In
Māori mythology, Te Wheke-a-Muturangi is a monstrous octopus destroyed in Whekenui Bay,
Tory Channel or at
Patea by
Kupe the navigator.
The octopus was a pet or
familiar of
Muturangi, a powerful tohunga of
Hawaiki. The wheke was nonetheless a wild creature and a guardian.
When Kupe reached New Zealand, he encountered the beast off
Castlepoint. The giant octopus then fled across
Cook Strait
Cook Strait () is a strait that separates the North Island, North and South Islands of New Zealand. The strait connects the Tasman Sea on the northwest with the South Pacific Ocean on the southeast. It is wide at its narrowest point,McLintock, ...
, and was chased by Kupe through Tory Channel. Here a great battle took place, and when the octopus appeared to be about to flee, Kupe cut off its arms with his
adze
An adze () or adz is an ancient and versatile cutting tool similar to an axe but with the cutting edge perpendicular to the handle rather than parallel. Adzes have been used since the Stone Age. They are used for smoothing or carving wood in ha ...
, killing it (Tregear 1891: 184, 620).
In the traditions of the
Ngāti Ranginui people of
Tauranga
Tauranga (, Māori language for "resting place," or "safe anchorage") is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty Region and the List of cities in New Zealand, fifth-most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of or roughly 3% of t ...
, Te Wheke-a-Muturangi was killed by their ancestor
Tamatea, and is not associated with Kupe. New Zealand ethnologist
David Simmons has suggested that this may be the more authentic tradition, and that the association with Kupe is found only in problematic sources (Simmons 1976).
Another theory for Te Wheke-a-Muturangi states that the name actually refers to the many navigation paths centered on
Raiatea with tentacles reaching out across the Pacific at least as far as the edges of the
Polynesian Triangle
The Polynesian Triangle is a region of the Pacific Ocean with three island groups at its corners: Hawaii (''Hawaiʻi''), Easter Island (''Rapa Nui'') and New Zealand (''Aotearoa''). This is often used as a simple way to define Polynesia.
Outsi ...
(Tetahiotupa 2009).
''Au gré des vents et des courants'' (Éditions des Mers Australes)
E. Tetahiotupa, 2009 In French Polynesian oral tradition this octopus is also known as "Taumata-Fee-Faatupu-Hau" (Great Kraken of Prosperity) and "Tumu-Rai-Fenua" (Beginning-of-Heaven-and-Earth).
See also
* Akkorokamui
* In Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
, '' Kanaloa'' is symbolized by the squid or ''hee''.
* Kraken
* Kupe
* Polynesian Leaders Group
* Polynesian Triangle
The Polynesian Triangle is a region of the Pacific Ocean with three island groups at its corners: Hawaii (''Hawaiʻi''), Easter Island (''Rapa Nui'') and New Zealand (''Aotearoa''). This is often used as a simple way to define Polynesia.
Outsi ...
References
* D. R. Simmons, ''The Great New Zealand Myth: a study of the discovery and origin traditions of the Maori'' (Reed Publishing
Reed Publishing (NZ) Ltd (formerly A. H. Reed Ltd and A. H. and A. W. Reed Ltd) was one of the leading publishers in New Zealand. It was founded by Alfred Hamish Reed and his wife Isabel in 1907. Reed's nephew Alexander Wyclif Reed joined the ...
: Wellington) 1976.
* E. R. Tregear, ''Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary'' ( Lyon and Blair: Lambton Quay), 1891, 184, 620.
{{Māori-myth-stub
Māori legendary creatures
Mythological cephalopods
Familiars