# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
One evening, after eating a hearty meal, Māui lay beside his fire staring into the flames. He watched the flames flicker and dance and thought to himself, "I wonder where fire comes from."

Māui, being the curious person that he was, decided that he needed to find out. In the middle of the night, while everyone was sleeping, Māui went from village to village and extinguished all the fires until not a single fire burned in the world. He then went back to his whare and waited.

The next morning there was an uproar in the village.

"How can we cook our breakfast, there's no fire!" called a worried mother.

"How will we keep warm at night?" cried another.

"We can't possibly live without fire!" the villagers said to one another.

The people of the village were very frightened. They asked Taranga, who was their rangatira, to help solve the problem.

"Someone will have to go and see the great goddess, Mahuika, and ask her for fire," said Taranga.

None of the villagers were eager to meet Mahuika, they had all heard of the scorching mountain where she lived. So Māui offered to set out in search of Mahuika, secretly glad that his plan had worked.

"Be very careful," said Taranga. "Although you are a descendant of Mahuika she will not take kindly to you if you try and trick her."

"I'll find the great ancestress Mahuika and bring fire back to the world," Māui assured his mother.

Māui walked to the scorching mountain to the end of the earth following the instructions from his mother and found a huge mountain glowing red hot with heat. At the base of the mountain Māui saw a cave entrance. Before he entered, Māui whispered a special karakia to himself as protection from what lay beyond. But nothing could prepare Māui for what he saw when he entered the sacred mountain of Mahuika.

Mahuika, the goddess, rose up before him, fire burning from every pore of her body, her hair a mass of flames, her arms outstretched, and with only black holes where her eyes once were. She sniffed the air.

"Who is this mortal that dares to enter my dwelling?"

Māui gathered the courage to speak, "It is I, Māui, son of Taranga."

"Huh!" Yelled Mahuika. "Māui, the son of Taranga?"

"Yes the last born, Māui-tikitiki-a-Taranga."

"Well then, Māui-tikitiki-a-Taranga, welcome, welcome to the essence of the flame, welcome my grandchild."

Mahuika stepped closer to Māui, taking a deep sniff of his scent. Māui stood completely still, even though the flames from Mahuika's skin were unbearably hot.

"So... why do you come, Māui-tikitiki-a-Taranga?" Mahuika finally asked.

Māui said, "The fires of the world have been extinguished, I have come to ask you for fire." Mahuika listened carefully to Māui, and then she laughed. She pulled a fingernail from one of her burning fingers and gave it to him.

"Take this fire as a gift to your people. Honour this fire as you honour me."

So Māui left the house of Mahuika taking with him the fingernail of fire.
Return to top
As Māui walked along the side of the road he thought to himself, "What if Mahuika had no fire left, then where would she get her fire from?"

Māui couldn't contain his curiosity. He quickly threw the fingernail into a stream and headed back to Mahuika's cave.

"I tripped and fell," said Māui. "Could I please have another?"

Mahuika was in a good mood. She hadn't spoken to someone in quite some time and she liked Māui. She gladly gave Māui another of her fingernails.

But Māui soon extinguished this fingernail as well and returned to Mahuika with another excuse.

"A fish splashed my flame as I was crossing the river," Māui said.

Mahuika provided another of her fingernails, not suspecting that she was being tricked.

This continued for most of the day until Mahuika had used all her fingernails and had even given up her toenails. When Māui returned to ask for another, Mahuika was furious. She knew Māui had been tricking her and threw the burning toenail to the ground.

Instantly Māui was surrounded by fire and chased from the cave.

Māui changed himself into a hawk and escaped to the sky, but the flames burned so high that they singed the underside of his wings, turning them a glowing red.

Māui dived towards a river, hoping to avoid the flames in the coolness of the water, but the immense heat made the water boil.

Māui was desperate. He called on his ancestor Tāwhirimātea for help. "Tāwhirimātea atua o ngā hau e whā, āwhinatia mai!"

Then, a mass of clouds gathered and a torrent of rain fell to put out the many fires. Mahuika's mountain of fire no longer burned hot.

Mahuika had lost much of her power, but still she was not giving up. She took her very last toenail and threw it at Māui in anger. The toenail of fire missed Māui and flew into the trees, planting itself in the Mahoe tree, the Tōtara, the Patete, the Pukatea, and the Kaikōmako trees. These trees cherished and held onto the fire of Mahuika, considering it a great gift.

When Māui returned to his village he didn't bring back fire as the villagers had expected. Instead he brought back dry wood from the Kaikōmako tree and showed them how to rub the dry sticks together forming friction which would eventually start a fire. The villagers were very happy to be able to cook their food once more and to have the warmth of their fires at night to comfort them.

Māui satisfied his curiosity in finding the origin of fire, although he very nearly paid the ultimate price in doing so. To this day the Kahu, the native hawk of Aotearoa, still retains the red singed feathers on the underside of its wings, a reminder of how close Māui was to death.

This is the story of how Māui brought fire to the world.

(c) Wiremu Grace
Return to top

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
One evening, after eating a hearty meal, Māui lay beside his fire staring into the flames. He watched the flames flicker and dance and thought to himself, "I wonder where fire comes from." Māui, being the curious person that he was, decided that he needed to find out.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
One evening, Māui and his brothers were making a hāngi for their evening meal. They had just finished heating the stones when the sun went down and it quickly became too dark to see. Māui was annoyed with having to eat his food in the dark. He stood in the light of the fire and addressed his people.

"Every day we have to rush to do our chores and gather our food before the sun sets. Why should we be slaves to the sun? I will catch the sun before it rises, and teach it to travel slowly across the sky!"

But one of the brothers was quick to criticise, not believing Māui could possibly do such a thing.

"It would be impossible to catch the sun, he's much bigger than any bird you've ever caught!"

"The heat and flames would surely burn you to death," said another.

"I think he's got sunstroke," another added, and they all laughed.

When they had quietened down, Māui took the sacred jawbone of his ancestor from his belt and waved it in the air.

"I have achieved many things that were thought impossible - gaining fire from Mahuika, catching the greatest fish in the world, descending to the underworld, and many more. With this magic jawbone, gifted by Murirangawhenua, and with your help, I will succeed in conquering the sun!"

The majority of the people agreed that Māui had achieved many great feats, they decided to help Māui in his quest.

The next day Māui and his whānau collected a huge amount of flax, Māui then taught them how to make flax ropes, a skill he learnt when he was in the underworld. They made square shaped ropes, tuamaka, flat ropes, paharahara, and twisted the flax to make round ropes. After five days the ropes were completed and Māui said a special karakia over them.

"Taura nui, taura roa, taura kaha, taura toa, taura here i a Tamanuiterā, whakamaua kia mau kia ita!"

During the night, Māui and his brothers hoisted the ropes and travelled towards the east to where the sun first rises. They hid under trees and bushes during the day, so the sun wouldn't see them approaching. They collected water in calabashes as they travelled, which Māui said was necessary for their task ahead.

On the twelfth night Māui and his brothers arrived at the edge of a huge, red-hot pit, dug deep into the ground. Inside the pit Tamanuiterā, the sun, was sleeping. The brothers were silent, terrified at what might happen if he awoke. Māui immediately ordered his brothers to build four huts around the edges of the pit to hide their long ropes. In front of the huts they used water to soften the clay and build a wall to shelter them. Māui and his brothers then spread their flax ropes into a noose, only just finishing before dawn, when the sun was due to wake.

"When Tamanuiterā rises and his head and shoulders are in the noose I will call for you to pull tight on the ropes," Māui instructed his brothers.

One of the brothers became worried and wanted to run while he still had time.

"Why are we doing this?" he asked another. "It's madness!"

"We'll be burnt alive, if we run now we might escape with our lives!"

The two brothers tried to sneak away but Māui caught sight of them through the corner of his eye.

"If you run now the sun will see you when he rises from his pit. You will be the first ones to die. There is no turning back!"
Return to top
The brothers had no time to answer. The sun had begun to wake and was rising from the pit. They quickly ran back to their huts grabbed hold of their ropes and hid behind the wall of clay, trembling as they waited for Māui's orders. Māui hid and watched.

Tamanuiterā slowly emerged from the deep pit, not knowing that a trap was set for him. His head went through the noose and then his shoulders. Māui suddenly jumped from his hut and yelled to his brothers, "Pull on the ropes, now!"

At first the brothers were too scared to come out. Māui yelled again, "Quickly, before it's too late, and we are scorched to death!"

Just then the sun peered down to the edges of the pit and saw Māui standing before him. Tamanuiterā was furious. He hurled a ball of fire towards Māui, but Māui ducked, holding tightly to his rope and once more chanting his karakia:

"Taura nui, taura roa, taura kaha, taura toa, taura here i a Tamanuiterā, whakamaua kia mau kia ita!"

The brothers jumped from their hiding places, grabbing their ropes just before Tamanuiterā could free himself from the noose.

"Aaaarrrhhh!" the sun roared in anger.

Māui fought off the intense heat and moved to the edge of the pit. He raised his magic jawbone above his head and brought it down hard on the sun. The magic forces from the jawbone flashed like a bolt of lightening.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Cried Tamanuiterā.

"From now on you will travel slowly across the sky, never again will the length of our day be dictated by you," Māui replied.

Tamanuiterā tried to struggle free, but again, Māui showed him the power of his magic jawbone. And Tamanuiterā finally gave up the fight.

Māui instructed his brothers to let go of their ropes. Tamanuiterā travelled slowly up into the sky, tired and beaten.

The days became longer for Māui and his people, giving them plenty of time to fish, gather food and do their chores. Māui's power and ability could never be questioned again, he had succeeded in taming the sun. From that day until this, Tamanuiterā has always travelled slowly across the sky.

And this is the story of how Māui slowed the sun.

(c) Wiremu Grace
Return to top

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
One evening, Māui and his brothers were making a hāngi for their evening meal. They had just finished heating the stones when the sun went down and it quickly became too dark to see. Māui was annoyed with having to eat his food in the dark.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Kia ora and welcome to Māori Myths, Legends and Contemporary Stories. Here, you are able to view a collection of myths and legends alongside contemporary stories reflecting themes relevant to today's world.

These stories have been either written or retold by Wiremu Grace. Wiremu would like to acknowledge Uncle Ken Arthur and Uncle Mark Metekingi for their kōrero tuku iho, or stories and knowledge handed down from the generations. Nō reira e te tokorua, e ōku rangatira, haere, haere, hoki atu rā.

This collection of stories can be navigated in both te reo Māori and English.

Please enjoy your time reading Māori Myths, Legends and Contemporary Stories. Use the side navigation to take you through the variety of stories on offer.

We value your feedback and invite you to contact us at mataurangamaori@tki.org.nz.

Text and illustrations by Wiremu Grace copyright (c) Wiremu Grace
Return to top

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Māori Myths, Legends and Contemporary Stories

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kia ora and welcome to Māori Myths, Legends and Contemporary Stories. Here, you are able to view a collection of myths and legends alongside contemporary stories reflecting themes relevant to today's world. These stories have been either written or retold by Wiremu Grace.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Māui dreamed of the day that he could go fishing with his older brothers. Each time his brothers returned from a fishing trip Māui would ask, "Next time, can I come fishing with you?"

But Māui's brothers would always make an excuse. "No you're much too young to come fishing with us. We need all the room in our waka for the many fish that we catch."

"I'll only take up a little bit of room, and I'll stay out of trouble, I promise," Māui would argue.

The eldest brother would reply, "You're so skinny we might mistake you for some bait and throw you overboard for the fish to eat."

Māui would get angry. "I'll teach them, he'd say to himself, "I'll prove how good I am!"

Secretly Māui hatched a plan to prove he was a great fisherman. One night when Māui was alone he began weaving a strong fishing line from flax. As he wove he recited an old karakia to give his fishing line strength.

When he was finished, Māui took a jawbone which his ancestor Murirangawhenua had given him, and bound it securely to the line. Early the next morning, Māui took his fishing line and secreted himself in the hull of his brothers' canoe.

When Māui's brothers pulled the canoe into the sea they noticed something a little different.

"The canoe is much heavier this morning, are you sure you're helping?" said one.

"I think you've been eating too much kumara!" said another.

"Stop your bickering and get on with it!" said the eldest brother.

None of the brothers noticed Māui hiding in the hull. When Māui heard his brothers drop the anchor, he knew they were too far from land to return. Māui revealed himself to his brothers' surprise.

"What!"

"What are you doing here?"

"You tricked us!"

"No wonder we have not caught one single fish!"

The brothers were angry with Māui, but Māui spoke up.

"I have come to fish because Murirangawhenua said I would be a great fisherman. Let your lines down as I say my karakia and you'll catch more fish than you ever have." Māui began his karakia.

The brothers threw their lines into the water and instantly began catching fish. One after another they pulled their fish into the waka. In no time the waka was full and the brothers were delighted with their catch.
Return to top
"We're the best fishermen ever!" the brothers congratulated each other.

"Now it is my turn to fish," said Māui.

The brothers laughed when Māui pulled his fishing line from his bag.

"Huh, you'll be lucky to catch a piece of seaweed with that!"

"Or maybe a piece of driftwood to float home on!"

The brothers couldn't contain their laughter. Māui didn't listen, instead he recited his karakia and readied his line. "Can you give me some bait for my hook?" Māui asked his brothers.

But the brothers only laughed harder so Māui clenched his fist and hit himself hard on the nose. His nose bled and Māui covered his hook with his own blood. Māui then stood at the front of the canoe and whirled his line above his head as he recited his karakia. He spun his line out to sea, the line sunk deep to the ocean floor, down into the depths of the domain of Tangaroa, and instantly the hook was taken.

Māui's line went suddenly taut. The brothers stopped their laughing and held tightly to the side of the waka as they began to speed across the ocean.

"Cut the line!" a brother called, clearly quaking in his seat.

"We'll all be drowned," said another. "Please Māui cut the line!"

But Māui held tight to his line, and slowly a giant fish was pulled to the surface. The brothers huddled in the waka shivering with fright. The giant fish towered over their small canoe.

"This is the fish that our grandmother, Murirangawhenua, said would be gifted to us," Māui said. "Guard our fish, and I'll soon return with our people."

The brothers agreed to stay, and Māui headed back to Hawaiki. However as soon as Māui had gone, the brothers began chopping greedily at the huge fish, claiming huge pieces of it as their own.

When Māui returned, his people were amazed to see the giant fish.

"Māui is the best fisherman ever," they marvelled.

As they neared the brothers were seen still chopping and arguing over which part of the fish was theirs. The people saw them for the greedy brothers that they were. They were so greedy that they had chopped huge gullies and mountains from the fish's flesh.

Over many hundreds and thousands of years, these gullies and mountains became part of the landscape of Aotearoa as we know it today. Birds, plants, animals and the people of Hawaiki populated the giant fish of Māui. And in time Māui's giant fish became known as the North Island of Aotearoa, and Māui's canoe the South island.

This is the story of Māui and the giant fish.

(c) Wiremu Grace
Return to top

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Māui dreamed of the day that he could go fishing with his older brothers. Each time his brothers returned from a fishing trip Māui would ask, "Next time, can I come fishing with you?" But Māui's brothers would always make an excuse. "No you're much too young to come fishing with us.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The legend of Maui and the magic fishhook.

Maui was a demi-god, who lived in Hawaiiki. He possessed magic powers that not all of his family knew about.

One day when he was very young, he hid in the bottom of his brothers' boat in order to go out fishing with them. Once out at sea, Maui was discovered by his brothers, but they were not able to take him back to shore as Maui made use of his magic powers, making the shoreline seem much further away than it was in reality.

So the brothers continued rowing, and once they were far out into the ocean Maui dropped his magic fishhook over the side of the waka. After a while he felt a strong tug on the line. This seemed to be too strong a tug to be any ordinary fish, so Maui called to his brothers for assistance.

After much straining and pulling, up suddenly surfaced Te Ika a Maui (the fish of Maui), known today as the North Island of New Zealand. Maui told his brothers that the Gods might be angry about this, and he asked his brothers to wait while he went to make peace with the Gods.

However, once Maui had gone his brothers began to argue among themselves about the possession of this new land. They took out their weapons and started pounding away at the catch. The blows on the land created the many mountains and valleys of the North Island today.

The South Island is known as Te Waka a Maui (the waka of Maui). Stewart Island, which lies at the very bottom of New Zealand, is known as Te Punga a Maui (Maui's anchor), as it was the anchor holding Maui's waka as he pulled in the giant fish.

Kupe, and the discovery of Aotearoa (New Zealand).

Although Maui fished up the North and South Islands, it was the great Polynesian navigator Kupe who discovered them. Kupe lived in Hawaiiki, mythical ancestral homeland of the Māori. In Hawaiiki lived a canoe maker by the name of Toto.

Toto fabricated two huge ocean going canoes from a large tree. One canoe he named Aotea and the other he named Matahorua. Toto gave his canoe named Aotea to one of his daughters, Rongorongo, and the other canoe named Matahorua to his other daughter, Kura. It happened that Kupe desired Kura very much. However, Kura was already the wife of Kupe's cousin Hoturapa.

When Hoturapa and Kupe were out fishing one day, Kupe ordered Hoturapa to dive down and free Kupe's fishing line, which had become tangled. When Hoturapa dived into the sea to free the tangled line, Kupe sliced through the anchor rope of the canoe, and began to row furiously back to shore. Hoturapa drowned, but his family were suspicious of the circumstances surrounding his death. It was, in fact, a plan on Kupe's part to take Hoturapa's wife Kura.

In order to avoid vengeance from Hoturapa's family, Kupe and his own family left Hawaiiki in Kura's canoe Matahorua. After some time of navigating, Kupe's wife Hine Te Aparangi sighted the islands of New Zealand, which appeared as land lying beneath a cloud. Because of this, they named the islands Aotearoa, Land of the Long White Cloud.

As Kupe and his crew were sailing along the coast of this new land, they disturbed a giant octopus, who was hiding in a coastal cave. Terrified at the sight of a strange canoe filled with human beings, the huge octopus swam rapidly in front of the Matahorua and took flight, passing through the strait between the North and South Islands. Kupe followed the octopus, and discovered modern Cook Strait.

Kupe and the Matahorua eventually caught up with the giant octopus. In defence, the octopus whipped its enormous tentacles around the canoe, intent on devouring the whole canoe. During the furious battle which followed with the sea monster, it became obvious that the Matahorua was in great danger of breaking up.

However, Kupe suddenly had an idea, and threw a large water gourd overboard. The octopus, thinking that a man had fallen over, released it's tentacles from the Matahorua and turned to attack the gourd. Kupe seized this opportunity, and waited until the octopus was entwined around the gourd. Kupe then attacked the head of the octopus with his adze, and the octopus died.

With his adze, Kupe then cut several islands away from the South Island, and several islands away from the North Island, including the island of Kapiti. He remained for a short while in modern Wellington, before continuing northwards up the coast of the North Island, naming various islands, rivers and harbours on the way. Kupe then returned to Hawaiiki, telling everybody of this distant cloud capped and high rising land which he had discovered.

He gave instructions on how to return to this new land, but said that he himself would not be returning.

The story of the Creation

In the beginning there was no sky, no sea, no earth and no Gods. There was only darkness, only Te Kore, the Nothingness. The very beginning was made from nothing. From this nothingness, the primal parents of the Māori came, Papatuanuku, the Earth mother, and Ranginui, the Sky father.

Papatuanuku and Ranginui came together, embracing in the darkness, and had 70 male children. These offspring became the gods of the Māori. However, the children of Papatuanuku and Ranginui were locked in their parents embrace, in eternal darkness, and yearned to see some light. They eventually decided that their parents should be separated, and had a meeting to decide what should be done.

They considered for a long time - should Rangi and Papa be killed? Or shall they be forced to separate?

Finally, Tumatauenga, the god of War, said "Let us kill our parents". However, Tane-Mahuta, the god of man and forests, and all which inhabits the forests, thought that Rangi and Papa should be separated. He thought that Ranginui should go up above, to the sky, and that Papatuanuku should should go below, to dwell on earth. All the children, including Tu, the God of War, agreed with Tane.

Tawhiri Matea, the god of winds and storms was the only child who did not wish for his parents to be separated. He feared that his kingdom would be overthrown. One by one the children tried to separate their parents. Rongomatane, the god and father of cultivated foods, tried without success. Haumia Tiketike, god of uncultivated food also tried.

Then it was the turn of Tangaroa, the god of the sea, and Tumatauenga, the god of war, but neither Tangaroa nor Tumatauenga could separate their parents.

Lastly Tane-Mahuta rose. Strong as the kauri tree, he placed his shoulders against his mother Papatuanuku and his feet against his father Ranginui, and he pushed hard, for a very long time, straining and heaving all the while. Rangi and Papa cried in pain, asking their sons" why do you wish to destroy our love?"

After a long time Tane finally managed to separate Rangi and Papa, and for the first time the children saw the light of day (ao Marama) come streaming in. Once this happened, Tawhiri Matea, the god of winds and storms, and who had been against the separation of his parents, left for the sky to join his father.

The turbulent winds and storms on earth are caused by Tawhiri Matea, in revenge for this brother's acts.

Now that the separation of Papatuanuku and Ranginui was complete, and there was a sky and an earth. However, there was just one missing element, and Tane decided to create a female. From an area named Kura-waka Tane took some clay, and modeled it into a woman. He then breathed life into it, and created Hine-ahu-one - the earth formed maiden.

Tane and Hine had a beautiful daughter called Hinetitama. When Hinetitama grew, she had daughters to Tane. One day Hinetitama asked Tane who her father was, and on discovering that Tane was the father of her children, she fled with shame into the night, to a place called Rarohenga, the underworld. From then on she became known as Hine-nui-te-po, the goddess of the night.

› Kauri :
(Agathis australis) is, on maturity, one of the largest trees found anywhere in the world, and one of the most commercially attractive, with a long, straight, branchless trunk producing durable straight-grained timber, and a resin once greatly prized for the manufacture of high quality paints, varnishes and polishes.

The Kauri is a conifer, native to New Zealand. Its natural habitat was in the north of the North Island, from a line running between Raglan and the Bay of Plenty, through Hamilton. The largest ever Kauri tree grew in Mercury Bay, and when measured in 1850 had a girth of 23.43m and soared 21.8 to the first branch.

Tane Mahuta, in the Waipoua Forest, has a girth of 14m, is 51m tall and is 1.200 years old.
Source : The New Zealand Encyclopedia 4th Edition - Batemen

Main source of research :
"Land of the Long White Cloud (Māori Myths, Tales and Legends)" - Kiri Te Kanawa
"Māori myths and tribal legends" - Antony Lepers

Please be aware that this website is a personal homepage. It would therefore be wise to cross check information which I have presented here. A list of many official New Zealand history sites may be found within my Links section.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The legend of Maui and the magic fishhook. Maui was a demi-god, who lived in Hawaiiki. He possessed magic powers that not all of his family knew about. One day when he was very young, he hid in the bottom of his brothers' boat in order to go out fishing with them.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Tales from the mythologies of Creation, Maui and Aoraki

# data[].attributes.body
In Māori with English subtitles

# data[].attributes.body
In Māori with English subtitles

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.entities[].name
Hirini Melbourne & Aroha Yates-Smith Audio

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How Maui found his Mother - By Peter Gossage

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
From the animated series, A Maui Te Tipua - Maui, the Enchanted. How Maui found his Mother (2007) Based on the books beautifully written and illustrated by New Zealand author, Peter Gossage. In Te Reo Maori with Eng Subtitles.

# data[].attributes.body
In Māori with English subtitles

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How Maui slowed the Sun - By Peter Gossage