''Te Waka a Māui'' (the canoe or vessel of Māui) is a

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

name for the South Island of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Some Māori mythology says that it was the vessel which Māui (a demi-god hero, who possessed magic powers) stood on as he hauled up ''

Te Ika-a-Māui The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

'' (the fish of Māui – the North Island). There are also stories about other people,

Kupe Kupe ( ~1180-1320) was a legendary Polynesian explorer, navigator and great rangatira of Hawaiki, who is said to have been the first human to discover New Zealand. Whether Kupe existed historically is likely but difficult to confirm. He is g ...

and Toi, who discovered Aotearoa (New Zealand). Māui lived in the

ancestral homeland of

Hawaiki In Polynesian mythology, (also rendered as in Cook Islands Māori, in Samoan, in Tahitian, in Hawaiian) is the original home of the Polynesians, before dispersal across Polynesia. It also features as the underworld in many Māori stories. ...

. One day he hid in the bottom of his brothers' canoe as they went on a long fishing voyage. Māui used his magical powers to increase the distance back to shore so when he was discovered his brothers would not take him back home. When they were far out into the ocean, Māui dropped his magic fishhook over the side of the canoe. He felt a strong tug on the line, too strong to be a normal type of fish. Māui called on his brothers to help. After quite a struggle they pulled up the North Island of New Zealand – which, since that day, has been known to Māori as ''Te Ika-a-Maui''. Since then, the South Island of New Zealand has been known as ''Te Waka a Maui'' (the canoe of Māui). The third (smaller) island lying to the south of New Zealand is known as ''Te Punga a Māui'' (Māui's anchor), as it was the anchor for Māui's canoe. In English it is known as

Stewart Island / Rakiura Stewart Island ( mi, Rakiura, ' glowing skies', officially Stewart Island / Rakiura) is New Zealand's third-largest island, located south of the South Island, across the Foveaux Strait. It is a roughly triangular island with a total land ar ...

. The official names are the South Island or ''Te Waipounamu''. Another old South Island name for the island, following a different tradition from the one above, is ''Te Waka a Aoraki'', the canoe of

Aoraki Aoraki / Mount Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand. Its height, as of 2014, is listed as . It sits in the Southern Alps, the mountain range that runs the length of the South Island. A popular tourist destination, it is also a favourite ...

References

External links

"Māori legends and myths - The Legend of Maui and the magic fishhook"
''New Zealand in History''
"The Legends of Maui and the magic fishhook"
''Maori-in-Oz'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Te Waka a Maui Geography of New Zealand Māori words and phrases Māori mythology