Māori mythology

Māori mythology and Māori traditions are two major categories into which the remote oral history of New Zealand's Māori may be divided. Māori myths concern fantastic tales relating to the origins of what was the observable world for the pre-European Māori, often involving gods and demigods. Māori tradition concerns more folkloric legends often involving historical or semi-historical forebears. Both categories merge in to explain the overall origin of the Māori and their connections to the world which they lived in.

Māori had yet to invent a writing system before European contact, beginning in 1769, so they had no method to permanently record their histories, traditions, or mythologies. They relied on oral retellings memorised from generation to generation. The three forms of expression prominent in Māori and Polynesian oral literature are genealogical recital, poetry, and narrative prose. Experts in these subjects were broadly known as .

The rituals, beliefs, and general worldview of Māori society were ultimately based on an elaborate mythology that had been inherited from a Polynesian homeland ( Hawaiki) and adapted and developed in the new setting. Alongside different Polynesian cultures having different versions of a given tradition, often the same story for a character, event, or object will have many different variations for every , , or individual who retells it, meaning there is never a fixed or 'correct' version of any particular story.

Sources

Oral forms

Genealogical recital

The reciting of genealogies () was particularly well developed in Māori oral literature, where it served several functions in the recounting of tradition. Firstly it served to provide a kind of time scale which unified all Māori mythology, tradition, and history, from the distant past to the present. It linked living people to the gods and the legendary heroes. By quoting appropriate genealogical lines, a narrator emphasised his or her connection with the characters whose deeds were being described, and that connection also proved that the narrator had the right to speak of them.

Prose narrative

Prose narrative forms the great bulk of Māori legendary material. Some appear to have been sacred or esoteric, but many of the legends were well-known stories told as entertainment in the long nights of winter.

Poetry and song

Māori poetry was always sung or chanted; musical rhythms rather than linguistic devices served to distinguish it from prose. Rhyme or assonance were not devices used by the Māori; only when a given text is sung or chanted will the metre become apparent. The lines are indicated by features of the music. The language of poetry tends to differ stylistically from prose. Typical features of poetic diction are the use of synonyms or contrastive opposites, and the repetition of key words.

19th-century writings

Missionaries

Few records survive of the extensive body of Māori mythology and tradition from the early years of European contact. The missionaries had the best opportunity to get the information, but failed to do so at first, in part because their knowledge of the language was imperfect. Most of the missionaries who did master the language were unsympathetic to Māori beliefs, regarding them as 'puerile beliefs', or even 'works of the devil'. Exceptions to this general rule were Johan Wohlers of the South Island, Richard Taylor, who worked in the Taranaki and Wanganui River areas, and William Colenso who lived at the Bay of Islands and also in Hawke's Bay. Their writings are valuable as some of the best sources for the legends of the areas where they worked.

Non-missionary collectors

In the 1840s Edward Shortland, Sir George Grey, and other non-missionaries began to collect the myths and traditions. At that time many Māori were literate in their own language and the material collected was, in general, written by Māori themselves in the same style as they spoke. The new medium seems to have had minimal effect on the style and content of the stories. Genealogies, songs, and narratives were written out in full, just as if they were being recited or sung. Many of these early manuscripts have been published, and scholars have access to a great body of material (more than for any other area of the Pacific) containing multiple versions of the great myth cycles known in the rest of Polynesia, as well as of the local traditions pertaining only to New Zealand. A great deal of the best material is found in two books, (The Deeds of the Ancestors), collected by Sir George Grey and translated as ''Polynesian Mythology''; and ''Ancient History of the Māori'' (six volumes), edited by John White.

The earliest full account of the genealogies of and the first humans was recorded from Ngāti Rangiwewehi's Wī Maihi Te Rangikāheke in (The Sons of Heaven), in 1849.

Myths

Myths are set in the remote past and their content often have to do with the supernatural. They present Māori ideas about the creation of the universe and the origins of gods () and people. The mythology accounts for natural phenomena, the weather, the stars and the moon, the fish of the sea, the birds of the forest, and the forests themselves. Much of the culturally institutioned behaviour of the people finds its sanctions in myth, such as opening ceremonies performed at dawn to reflect the coming of light into the world.

The Māori understanding of the development of the universe was expressed in genealogical form. These genealogies appear in many versions, in which several symbolic themes constantly recur. The cosmogonic genealogies are usually brought to a close by the two names Rangi and Papa ( sky father and earth mother). The marriage of this celestial pair produced the gods and, in due course, all the living things of the earth.

The main corpus of Māori mythology are represented as unfolding in three story complexes or cycles, which include the world's origin, the stories of the demigod Māui, and the Tāwhaki myths.

Creation

Dawn of the universe

In one generalised telling of the universe's creation: in the beginning, there was Te Kore (The Nothing; Void) which became Te Korematua (The Parentless Void) in its search for procreation. From it came Te Pō (The Night), becoming Te Pōroa (The Long Night), and then becoming Te Pōnui (The Great Night). Gradually Te Ao (The Light) glimmered into existence, stretching to all corners of the universe to become Te Aotūroa (The Long-Standing Light). Next came Te Ata (The Dawn), from which came Te Mākū (The Moisture), and Mahoranuiatea (Cloud of the Dawn). Te Mākū and Mahoranuiatea wed to form Rangi.

Earth's creation

Generally, Rangi's wife is Papa, though they are known throughout Polynesia, even when they're not considered spouses. The pair laid in a tight embrace which blocked light from touching the world. From them came the children Haumia, Rongo, Tāwhiri, Tangaroa, Tū, and Tāne. Some traditions may list some of these children alongside Rehua, Urutengangana, Aituā, Tiki, Whiro, or Ruaumoko, among others. Often, a war or skirmish between the siblings ends with them becoming the ancestors of certain concepts, habitats, mannerisms, animals, tools, or plants that they each represent. For instance Tāne became Tāne Mahuta, the father of birds and the forest, and Tū became Tūmatauenga, the father of humanity and its activities, such as war. Sometimes, Tāne Mahuta ascends to the sky after Ranginui to dress him with stars, who mourns for his wife every time it rains. Similarly, Papatūānuku strains in an effort to reach the sky, causing earthquakes, and the mist comes from her sighing.

In a version involving Urutengangana, Whiro, Tāwhiri, Tangaroa, Tuamatua, Tumatakaka, Tū, Paia, and Tāne; Tāwhiri "finally" agreed to the separation, while Whiro was against it. Tāne instructed Tumatakaka and Tū to fetch axes with which to cut Rangi's arms off, and the blood that dripped from him down onto Papatūānuku is said to be where the red sunset now comes from, as well as the origin of the colours red and blue in painting: red oxide and blue phosphate of iron. This is very different to the telling in which Tāne discards Tū's suggestions to slaughter the parents to ensure their separation, where Tāwhiri is the brother most upset by the idea to separate the parents at all.

In South Island traditions, Rakinui weds at least three wives including Papatūānuku. Poharuatepō is one of Rakinui's wives, and they are Aoraki's parents. In these versions, the gods that are usually considered Rakinui's children may become each other's half-siblings, some even becoming Rakinui's grandsons.

South Island's creation

Aoraki and his brothers Rakiora, Rakirua, and Rarakiroa travelled across the waters of the ocean to visit Rakinui's new wife - Papatūānuku. On the return journey, their canoe () became capsized on a reef, so they climbed atop its hull to escape drowning. They froze into stone, becoming the tallest peaks of the Southern Alps. Afterwards they were discovered by Tūterakiwhānoa who enlisted Kahukura's help in shaping and clothing the land. Hence became the South Island.

In a slight variant, Aoraki and his grandfather Kirikirikatata landed at Shag Point aboard the , where they turned into the ever-associated mountain and range. Kirikirikatata persuaded Aroarokaehe to come sit with them there, while her husband Mauka Atua became a peak on the Ben Ohau Range.

Origin of humans

There are many mythologies that describe the creation of humankind. Though Tūmatauenga is the major god associated with humanity and its activities, humanity's creation is sometimes credited to Tāne Mahuta, and often involves Tiki. In one story, Tāne Mahuta abandoned his wife Rangahore, for only giving birth to a stone.

One such legend of humanity's origins is which Tāne Mahuta created the first woman, Hineahuone, from soil and with her became the father of Hinetītama. Tāne Mahuta concealed Hinetītama's parentage to her, and together they had children. Upon the realisation that he is her father, she flees to the underworld and renames herself to , becoming the goddess () of night, death, and the underworld, where she receives the souls of their descendants. A similar story tells how Tiki found the first woman in a pool, imagined through his reflection and birthed into reality by covering the pool with dirt. She later became excited by the sight of an eel, passing on the excitement to Tiki and resulting in the first reproductive act.

Other versions say either Tāne Mahuta or Tūmatauenga created Tiki as the first man. In Ngāti Hau traditions, Mārikoriko is said to be the original woman created by Ārohirohi with Paoro's help. After seducing Tiki, she gave birth to Hinekauataata.

Māui's exploits

The sun is slowed

In the days of old Tamanuiterā, the sun, used to move through the sky at much too fast a pace for humanity to complete all their days' chores leaving long, cold nights that lasted for many hours while Tamanuiterā slept. Māui and his brothers journeyed to Tamanuiterā's sleeping pit with a large rope, which in some tellings was made from their sister Hina's hair. The brothers fashioned the rope into a noose or net, and in doing so "discovered the mode of plaiting flax into stout square-shaped ropes, (); and the manner of plaiting flat ropes, (); and of spinning round ropes", which when Tamanuiterā awoke found himself caught in. Using a patu made from the jawbone of their grandmother, Murirangawhenua, Māui beat the sun into agreeing to slow down and give the world more time during the day.

North and South Islands

In south Westland, Kāti Māhaki ki Makaawhio's Te Tauraka Waka a Maui Marae is named in honour of the tradition stating that Māui landed his canoe in Bruce Bay when he arrived in New Zealand.

In a tale collected from a Kāi Tahu woman of Lake Ellesmere / Te Waihora, Māui threw a giant to the ocean and then buried him beneath a mountain at Banks Peninsula. The next winter, the giant remained still underneath the mountain, but stirred during summer, which caused the land to split and form Akaroa Harbour. Māui would continue to pile earth on top of the giant, and the giant would continue to stir every summer, creating a lake and Pigeon Bay in the process, until finally the giant could not move anymore.

Māui's brothers constantly shunned him, and so never allowed him to join their fishing trips. One day he managed to sneak out to the waters with them by hiding in their canoe. Once they were far out to sea he revealed himself and used Murirangawhenua's jawbone, now fashioned into a fishing hook, to catch fish. Since his brothers would not allow him to use their bait, he pierced his nose with the hook and used his blood instead. Soon, Māui caught hold of a giant fish said to be a gift from Murirangawhenua, which he successfully hauled up to the surface of the ocean, the canoe getting caught atop Mount Hikurangi which according to Ngāti Porou, is still there. Māui went to examine his catch, and have it blessed by priests from Hawaiki, trusting his brothers to look after it. Out of jealousy though, the brothers took to beating the fish and cutting it open, carving out the mountains and valleys of what would become , the North Island. , the South Island, likewise was the name of Māui's canoe, Stewart Island was , Māui's anchor stone, and Cape Kidnappers became , Māui's fish hook.

Fire is brought to humanity

One night, Māui put out all the fires in his village, out of a curiosity to learn where it actually comes from. His mother Taranga, the village's , sent Māui to his grandmother Mahuika, the of fire, to retrieve more. She gave him a fingernail, but he extinguished it, so she kept giving him fingernails until she became furious with him, setting fire to the land and sea to attack Māui. He transformed into a kāhu to escape, but the fire singed the underside of his wings, turning them red. He talked to his ancestors Tāwhirimātea and Whaitirimatakataka to send rain to extinguish the fire. Mahuika threw her last nail at Māui, which missed and set fire to the , , , , and '' māhoe'' trees; the dried sticks of the were brought back by Māui to show his people how to make fire for themselves.

Hina and Tinirau

Māui turned Hina's husband, Irawaru, into the first dog () after a dispute they had during a fishing trip. Once they reached the shore Māui crushed Irawaru underneath the canoe, breaking his back and stretching out his limbs, turning him into a dog. Upon learning of this, Hina threw herself to the ocean. Instead of drowning, she was carried across the waves to Motutapu, where she became the wife of Chief Tinirau, son of Tangaroa. She took on the name to reflect her mood since Māui changed Irawaru.

With Tinirau, Hina became the mother of Tūhuruhuru. The , Kae, performed the baptism ritual for the child, and so Tinirau allowed Kae to ride his pet whale (possibly a ), Tutunui, in order to return home. This proved to be a mistake on Tinirau's part, as despite his strict instructions to the contrary, Kae rode Tutunui into shallow water where he became stranded and died. Kae and his people then used the whale's flesh for food. Hinarau and a party of women put Kae to sleep with a magical lullaby and brought him back to Motutapu. After he woke he was taunted and killed. This broke out into a war, a notable event of which Whakatau assisted Tinirau in burning his enemies.

In a South Island variant of that myth, Tinirau and Tutunui met Kae who was in a canoe. Kae borrowed Tutunui, and Tinirau borrowed a nautilus from his friend Tautini in a continued search for Hineteiwaiwa. When Tinirau smells the wind he realises Tutunui is being roasted.

In a very different variant, Hina was Māui's wife. Over a period of time where Hina visited a bathing pool Te Tunaroa, the father of eels, molested Hina. As revenge, Māui cut Te Tunaroa's body into bits, throwing them into different habitats where they became different kinds of fish; conger eels, freshwater eels, lampreys, and hagfish.

Failure to conquer death

One day Māui followed his mother to the underworld in search of his father, Makeatutara, who mistakenly performed the baptismal rituals for Māui's birth improperly, making it certain that he would die, so Māui decided to overcome death by facing his ancestress Hinenuitepō. Makeatutara instructs that she can be seen as the red flashes of sunset. His companions vary from version to version, usually being either his brothers or a group of small birds. To defeat Hinenuitepō, Māui had to crawl through her vagina in the form of a worm, and climb out through her mouth. Unfortunately, one of his brothers, or one of the birds named Pīwakawaka, bursts out into laughter at the sight of Māui beginning the task which wakes Hinenuitepō, who crushes him with the obsidian and pounamu teeth between her thighs.

In one rare tradition, Māui swapped faces with his wife Rohe against her will, out of jealousy that she was much prettier while he was ugly. She left to the underworld in anger, becoming the of night and death. The spirits of those who pass through her realm of Te Urangaoterā may get beaten by her. Māui and Rohe's child was Rangihore, the of rocks and stones.

Tāwhaki complex

Cannibalism and the effects of tapu

Whaitiri, a cannibalistic of thunder and a granddaughter of Māui, married the mortal Kaitangata (''Eat people'') believing, as his name suggested, that he too was a cannibal. After she killed her favourite slave for him, she was disappointed to learn that he is instead a kind man, who was horrified at the flesh offering. His diet consisted of fish instead, but Whaitiri grew tired of eating fish, and so killed Kaitangata's relatives. When he returned from a fishing trip she asked him to perform the chants that are used to offer flesh to the gods, but he did not know any such chants. After eating, she turned his relatives' bones into barbed fish hooks for Kaitangata to use, with which he caught a few . She ate the fish, which had become infused with from the hooks, and as a result she was gradually blinded. Later she was insulted by her husband when he remarked at her strange nature, so she revealed that she is 'thunder' from the sky, and returned there.

Life of Tāwhaki

Whaitiri's son Hemā had been killed by the . His sons, Tāwhaki and Karihi, made an ascent into the sky, where they found Whaitiri, who had since become fully blinded. Her only food consisted of and taro. She reveals to her grandsons how to climb further into the heavens but, in some versions, Karihi falls to his death.

While they were in the sky, Tāwhaki met his wife, either Tangotango or Hinepiripiri. In the version with Tangotango, the couple quarrel and she returns to heaven. There's another version where Tāwhaki was entirely human, and offended his wife Tangotango (daughter of Whaitiri), prompting her to return to the sky. In order to find her he meets his blind ancestress Matakerepō, who helps him climb further.

The brothers managed to save their mother, and together they trapped the in their house and blocked off all potential sources of light or escape. Their mother explained that sunlight could kill the , so the three tricked the into believing it was still night, and then suddenly lit the building on fire, and tore the door off. Only two survived; Tongahiti and .

A son named Wahieroa was born to Tāwhaki and Hinepiripiri, so named because after an attack on Tāwhaki, Hinepiripiri warmed him by the fire, with firewood. Alternatively, Tāwhaki's people were too lazy to collect firewood for their village, so Tāwhaki collected it himself and threw it to the ground, startling the people. Wahieroa would marry Matoka-rau-tāwhiri, who when pregnant had a craving for flesh, and so asked her Wahieroa to kill for her to eat. In journeying through the forest, Wahieroa is captured and killed by the ogre Matuku-tangotango.

Life of Rātā

Rātā, the son of Wahieroa and Hinepiripiri, set out to avenge his father's death. How he killed Matoka-rau-tāwhiri is dependent on where the tale is told, but, he won in the end, and used the ogre's bones to make spears. He soon found out though, that Wahieroa's bones were lying with Tāwhaki's old enemies, the .

In order to get to the , Rātā had to build a canoe. Rātā set about chopping down the tree for his canoe, cutting the top away, and went home after the day's work was over. The next day, he found the tree standing upright as if it had never been touched. He repeated the task of chopping it, and the next day it was again re-erected. He decided to hide in a nearby bush for the night to understand what was happening, and discovered that his work was being undone by the birdlike spirits, who explained that he didn't perform the correct rituals and thus his attempts to fell the tree were an insult to Tāne Mahuta. With expressing regret, the constructed his canoe for him.

While rescuing Wahieroa's bones, Rātā overheard the singing a song called while banging the bones together. He killed the priests and later used the song to turn the tides of a losing battle against them. In a flash, the dead of Rātā's people returned to life and slaughtered the in their thousands.

Rātā's sons by Tonga-rau-tawhiri were Tūwhakararo and Whakatau. In other accounts, their parents were Tūhuruhuru and Apakura. In other accounts still, Apakura as Tūwhakararo's wife threw an apron or girdle into the ocean, which a deity named Rongotakawhiu turned into Whakatau. The boy was taught a handful of magical secrets by the deity, and he was capable of living under the sea. As Whakatau's brother, Tūwhakararo had been murdered by the Āti Hāpai (or Raeroa) tribe, so the former avenged him by gathering an army and slaughtering the offending tribe. This is one event that was said to trigger migrations from Hawaiki.

Traditions

Discovery or origin traditions

The South Island's earliest , Waitaha, traces its ancestors back to the , captained by Rākaihautū who sailed from Te Patunuioāio to New Zealand with the (astronomer) Matiti's advice, and in mythology was credited with digging many of the island's great lakes and waterways. The is sometimes said to have arrived at a similar time, bringing the progenators of Ngāti Hawea - an that became absorbed into Waitaha. Similar ancient groups that have slipped into mythology might include Maero and Rapuwai.

Toi (Toi-kai-rākau; Toi-the-wood-eater) is the traditional origin ancestor of the tribes of the east coast of the North Island. Their traditions make no mention of his coming to New Zealand, and the inference is that he was born there. Ngāi Tūhoe say that Toi's 'ancestor' Tīwakawaka was the first to settle the country aboard , "but only his name is remembered". A man named Kahukura would take Toi's canoe, the and return to Hawaiki with it. He sent back to the new lands with the canoe, which in Ngāti Kahungunu traditions was accompanied by Kiwa, who later sailed around to Gisborne and became the first man there.

According to the of North Auckland and the west coast of the North Island, Kupe sailed to New Zealand in the from Hawaiki after murdering a man called Hoturapa, and making off with his wife, Kuramarotini. Traditional songs recount Kupe's travels along the coast of New Zealand. In Ngāpuhi tradition, he brought the first three dogs and sent them to Cape Reinga with a few men to guard the passage to the afterlife, who would become the Ngāti Kurī. Kupe's exploration of Marlborough had been impeded by Te Kāhui Tipua, frequently described as a tribe of ogres or giants that arrived with Rākaihautū. Kupe managed to kill Te Kāhui Tipua by creating Lake Grassmere and drowning their villages. He sailed back to Hawaiki and never came back to the land he discovered. However, others came to New Zealand according to his directions.

Ngahue, a contemporary of Kupe, sailed to New Zealand in his canoe, the . While there he killed a moa and discovered pounamu. After returning to Hawaiki, Ngahue helped build the using adzes made from the pounamu.

were credited with being the source of fishing nets and flax weaving. There are at least two traditions regarding this: In one story, another man named Kahukura happened across the pulling in their nets during the night, and offered to help them. When they realised he was a mortal, they fled from him. In another story of the Hauraki Māori, a named Hinerehia from the Moehau Range married a mortal man. She only weaved during the night, and so was tricked into weaving past dawn. Upset by this, she travelled within a cloud back to her mountains, where her laments can still be heard under heavy fog.

Migration and settlement traditions

Migration traditions are numerous, and often only pertain to small areas and to small groups of .

*Ngāti Porou and Ngāi Tahu trace their founders' ancestor as Paikea, who rode a whale from Hawaiki after his brother Ruatapu attempted to kill him.
*In the North Island, the and canoes are both prominent, where the latter's Ngāpuhi has the largest affiliation of any . Ngāti Rārua in the northern South Island also identify with the . The captain of the (Tamatekapua) was confronted by the captain of the when they each reached the North Island.
*Most recent inhabiting the South Island, especially in the north, including Kāti Māmoe, Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri, and Rangitāne

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