Māori mythology andMāori traditions are two major categories into which the remote oral history ofNew Zealand'sMāori may be divided. Māorimyths concern tales of supernatural events relating to the origins of what was the observable world for the pre-European Māori, often involving gods and demigods. Māoritradition concerns more folkloriclegends often involving historical or semi-historical forebears. Both categories merge inwhakapapa to explain the overall origin of the Māori and their connections to the world which they lived in.
The Māori did not have a writing system before European contact, beginning in 1769,[1] therefore they relied on oral retellings and recitations memorised from generation to generation. The three forms of expression prominent in Māori andPolynesianoral literature are genealogical recital, poetry, and narrative prose.[2] Experts in these subjects were broadly known astohunga.
Therituals, beliefs, and general worldview of Māori society were ultimately based on an elaborate mythology that had beeninherited from a Polynesian homeland (Hawaiki) and adapted and developed in the new setting.[3] 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 everyiwi,hapū, or individual who retells it, meaning there is never a fixed or 'correct' version of any particular story.
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The reciting of genealogies (whakapapa) 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.[2]
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.
Nevertheless, they should not be regarded simply asfairy tales to be enjoyed only as stories. The Maui myth, for example, was important not only as entertainment but also because it embodied the beliefs of the people concerning such things as the origin of fire, of death, and of the land in which they lived. The ritual chants concerning firemaking, fishing, death, and so on made reference to Maui and derived their power from such reference.
— Bruce Grandison Biggs,Maori Myths and Traditions (1966)[2]
Māori poetry was always sung or chanted; musical rhythms rather than linguistic devices served to distinguish it from prose.Rhyme orassonance 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 ofsynonyms or contrastive opposites, and the repetition of key words.[4][3]
Archaic words are common, including many which have lost any specific meaning and acquired a religious mystique. Abbreviated, sometimes cryptic utterances and the use of certain grammatical constructions not found in prose are also common.
— Bruce Grandison Biggs,Maori Myths and Traditions (1966)[2]
Few records survive of the extensive body of Māori mythology and tradition from the early years of European contact. Themissionaries 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,[4] regarding them as 'puerile beliefs', or even 'works of the devil'.[4] Exceptions to this general rule wereJohan Wohlers of theSouth Island,[a]Richard Taylor, who worked in theTaranaki andWanganui River areas, andWilliam Colenso who lived at theBay of Islands and also inHawke's Bay. Their writings are valuable as some of the best sources for the legends of the areas where they worked.[4]
In the 1840sEdward Shortland,Sir George Grey,Te Rangikāheke, 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 as of 2012[update] scholars have access to a great body of material (more than for any other area of thePacific) 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,Nga Mahi a nga Tupuna (The Deeds of the Ancestors), collected by Sir George Grey and translated asPolynesian Mythology;[5] andAncient History of the Māori (six volumes), edited byJohn White.[4][b]
The earliest full account of the genealogies ofatua and the first humans was recorded fromNgāti Rangiwewehi'sWī Maihi Te Rangikāheke inNga Tama a Rangi (The Sons of Heaven), in 1849.[6][c]
Myths are set in the remote past and their content often have to do with the supernatural. They present Māori ideas about thecreation of the universe and the origins of gods (atua) 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.[3] 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.[7]
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.[3] The cosmogonic genealogies are usually brought to a close by the two namesRangi and Papa (sky father andearth mother). The marriage of this celestial pair produced the gods and, in due course, all the living things of the earth.[3]
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 demigodMāui, and theTāwhaki myths.[3]
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.[8] From it came Te Pō (The Night), becoming Te Pōroa (The Long Night), and then becoming Te Pōnui (The Great Night). GraduallyTe Ao (The Light) glimmered into existence, stretching to all corners of the universe to become Te Aotūroa (The Long-Standing Light).[9] 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 formRangi.[10]: 56
In other versions the evolution of the universe is likened to a tree, with its base, tap roots, branching roots, and root hairs. Another theme likens evolution to the development of a child in the womb, as in the sequence “the seeking, the searching, the conception, the growth, the feeling, the thought, the mind, the desire, the knowledge, the form, the quickening”.[11] Some, or all, of these themes, may appear in the same genealogy.
— Bruce Grandison Biggs,Maori Myths and Traditions (1966)[3]
Generally, Rangi's wife isPapa, though they are known throughout Polynesia, even when they're not considered spouses.[12]: 892 The pair laid in a tight embrace which blocked light from touching the world.[9] From them came the childrenHaumia,Rongo,Tāwhiri,Tangaroa,Tū, andTāne. Some traditions may list some of these children alongsideRehua,Urutengangana, Aituā,Tiki,Whiro, orRūaumoko, 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 becameTāne Mahuta, the father of birds and the forest,[9] and Tū becameTūmatauenga, the father of humanity and its activities, such as war. Sometimes, Tāne Mahuta ascends to the sky afterRanginui 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.[citation needed] 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 areAoraki's parents.[8] 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.
Aoraki and his brothersRakiora, Rakirua, andRarakiroa travelled across the waters of the ocean to visit Rakinui's new wife – Papatūānuku. On the return journey, their canoe (waka) became capsized on a reef, so they climbed atop its hull to escape drowning. They froze into stone, becoming the tallest peaks of theSouthern Alps. Afterwards they were discovered by Tūterakiwhānoa who enlistedKahukura's help in shaping and clothing the land.[13] HenceTe Waka o Aoraki became the South Island.[8]
In a slight variant, Aoraki and his grandfather Kirikirikatata landed atShag Point aboard theĀraiteuru, where they turned into the ever-associated mountain and range. Kirikirikatata persuaded Aroarokaehe to come sit with them there, while her husbandMauka Atua became a peak on theBen Ōhau Range.[14]
There are many mythologies that describe the creation ofhumankind. Though Tūmatauenga is the major god associated with humanity and its activities, humanity's creation is sometimes credited to Tāne Mahuta,[15][d] and often involves Tiki. In one story, Tāne Mahuta abandoned his wifeRangahore, 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 ofHinetītama.[15] Tāne Mahuta concealed Hinetītama's parentage to her, and together they had children. Upon the realisation that he is her father, she flees to theunderworld and renames herself toHinenuitepō, becoming the goddess (atua) of night, death, and the underworld,[15] 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 aneel, passing on the excitement to Tiki and resulting in the firstreproductive act.[17]
Other versions say either Tāne Mahuta or Tūmatauenga created Tiki as the first man. InNgāti Hau traditions,Mārikoriko is said to be the original woman created byĀrohirohi withPaoro's help. After seducing Tiki, she gave birth toHinekauataata.
In the days of oldTamanuiterā, 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 sisterHina'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, (tuamaka); and the manner of plaiting flat ropes, (pāharahara); and of spinning round ropes", which when Tamanuiterā awoke found himself caught in. Using apatu 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.[18]
In southWestland,Kāti Māhaki ki Makaawhio's Te Tauraka Waka a Māui Marae[19] is named in honour of the tradition stating that Māui landed his canoe inBruce Bay when he arrived in New Zealand.[20]
In a tale collected from aKāi Tahu woman ofLake Ellesmere / Te Waihora, Māui threw agiant to the ocean and then buried him beneath a mountain atBanks Peninsula.[13] The next winter, the giant remained still underneath the mountain, but stirred during summer, which caused the land to split and formAkaroa 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.[13]
Māui's brothers constantly shunned him, and so never allowed him to join their fishing trips.[21] 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.[18] 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 atopMount Hikurangi which according toNgāti Porou, is still there.[22]: 5 Māui went to examine his catch, and have it blessed by priests fromHawaiki, 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 becomeTe Ika-a-Māui, theNorth Island.Te Waka a Māui, the South Island, likewise was the name of Māui's canoe,Stewart Island wasTe Punga a Māui, Māui's anchor stone, andCape Kidnappers becameTe Matau-a-Māui, Māui's fish hook.[12]: 284
One night, Māui put out all the fires in his village, out of a curiosity to learn where it actually comes from. His motherTaranga, the village'srangatira, sent Māui to his grandmotherMahuika, theatua 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 akāhu to escape, but the fire singed the underside of his wings, turning them red. He talked to his ancestorsTāwhirimātea andWhaitirimatakataka to send rain to extinguish the fire.Mahuika threw her last nail at Māui, which missed and set fire to thekaikōmako,tōtara,patete,pukatea, andmāhoe trees; the dried sticks of themāhoe were brought back by Māui to show his people how to make fire for themselves.[23]
Māui turned Hina's husband,Irawaru, into the first dog (kurī) after a dispute they had during a fishing trip.[12]: 107 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 ChiefTinirau, son of Tangaroa. She took on the nameHinauri to reflect her mood since Māui changed Irawaru.
With Tinirau, Hina became the mother of Tūhuruhuru. Thetohunga,Kae, performed the baptism ritual for the child, and so Tinirau allowed Kae to ride his pet whale (possibly ataniwha), 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 anautilus 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, andhagfish.
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 namedPīwakawaka, bursts out into laughter at the sight of Māui beginning the task which wakes Hinenuitepō, who crushes him with theobsidian andpounamu teeth between her thighs.
In one rare tradition, Māui swapped faces with his wifeRohe against her will, out of jealousy that she was much prettier while he was ugly. She left to the underworld in anger, becoming theatua of night and death. The spirits of those who pass through her realm ofTe Urangaoterā may get beaten by her. Māui and Rohe's child was Rangihore, theatua of rocks and stones.
Whaitiri, acannibalisticatua of thunder and a granddaughter of Māui, married the mortalKaitangata (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 fewhāpuku. She ate the fish, which had become infused withtapu 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.
Whaitiri's sonHemā had been killed by theponaturi. His sons,Tāwhaki andKarihi, made an ascent into the sky, where they found Whaitiri, who had since become fully blinded. Her only food consisted ofkūmara andtaro. 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, eitherTangotango orHinepiripiri. 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 ancestressMatakerepō, who helps him climb further.
The brothers managed to save their mother, and together they trapped theponaturi in their house and blocked off all potential sources of light or escape. Their mother explained that sunlight could kill theponaturi, so the three tricked theponaturi into believing it was still night, and then suddenly lit the building on fire, and tore the door off.[24] Only twoponaturi survived;Tongahiti andKanae.
A son namedWahieroa 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 marryMatoka-rau-tāwhiri, who when pregnant had a craving fortūī flesh, and so asked her Wahieroa to killtūī for her to eat. In journeying through the forest, Wahieroa is captured and killed by theogreMatuku-tangotango.
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, theponaturi.
In order to get to theponaturi, 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 birdlikehākuturi 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, thehākuturi constructed his canoe for him.
While rescuing Wahieroa's bones, Rātā overheard theponaturi singing a song calledTitikura 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 theponaturi in their thousands.
Rātā's sons by Tonga-rau-tawhiri wereTūwhakararo andWhakatau. In other accounts, their parents were Tūhuruhuru andApakura.[12]: 15 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.[25] 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.
Every Māori social group had its own body of traditional belief which validated its claims to the territory it occupied, gave authority to those of high rank, and justified the group's external relationships with other groups. These purposes were served because the members of the groups concerned believed that the traditions were true records of past events, and they acted accordingly. Alliances between groups were facilitated if it was believed that they shared a common heritage, and the commoner's respect for and fear of his chief were based, in part at least, on his belief in the semi-divine ancestry of those of high rank.
— Bruce Grandison Biggs,Maori Myths and Traditions (1966)[26]: 450
Traditions, as opposed to myths, tell of incidents which are for the most part humanly possible. Genealogical links with the present place them within the past millennium. They are geographically located in New Zealand and knowledge of them is confined to this country.
— Bruce Grandison Biggs,Maori Myths and Traditions (1966)[3]
The South Island's earliestiwi,Waitaha, traces its ancestors back to theUruaokapuarangi, captained byRākaihautū who sailed fromTe Patunuioāio to New Zealand with thetohunga kōkōrangi (astronomer) Matiti's advice, and in mythology was credited with digging many of the island's great lakes and waterways.[27] TheKapakitua is sometimes said to have arrived at a similar time, bringing the progenators of Ngāti Hawea – aniwi that became absorbed into Waitaha. Similar ancient groups that have slipped into mythology might includeMaero andRapuwai.[28]
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 aboardTe Aratauwhāiti, "but only his name is remembered".[26]: 451 [e] A man namedKahukura would take Toi's canoe, theHorouta and return to Hawaiki with it. He sentkūmara back to the new lands with the canoe,[29] which inNgāti Kahungunu traditions was accompanied byKiwa, who later sailed around toGisborne and became the first man there.
According to theiwi of NorthAuckland and the west coast of the North Island,Kupe sailed to New Zealand in theMatahourua from Hawaiki after murdering a man calledHoturapa, and making off with his wife,Kūrāmarotini. Traditional songs recount Kupe's travels along the coast of New Zealand. InNgāpuhi tradition, he brought the first three dogs and sent them toCape Reinga with a few men to guard the passage to the afterlife, who would become theNgāti Kurī. Kupe's exploration ofMarlborough had been impeded by Te Kāhui Tipua,[30] frequently described as a tribe of ogres or giants that arrived with Rākaihautū.[31] Kupe managed to kill Te Kāhui Tipua by creatingLake Grassmere and drowning their villages.[30] He sailed back to Hawaiki and never came back to the land he discovered. However, others came to New Zealand according to his directions.[26]: 451
Ngahue, a contemporary of Kupe, sailed to New Zealand in his canoe, theTāwhirirangi.[32] While there he killed amoa and discovered pounamu.[33] After returning to Hawaiki, Ngahue helped build theArawa usingadzes made from the pounamu.[34]
Patupaiarehe were credited with being the source of fishing nets andflax weaving. There are at least two traditions regarding this: In one story, another man namedKahukura happened across thepatupaiarehe pulling in their nets during the night, and offered to help them. When they realised he was a mortal, they fled from him.[12]: 328 In another story of theHauraki Māori, apatupaiarehe named Hinerehia from theMoehau 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.[35]
Migration traditions are numerous, and often only pertain to small areas and to small groups ofiwi.
A deifed person, or persons, namedUenuku features with certain roles in some canoes' migration stories. Often he is anariki of Hawaiki who serves as a catalyst for disputes, which end with the migrations to New Zealand.[12]: 572 The name Uenuku also belongs to one or moreatua associated with rainbows and war;[12]: 572 depending on the telling, he was either a mortal who was visited by a mistmaiden from the heavens and then turned into a rainbow to be with her after tricking her into staying in his house past dawn, or he was a spirit who visited Tamatea Arikinui's wife night after night and impregnated her.Te Uenuku is aTainui artefact associated with the rainbow entity.
Each tribal group, whetheriwi orhapū, maintained its discrete traditional record, which generally concerned "great battles and great men"; these stories were linked together by genealogy, which in Māori tradition is an elaborate art.[26]: 453 Hapū were often named after a notable ancestor from the wideriwi; the name of theiwi itself was often borrowed from a founding ancestor. Sometimes, a group was named after a particular event.[37]
After the arrival of theArawa in theBay of Plenty, its people dispersed outwards and towardsLake Taupō. From the canoe, a separateWaitahaiwi evolved. Descendants of the canoe's priestNgātoro-i-rangi,Ngāti Tūwharetoa, began attacking the localNgāti Hotu and Ngāti Ruakopiri, and drove them from Lake Taupō[38] andLake Rotoaira. TheWhanganui Māori would later drive them fromKakahi further into theKing Country, after which they disappeared from history.
Most of the greatest remembered traditions of the South Island are often told by or involve Kāti Māmoe, Ngāi Tara, Ngāti Wairangi, Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri, Ngāi Tahu, or Rangitāne; Waitaha was conquered and absorbed into Kāti Māmoe, which along with Ngāti Wairangi and Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri were conquered by Ngāi Tahu.[39] Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri were additionally harassed by their brethreniwiNgāti Kuia andNgāti Apa.[40]
The Māori that clashed withAbel Tasman's crew atGolden Bay in December 1642 were of Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri, and it is sometimes theorised that Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri may have interpreted theDutch aspatupaiarehe.[40] Another theory suggests that theiwi was concerned about the intruders possibly waking thetaniwha Ngārara Huarau in anchoring too close to a certain point.[41]
Some of Ngāi Tahu's more memorable ancestors included;
One battle that Kāti Māmoe won against Ngāi Tahu was atLowther under Tutemakohu, whosetaua retreated to the mist after their victory.[49] A Kāti Māmoe chief of Waiharakeke Pā named Te Whetuki was described as being "of strangely wild aspect", and covered in long hair.[39]: 194 One tradition states that a group of Kāti Māmoe managed to escape an attack by forever disappearing into the forests on the other side ofLake Te Anau,[39]: 196 the descendants of which were possibly sighted in theHāwea / Bligh Sound byCaptain Howell in 1843, and again in 1850/1 byCaptain Stokes,[50] and in 1872 by Kupa Haereroa atLake Ada,[39]: 198 and finally in 1882.[51]
Io is a godly figure whose existence before European (specificallyChristian European) arrival has been debated. He didn't appear in manuscripts or oral discourse until late in the 19th century.[11] At least two references to him from 1891 appear inEdward Tregear'sThe Maori-Polynesian comparative dictionary, where he is described as "God, the Supreme Being",[12]: 106 and as a figure inMoriori genealogy, but as Tiki's descendant.[12]: 669 A third reference might be found in the same book underNgāti Maniapoto's genealogy.[12]: 667 It should also be noted that Io seems to be present in mythologies fromHawai‘i, theSociety Islands, and theCook Islands.[52]
In some versions of Tāwhaki's story, he sends his people to a high place to escape a flood which he summons to drown the village of his jealous brothers-in-law. There is a suggestion that this story might have inspiration from theGenesis flood narrative, and Hemā is sometimes reimagined asShem. The way George Grey recorded the myths of Tāwhaki in his 1854Polynesian Mythology may have given rise to these connections:[53]: 165
[Tāwhaki] left the place where his faithless brothers-in-law lived, and went away taking all his own warriors and their families with him, and built a fortified village upon the top of a very lofty mountain, where he could easily protect himself; and they dwelt there. Then he called aloud to the Gods, his ancestors, for revenge, and they let the floods of heaven descend, and the earth was overwhelmed by the waters and all human beings perished, and the name given to that event was 'The overwhelming of the Mataaho,' and the whole of the race perished.
— Sir George Grey,Polynesian Mythology (1854)[54]
Similarly, in the migration story where Ruatapu attempts to kill his brother Paikea, one Ngāti Porou tradition says that Ruatapu summoned great waves that destroyed their village, which Paikea only survived through the intervention of a goddess named Moakuramanu,[55] and that Ruatapu then threatened to return as the great waves of the eighth month.[53]: 143–146 [56]
