Māori Legends

This is a picture of a Māori carving/weaving that was in a museum in Wellington. I was lucky enough to get to hear a tour guide explain it to a bunch of children. It was neat to see how much the children already knew about the legends, because almost all of them weren't Māori, and I think it's amazing that the school system is working to keep the Māori culture alive and well.

(If you want to make the picture bigger to see the parts I reference, you should be able to click on it to blow it up).

In the upper left corner is a carving of Maui, a very mischievous Māori demigod. According to the legend, one day, his brothers decided to go fishing, and Maui wanted to come, but they wouldn't let him, because he played too many tricks. So before they left, he hid in the boat, and waited until they got out to sea before jumping out and surprising them. But they just laughed at him, saying, "How are you going to fish without any bait?" Maui was so determined to fish that he punched himself in the nose and wiped the blood on the hook for bait. His hook, which you can see between his legs in the carving, was made out of the enchanted jawbone of his ancestor. Maui cast his hook, and soon he caught a huge fish. He struggled and struggled to pull it up, and when he did, he saw that it was a gigantic stingray. That stingray became the North Island, with Auckland up on the tail, and Wellington at the head. That is why the North Island is also called Te Ika A Maui (The Fish of Maui). Their waka (boat) became the South Island, and their anchor became Stewart Island, down at the south end. I have included a picture to demonstrate how it fits.

In the lower left of the carving, you can see two taniwha (sea monsters). They were brothers, who lived in a huge lake next to Wellington. One brother, Whātaitai, was calm and content, but the other, Ngake, had lots of energy and wanted adventure. He could hear the waves crashing in the ocean over the boundary of their lake, and wanted to escape. Every day, he would swim faster and faster around the lake, even getting up enough speed to jump over Matiu Island, in the middle of the lake. One day, he went so fast that he crashed into the edge and knocked it down, turning the lake into a harbour and escaping out to sea. His brother, Whātaitai, decided to follow him, but the tide had gone out, and he got stuck. He was trapped for a long time, but then an earthquake pushed up the ground he was on, and when he got pushed up out of the water, he dried out and died. His body became part of the of land that extends out into the harbour, and it is still called Hataitai after him.

In the upper right corner of the carving, you see Kupe, who was the first person ever to come to NZ. He was a fisherman in Hawaiki, and had always provided for his family by fishing. But one day, his nets came up with the bait stolen, but no fish. When this happened multiple times, he realized that it must be an wheke (octopus) that was doing it. He put a spell on the wheke that made it stay near the surface of the water, rather than hiding in the depths, and decided to chase it until he could catch and kill it. He took his family on his waka, and they chased the wheke for a long time. You can see the wheke between Kupe's legs in the carving. Also, at the top of the woven part, the big, black and white triangles at the top signify the big wings of the albatros, which is what Kupe followed when he couldn't see the wheke. On the middle one, you can also see the Southern Cross constellation, which is what he followed at night. Eventually, they arrived in Wellington. Kupe left his granddaughters there to get things ready for everyone to live there, while he continued to chase the wheke. It took a long time, but he finally caught and killed it.

In the lower right corner, you can see Kupe's granddaughters (or daughters, or nieces, depending on the version), Matiu and Mākaro. They worked hard to get things ready in Wellington for Kupe, but he was gone for so long, they thought that he must have died. They loved him very much, so they had a big ceremony for him, mourned him deeply, and even cut their bodies with sharp shells to show their grief. That is why part of Wellington is called Pariwhero, because it means "red rocks," for the rocks coloured by their blood. When Kupe finally made it back, he was so honoured by the tribute his granddaughters had paid him that he named the islands in Wellington harbour after them. They are shown in the middle of the woven part, biggest to smallest (although they are the same size in the weaving) - Matiu, Mākaro, and Mokopuna (Grandchild) Islands.

I think these legends are fascinating, and was so happy to hear them engagingly and beautifully told by a tour guide who clearly cared about them, and by children who were interested and eager to learn. I hope you enjoyed them as well. :)