Editing Kahaʻi (section)

==Mangareva==
In a legend from [[Mangareva]], '''Tahaki''' is famous for his reddish skin. During a diving competition off the inner reef, his enemies make Tahaki dive last. As each person dives down, he changes temporarily into a fish and waits below. When at last Tahaki dives, all the fish swarm in, each removing a piece of his beautiful skin. When Tahaki reappears, he is naked. But luckily for him his grandmother is nearby. No sooner does a fish bite off a piece of skin, than the grandmother takes it out of the fish's mouth and puts it in her basket. Then she goes back to the underworld, taking with her all of Tahaki's skin. Later, the nude Tahaki and his cousin Karihi go down to the underworld, where his grandmother returns each piece of skin to its rightful place. However, some stick insects have helped themselves to pieces of the skin, using it to beautify their armpits. They will not give it back, but the grandmother tells Tahaki not to worry about it, because they only have the skin from the soles of his feet, and no one will notice. So it is that Mangarevan stick insects have red under their arms.

:Sources:
:* T. R. Hiroa (Sir Peter Buck), ''Vikings of the Sunrise'', New Zealand Edition, Reprinted 1975. (Whitcombe and Tombs: Christchurch) 1954, 211.