The Warrior Mountains

This is the cover of a book I read to my kindergarteners, that tells the story of a Māori legend that explains how the mountains on the North Island came to be where they are.

The big, orange mountain in the middle is Tongariro, the blue one in the front is Taranaki, and the smaller ones on the sides are Tauhara and Putauaki. The green one in the back is Pihanga (the only girl, and the love interest). The story also features Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu, but they didn't make the cover.

You can watch a video of some adorable-sounding children reading the whole book here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cY2YpMYfB6E. I do have to note that their pronunciation of the Māori names is consistent with how most Kiwis pronounce them, but not technically correct. I will have to devote a post sometime to the linguistic challenges of bicultural/bilingual societies, but not now.

This is an illustration from the book. It is my favourite page, because it relates to the two places we have lived in NZ. It depicts Mount Taranaki, defeated by Mount Tongariro, storming away to Taranaki and leaving a deep gouge in the land, which became the Whanganui River. Which I think is very cool. And actually, we have been hiking on Tongariro, and just drove past Lake Taupo (which is in the picture), so it is all very familiar to us now. Makes me feel like a part of a legend!

The story told in the book is just one version of the legend, which makes sense, because legends were retold and passed down orally for many years, so different offshoots would be natural, and it would be hard to track down the "original."

The following is another version, which you will see is very similar, with the main exceptions being that Pihanga did not start out in love with Tongariro, and that Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu are competitors in the battle, rather than children playing. I like the version in the story book better, but both are equally valid, as far as I know.

"According to Māori belief, mountains were once gods and warriors of great strength.

Tongariro was one of seven mountains that stood next to each other around Lake Taupo - New Zealand's largest lake, and source of the Waikato river and spectacular Huka Falls.

In the legend, all the mountains were male except for Pihanga. She was a stunning beauty, and the other mountains were deeply in love with her.

One night, the mountains decided to fight for the right to win Pihanga. The warrior mountains fought fiercely with violent eruptions, smoke, fire and hot rocks that burned the sky for days. The land trembled and quaked under the force of their anger.

When the fighting ceased, mighty Tongariro was the victor. Having won Pihanga's devotion and the right to stand next to her, Tongariro became supreme leader of the land.

The defeated warrior mountains were given the night to move away from the couple. At the dawn of the new day, they would be eternally fixed to the place where they rested.

Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu moved off to a respectable distance, just to the south of Tongariro.

Putauaki and Tauhara headed to the east. As down broke, Putauaki settled at the northern end of the Kaingaroa plain, near Rotorua, and remained there as a mountain sacred to the people of the Ngāti Awa tribe. 

Tauhara, stricken with grief, could not bear to move far from Pihanga. He stayed on the shores of Lake Taupo, perpetually looking back across the lake to Pihanga.

Taranki, consumed by anger, gouged a great trail in the earth as he moved west to a place where he now stands overlooking the ocean below. The trail he left behind was filled with tears cried for Pihanga, and became the great Whanganui River."

(http://www.newzealand.com/travel/en/media/features/maori-culture/maori-culture_new-zealands-sacred-mountains_feature.cfm)

I think that this is a very interesting story, and the children really enjoy hearing it. I always love stories of how things came to be, which is also why I liked the ones I learned in Wellington about the Taniwha (sea monsters) in the harbour as well. 

I have been accepted into a tikanga Māori (culture) course, which I am extremely excited about, and which will hopefully provide many more interesting legends and beliefs. However, I am currently on a rather long list of people who have been accepted, and have received a letter saying, "We cannot currently provide you with an official start date," so I'm not sure how long I will have to wait. Hopefully not too long, because I am eager to start learning! I'll keep you updated.