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EPILOGUE One day in conversation with Tepoave Raitia, a composer and choreographer who worked at the Ministry of Cultural Development, he told me about the musical he had written and directed called Katikatia: The Legend in Music. It is based on a legend about an old woman, Katikatia, who lives in the mountains on Rarotonga. If children strayed from their villages she would lure them into her cave and kill them. One day Ema, the favorite niece of Makea ariki, went missing. Makea’s warriors found Ema dead in Katikatia’s cave. They brought the body back for Makea and his wife to weep over. For the lament song of Makea and his wife, Tepoave asked Mamia if he could use the song she had written about her mother’s death (see the prologue). Given that Mamia was cast in the part of Makea’s wife in the play, it seemed particularly appropriate. Mamia expressed her grief in this way: Ema e Ema Ema oh Ema Tāku ma‘ine iti marū My beautiful girl To tino kuanga My grief will last for eternity Tōpata roi mata My tears are falling To tāku e mi‘imi‘i nei With my sorrow Tāku poi tiare You are the beautiful flower Tāku inangaro That I adore The song’s poignant melody amplifies the sadness expressed in the lyrics. The wife’s grief is immortal. To her, Ema was as beautiful and precious as the sweet flowers that grow on Rarotonga.  :E>ADADAD

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