The Green lake
While now the lake is deserted and tapu so no person European or Maori ventures upon it, in days gone by it was heavily populated. Its name is a reminder of those days when many fed from the food this lake offered. The lake was known for its kakahi, a delicious shellfish found within the lake's sandy bed. Rotokakahi means, the lake of the shellfish Kakahi.
This fish was an important part of the local diet - a favourite for those who were ill and also with motherless children when a wet nurse couldn't be found. The shellfish was cooked and softened with the water in the shell so it could be sucked like milk. "Ko te kakahi to whaea o te tamaiti" they would say (the kakahi is the mother of the child).
The Island in the middle of the Green Lake is also famous in history. The Tuhourangi tribe occupied this area before the Mount Tarawera eruption. But the life and sparkle of this once happy island have long since disappeared. It is the place where the bones of the famous lover, Hinemoa and many other lie buried. Over a century ago a party of Nga Puhi (the people of the far north of New Zealand) were massacred on the island.
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