Māori mythology

Māori did not have a writing system before European contact, beginning in 1769, therefore they relied on oral retellings and recitations 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 tohunga.

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 iwi, hapū, or individual who retells it, meaning there is never a fixed or 'correct' version of any particular story.

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 (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. 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.

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". Some, or all, of these themes, may appear in the same genealogy.

— Bruce Grandison Biggs, Maori Myths and Traditions (1966)

Earth's creation

Generally, the wife of Rangi 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 Rūaumoko, 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 off the arms of Rangi, 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 the suggestions of Tū 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 the wives of Rakinui, and they are the parents of Aoraki. In these versions, the gods that are usually considered the children of Rakinui may become the half-siblings of each other, some even becoming the grandsons of Rakinui.

South Island's creation

Aoraki and his brothers Rakiora, Rakirua, and Rarakiroa travelled across the waters of the ocean to visit the new wife of Rakinui – 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 the Southern Alps. Afterwards they were discovered by Tūterakiwhānoa who enlisted Kahukura's help in shaping and clothing the land. Hence Te Waka o Aoraki became the South Island.

In a slight variant, Aoraki and his grandfather Kirikirikatata landed at Shag Point aboard the Āraiteuru, 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 Ōhau 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 the parentage of Hinetītama to her, and together they had children. Upon the realisation that he is her father, she flees to the underworld and renames herself to Hinenuitepō, becoming the goddess (atua) 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.

The exploits of Māui

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 the sleeping pit of Tamanuiterā 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, (tuamaka); and the manner of plaiting flat ropes, (pāharahara); 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 Māui 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.

The brothers of Māui 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 the jawbone of Murirangawhenua, 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 Te Ika-a-Māui, the North Island. Te Waka a Māui, the South Island, likewise was the name of the canoe of Māui, Stewart Island was Te Punga a Māui, the anchor stone of Māui, and Cape Kidnappers became Te Matau-a-Māui, the fish hook of Māui.

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 rangatira, sent Māui to his grandmother Mahuika, the atua 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 kaikōmako, tōtara, patete, pukatea, and māhoe trees; the dried sticks of the māhoe were brought back by Māui to show his people how to make fire for themselves.

Hina and Tinirau

Māui turned the husband of Hina, Irawaru, into the first dog (kurī) 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 Hinauri to reflect her mood since Māui changed Irawaru.

With Tinirau, Hina became the mother of Tūhuruhuru. The tohunga, Kae, performed the baptism ritual for the child, and so Tinirau allowed Kae to ride his pet whale (possibly a taniwha), Tutunui, in order to return home. This proved to be a mistake on the part of Tinirau, 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 the wife of Māui. Over a period of time where Hina visited a bathing pool Te Tunaroa, the father of eels, molested Hina. As revenge, Māui cut the body of Te Tunaroa 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 the birth of Māui 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 atua 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 atua of rocks and stones.

Tāwhaki complex

Cannibalism and the effects of tapu

Whaitiri, a cannibalistic atua 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 the relatives of Kaitangata. 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 hāpuku. She ate the fish, which had become infused with tapu 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

The son of Whaitiri Hemā had been killed by the ponaturi. 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 kūmara 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 ponaturi in their house and blocked off all potential sources of light or escape. Their mother explained that sunlight could kill the ponaturi, so the three tricked the ponaturi into believing it was still night, and then suddenly lit the building on fire, and tore the door off. Only two ponaturi survived; Tongahiti and Kanae.

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, the people of Tāwhaki 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 tūī flesh, and so asked her Wahieroa to kill tūī 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 the old enemies of Tāwhaki, the ponaturi.

In order to get to the ponaturi, 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 hākuturi 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 hākuturi constructed his canoe for him.

While rescuing the bones of Wahieroa, Rātā overheard the ponaturi singing a song called Titikura 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 the people of Rātā returned to life and slaughtered the ponaturi in their thousands.

The sons of Rātā by Tonga-rau-tawhiri were Tūwhakararo and Whakatau. In other accounts, their parents were Tūhuruhuru and Apakura. In other accounts still, Apakura as the wife of Tūwhakararo 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 the brother of Whakatau, 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.