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The word kākaho may have originated as a reduplicated form of the word for bamboo poles used as rafters or purlins, from which the contemporary Māori word kaho is derived. The history of that word is outlined on section on contemporary Māori words which are reflexes of words relating to types and uses of bamboo, on the page for Kohekohe.
The word kākaho in modern Māori refers to the culms of a group of tall grasses; these, and the culms of the tropical Polynesian reeds given cognate names, are reminiscent of the poles used for securing the thatch to roofs of traditional houses. In Aotearoa the South Island tussock grass bearing a kākaho-type culm (Chionochloa conspicua) has the name hunangāmoho (hunanga-a-moho "the hiding place of the takahē -- the rare Notornis hochstetteri, and the extinct Notornis mantelli)", a designation shared also with the gossamer grass Anemanthele lessoniana. The others with culms referred to as kākaho are various species of the genus Austroderia, known collectively as toetoe.
Kākaho in Te Paipera Tapu
The translators of Te Paipera Tapu have made kakaho a multi-purpose term, covering at least three species of reeds, rushes and sedges.
 The reed most commonly referred to in the Bible is probably that denoted by the Hebrew word kaneh, the giant reed of swamps and river banks, Phragmites australis. 'Kaneh' was originally a Sumerian word that meant a reed or cane, and by extension a measuring rod, meanings it retained in Hebrew and in the Greek derivative kanna, eventually coming into English through French, along with the term "canon", in the sense of a standard of excellence for scriptural or literary works. The plants themselves were used in Biblical times for a very wide range of purposes: field hedges, mats, flutes, pens, and walking canes, as well as measuring rods and in house construction. Out of its natural environment P. australis has proved to be a dangerous weed. It grows three metres and more tall with very strong rhizomes which spread both deep and horizontally, making it extremely difficult to eradicate from places where it is not wanted. The illustration on the left is a detail from a panoramic shot of a Finnish beach which has been all but obliterated by the invading reed. It has been located at a few sites in Aotearoa, where it is targeted for eradication. It is a cosmpolitan plant, but not native to this country. Examples of Biblical uses of kakaho in relation to this plant, and its extended meanings as a cane or measuring rod, along with the Samoan texts for comparison with the Māori, are given below.
Ka patua hoki a Iharaira e Ihowa, ka peratia me te kakaho e whakangaueuetia ana i roto i te wai ....[1 Kings 14:15]
The Lord will strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water .... [NRSV]
“Auā e taia e le ALI‘I o Isaraelu, e pei o le u ‘ua lūlūina i le vai; [TP]
A ka piro ngā awa; ka mimiti, ka maroke nga awa o Īhipa; ka mate ngā kakaho me ngā raupō. [Isaiah 19:6]
Its canals will become foul, and the branches of Egypt's Nile will diminish and dry up; reeds and rushes will rot away. [NRSV]
E elo fo‘i vaitafe,
e māui ma mamate lava vaitai o Aikupito,
e mamae le ū ma le ‘utu‘utu.
[TP]
A, no te rironga atu o nga karere a Hoani, ka timata ia ki te korero ki te mano mo Hoani, I haere atu koutou ki te koraha kia kite i te aha? I te kakaho e whakangaueuetia ana e te hau? [Luke 7:24]
When John's messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind?" [NRSV]
‘Ua ō ē na ‘auina mai e Ioane, ‘ona amata ai lea o ia ‘ona fetalai atu i le motu o tagata e uiga ‘iā Ioane, “Na ‘outou ō i le vao e matamata i ni a? O le u ‘ea ‘ua lūlūina e le matagi? [TP]
A, no ka oti tetahi karauna tataramoa te whiri, ka potaea ki tona matenga, me te kakaho ki tona ringa matau .... [Matthew 27:29]
And after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on his head. They put a reed in his right hand .... [NRSV]
‘Ua latou ta‘ata‘ai fo‘i la‘au tuitui ‘ua fai a‘i le pale, ‘ona latou fa‘ae‘e ai lea i lona ao, ‘ua tu‘u fo‘i le ū i lona ‘a‘ao taumatau; [TP]
Na, he taiepa kei waho o te whare a taka noa, i te ringa hoki o taua tangata he kakaho hei whanganga, e ono whatianga te roa; kotahi whatianga me te whanui ringa o tetahi, o tetahi. Na kei te whanganga ia i te whanui o taua mea i hanga ra, kotahi te kakaho; ko te tiketike hoki kotahi te kakaho. [Ezekiel 40:5]
Now, there was a wall all round the temple area. The length of the measuring reed in the man's hand was six long cubits, each being a cubit and a handbreadth in length; so he measured the thickness of the wall, one reed, and the height, one reed. [NRSV]
Fa‘auta fo‘i, o le pā ‘ua so‘o ai le fale i fafo, o i ai fo‘i i le lima o le tagata le u e fua a‘i, e ono kupita lona umi, o kupita e i ai le kupita ma le alofilima; ‘ua ia fua le lautele o le pā e tasi le u, ma lona maualuga e tasi le u. [TP]
It is interesting to note that while the Samoan translations consistently use ū, the Samoan term for the large reed-grass Miscanthus floridulus (see the page for raupō for more information about this) to translate the Hebrew. For the indication of length, they use the Samoan adaptation of "cubit", originally a Latin word for the distance from the elbow to the fingertips, about 50 cm and equivalent to the Hebrew measure, whereas the Māori translation uses the indigenous term whanganga, denoting a similar measure.
 Another plant of the swamps and marshes mentioned in the Bible is the lake rush, Schoenoplectus lacustris. This is a close relative of the kutakuta (S. tabernaemontani), and a common inhabitant of marshes in the Middle East. Like the various species of reeds it is used for constructing walls and partitions in homes. It has a creeping rootstock and leafless stems which grow about a metre tall, topped by green glower clusters. It is denoted by kakaho in the example below, but by wiwi (the generic name for several leafless rushes or sedges that live in swampy ground) in other contexts. In the Samoan text the word chosen is fiso, a large reed (Saccharum maximum) now extremely rare in Samoa but once used for thatch, and the stems chewed by children for their sugary juice. It is found from Malaya to the Marquesas; Art Whistler (Plants of the Canoe People, p. 182) claases it among the ancient Polynesian introductions. The Hebrew term is agmon, which is a generic term for rushes, not confined to S. lacustris, but including that plant.
... he ra e whakapouri ai te tangata i tona wairua? He tuohu koia no te mahunga o te tangata, ano he kakaho? ... [Isaiah 58.5]
... a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush? ... [KJV]
... a day to humble oneself? Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush? [NRSV]
.... o le aso e fa‘atigā ai le tagata ‘iā te ia lava? e punou ai ‘ea lona ulu e pei o le fiso
 Last in this lineup is papyrus (Cyperis papyrus). While the Samoan translation uses an adaptation for the Hebrew gomeh in the examples below, the Māori text again uses kakaho (in another context, the Māori text translates Hebrew gomeh as wiwi). The papyrus is a leafless, clump-forming reed-like sedge. In Aotearoa it occurs in still or slow-flowing bodies of water in the northern North Island, probably originating as escapees from gardens. It has papery sheaves, the remnant leaves, at the base of the stems. Stems with flowerheads grow 2.5 metres or more tall. This plant had a wide variety of uses in the ancient world -- most notable perhaps paper in Egypt, but also to make boxes, ropes, mats, boats, and even shoes and houses for the poor. It is basically a tropical plant, with Israel as its northern limit.
A, te ahei ia te huna tonu i a ia, ka tango ia i tetahi aaka kakaho mona, pani rawa ki te uku, ki te ware, a whaowhina ana te tamaiti ki roto; whakatakotoria iho ki roto ki nga wiwi i te pareparenga o te awa. [Exodus 2:3]
When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket for him, and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it, and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river. [NRSV]
‘Ua lē toe mafai ‘ona nā ‘iā te ia, ‘ona ia ‘ave lea mo ia o le ‘ato kome, na ia puluti ai i le pulu emeri, ma le pulu safeta; na ia tu‘u ai le tama, ‘ona tu‘uina ai lea i le vao utuutu i le ‘auvai o le vaitafe. [TP]
E unga karere nei i runga i te moana, a ko o ratou kaipuke he kakaho i runga i nga wai, ... [Isaiah 18:2]
That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters [KJV]
Sending ambassadors by the Nile in vessels of papyrus on the waters. [NRSV]
O lē ‘ua tu‘u sāvali e ui i le sami, i va‘a kome fo‘i i fogātai;
[TP]
 There is another use of kākaho that has nothing to do with swamp plants. This is in reference to the fragrant grasses, the relations of the "lemon grass" (Cympobogon citratus) used in Asian cooking. There are many species of these grasses with similar properties, valued for their fragrances, and aromatic or medicinal oils. According to Michael Zohary, these are the plants denoted by the Hebrew terms kaneh hatov, knei bosom, and sometimes just kaneh itself in an appropriate context. In English translations these terms have been rendered variously as "calamus" (actually the root of an iris-like plant with alleged medicinal properties but poisonous if ingested), "sweet calamus", or "sweet cane". The Ginger Grass (Cympobogon martinii) pictured on the left is just one possible candidate among many.
I tuku taonga a Rana, a Iawana, he miro huruhuru, i roto i au hokohokonga: i au taonga hokohoko ko te rino kua oti te mahi, ko te kahia, ko te kakaho kakara. [Ezekiel 27:19]
Dan also and Javan going to and fro occupied in thy fairs: bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were in thy market. [KJV]
and wine from Uzal they exchanged for your wares; wrought iron, cassia, and calamus were bartered for your merchandise. [RSV]
Vedan and Javan from Uzal entered into trade for your wares; wrought iron, cassia and sweet cane were bartered for your merchandise. [NRSV]
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