mā. Nga Etita ko Te Ohorere rāua Ko Wiremu Kaa. [Wellington, N.Z.]: Victoria UP, 1994.
  • Ka Rongo Ana Ahau. Whanganui-a-Tara [Wellington, N.Z.]: Learning Media, 1996.
  • Kaa states: ‘this reader is about a person’s five senses.’
  • Nō Wai ‰nei Tapuwae? Wellington, N.Z.: Learning Media, 1996.
  • Apirana T Ngata. Nga Etita ko Wiremu rāua Ko Te Ohorere Kaa. [Wellington, N.Z.]: Victoria UP, 1996.
  • Mohi Turei. Nga Etita Ko Wiremu rāua ko Te Ohorere Kaa. [Wellington, N.Z.]: Victoria UP, 1996.
  • Te Manawa O Kui O Koro E. Whanganui-a-Tara [Wellington, N.Z.]: Learning Media, 1997.
  • Kaa states: "this story is to do with a grandchild wanting to do everything her grandparents do. Even though she doesn’t do things properly the little girl is still her grandparents’ heart throb." This book was shortlisted for Te Kura Pounamu Award of the New Zealand Library & Information Association Children’s Book Awards in 1998.
  • Te Rā Hokohoko a Rawinia. In Ngā Kete Kōrero. Ko ngā kōrero nā Oho Kaa rāua ko Hinerau Anderson. Te Whanganui-a-Tara [Wellington, N.Z.]: Huia, 1997.
  • Kaa writes: ‘A story about a young girl’s shopping spree.’
  • Nō Wai ‰nei Hu? In Ngā Kete Kōrero. Te Whanganui-a-Tara [Wellington, N.Z.]: Huia, 1997.
  • ‘Matching shoes with the right person.’
  • He Kapo Ahau. In Ngā Kete Kōrero. Te Whanganui-a-Tara [Wellington, N.Z.]: Huia, 1997.
  • ‘A blind girl touching various parts of her cat, then ending up with a dog in her lap.’
  • Te Whare Kirikiri. In Ngā Kete Kōrero. Te Whanganui-a-Tara [Wellington, N.Z.]: Huia, 1997.
  • ‘A family building a sand castle only to have it washed away, then building another further up the beach.’
  • He Kaipatu Ahi Ahau. In Ngā Kete Kōrero. Ko ngā kōrero nā Monica Simmons rāua ko Oho Kaa. Te Whanganui-a-Tara [Wellington, N.Z.]: Huia, 1997.
  • Tihei Mauriora. USA: Carolrhoda Books; Te Whanganui a Tara [Wellington, N.Z.]: Tōtika, 1999.
  • Te Kawe, Te Hiki, Te Pikau. USA: Carolrhoda Books; Te Whanganui a Tara [Wellington, N.Z.]: Tōtika, 1999.
  • Mā te Kanohi E Kōrero. Ed. Juliet Raven. USA: Carolrhoda Books; Te Whanganui a Tara [Wellington, N.Z.]: Tōtika, 1999.
  • Ko Te Apu Kai. USA: Carolrhoda Books; Te Whanganui a Tara [Wellington, N.Z.]: Tōtika, 1999.
  • Puta Noa te Tau. In Ngā Kete Kōrero. Whanganui a Tara [Wellington, N.Z.]: Huia – Te Manu Tuku Kōrero, 2000.
  • Ko Tōku Ingoa. Te Whanganui a Tara [Wellington, N.Z.]: Tōtika, 2000.
  • Nga Kano Hurinoa. Te Whanganui a Tara [Wellington, N.Z.]: Tōtika, 2000.
  • Te Noke Kai Parakai. Ed. Jennifer Garlick. Te Whanganui a Tara [Wellington, N.Z.]: Crescent, 2001.