Māori beliefs hold that Nga-Mahi-a-te-Rehia, the "arts of pleasure", originated with Raukatauri, Raukatamea, Marere-o-tonga, Takatakaputea, and other such persons who are associated in Māori mythology with singing, dancing and other such performing arts. The arts of pleasure, which include – weaving, carving, akotanga, oration, problem solving (tupea), singing, dancing, story telling, feasting and game playing - would be practiced prolifically during Matariki festivals.

Matariki celebrations were a dynamic, vibrant process that linked Māori to their rich storehouses of pleasurable activities; to creative processing and inexhaustible artefact production. Matariki was also an inter-tribal period for forging relationships and for sharing ideas and technologies.

Games, as arts of pleasure, were an integral part of Māori life. Games were not restricted to a time or a place. This was particularly evident during Matariki festivities. Throughout pre-European New Zealand, the great Matariki Festivals were the annual catalyst for a broad spectrum of games development, invention and experimentation.

However, during this period of joyful abundance tribes throughout New Zealand, without exception, historically placed their greatest emphasis on kite flying.

Kite (or Manu) mythology is prolific in Māori folklore. Legends tell of Tawhaki trying vainly to follow Tangotango to heaven on a kite; of Rahi using a kite in pursuit of Te Ara and of Maui using kites to fly over landforms. Stories also focus on Matariki – one tells of Ranginui (The Sky God) lifting up out of the eastern horizon at the start of the Māori New Year, marked out with Matariki, Puanga, Takura (Sirius) and Tautoru (Orion’s Belt).

Ancient Māori were expert kite makers and flight controllers. Their kites were usually "tail-less", were gaily decorated, of varied sizes, shapes, names and purposes – from those used for light-hearted entertainment to kites used for highly significant spiritual rituals. Children and adults made kites - to practice whanaungatanga (social relationships), to reinforce tikanga/kawa (tribal lore); to commune with spiritual deities, to produce artwork, to perfection aerial movements, to test skills in competitions (as in Manu Namu and Manu Kopua) and for fun, to add their "touch" of vibrancy to the sky.

The most common kites were constructed from toe toe (New Zealand pampas grass), manuka (one of New Zealand's most common shrubs), harakeke (flax), raupo (swamp plant) and aute (mulberry) bark - Manu Aute and Manu Raupo, whilst the largest and most complex were called Manu Atua, Manu Whara and Manu Tangata.

Kites were also believed to be messengers. Like birds, they were considered as having spiritual connections with the Gods, hence the ambitious cloud piercing kites (Manu Atua), requiring several people to operate, and using kilometre long ropes.

Tohunga (priest, or man of knowledge) saw kites as a metaphysical means to communicate with the Gods; as a means for divination and to see beyond the real world. Their sacred kites, Manu Whara, were constructed according to strictly guarded protocols, with flights that required chanting of sacred karakia (chants) in tandem with karere.

Manu Tangata were used to physically pickup people – in addition to Matariki displays they are recalled as having been used by attackers to gain entry to pa fortifications and also as a means of escape from besiegement.

Matariki can be appreciated therefore as a popular kite flying time and as an important period for kite development and proto-type testing.

Of the several thousand kites flown during early colonial times, decorated with shells, feathers, foliage, Matariki, tukutuku, artefacts and carvings, none exist today. Nearly all old-time Māori practices and games were abandoned soon after the arrival of the early missionaries, and at the time both Māori and European accused the missionaries of "repressing harmless recreations among the natives".

Governor Brown mentions with evident satisfaction the abandonment of singing, dancing, contact poi (ball) games, festivals and amusements, “among the missionary natives.” Similarly Wilkes, the American voyager, recorded in1839, “Social amusements are prohibited by severe penalties, although the people are evidently fond of them”.

By 1840, when The Treaty of Waitangi was signed, the grand Matariki celebrations were an obsolete practice. With the abandonment of this tradition, magnificent tribal kite collections disappeared, as did the most important period of the year dedicated to traditional kite making technology.

Despite these enforced prohibitions and a continued colonialist-like aversion by mainstream physical educators to indigenous games, increased Māori efficacy since the 1980s, has seen traditional kite flying re-emerge as a singular cultural interest. Kite making knowledges have been disseminated from tribal enclaves, oral and written records and traditional texts.

As Māori society was not homogenous, different tribes recall their kite histories as "Manu", "Kahu" or "Pakau". However, the most popular collective term for kite arts today is Manu Tukutuku.

The return of "Manu Tukutuku" has been given extra impetus as Māori New Year / Matariki celebrations have also become more widespread. New Zealand skies have once again host to the colour and pageantry that is traditional Māori kite flying.Māori

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