Yellow is a colour many of us familiarise with happiness, joy, and vibrance. It’s commonly seen in bees, flowers, and a lot of the times symbolised for being happy.
Opened in 1981 by Hiwi Tauroa, Kupe house holds a strong resemblance to the history of the person who their house was named after, the Polynesian explorer Kupe.
“Yellow to me means brightness; a colour that radiates overbearing kindness.”
-Year 13 Kupe Student
Kupe House supports the group Kiwis for Kiwi, a charitable trust that supports the rehabilitation of kiwis. Our native bird’s population has been decreasing around 2% every year, and Kiwis for Kiwi is attempting to combat that statistic. Kupe House derives their money from carnivals they hold, and their annual donation from the events they curate.
“I think of gold as beautifully confident and a colour to portray excellence.”
-Lauren, Year 9 Kupe Student
Some may argue that the colour of Kupe is actually gold, though the shirts are still too bright to be considered “golden.” Gold is the colour of influence and great reward, and is quite the fitting theme for the shields Kupe currently holds from Term 1. From swimming sports to small house choir, 2023 seems like the year Kupe comes back from their “falling off.”
Golden-like achievements are something that also correlates with the person the house originated their name from. The Polynesian explorer Kupe. In Māori mythology, Kupe was believed to be the first man with his wife to discover Aotearoa, the land of the long white cloud. He fought a restless battle with a massive octopus, but overall, Kupe’s powerful confidence overpowered the beast and soon Aotearoa became habitable.
“Gold is the colour that we all carry in our blood, the colour of true love, trust, and humanity, it is what we all share and what we all cherish in each other: gold is the true colour of all our hearts.”
-Nethra, Year 12 Kupe Student
17th June, 2023
Emma Li
Photography by Kanishk Soni
