The Maori Mythology has great stories and legends that were kept in the memory of the inhabitants, get to know them.
Origin of Maori Mythology
According to Maori mythology, it is thought that the ancestors inhabited a mythical land called Hawaiki, which is thought to have been located to the west.
The Maori migrated in 7 boats that were later founded by the original tribes and it is said that the souls of those who could not make it are said to have sailed from Cape Renga to Hawaoki. However, human research suggests that the migration came from the east of Polynesia to New Zealand between 800 and 1,300.
An interesting fact is that according to experts there is no evidence of human settlement before the Maori travelers, although there is debate that they came from eastern Polynesia.
Gods and demi-gods of Maori mythology
Below is a list of gods and demi-gods of Maori mythology, learn about their orgies and legends.
Rangi and Papa
Everything indicates that they are the founding gods of Maori mythology.
- Rangi was a deity known for being the Father of Heaven, that is, the ruler of this entity.
- Papa was the Mother creator of the Earth, wife also of Rangi.
At the beginning of creation it was established that they were entangled in a frenzied embrace orchestrated by Rangi to prevent the creation of the world.
Likewise, from this union come the creator gods of nature, i.e., mountains, trees and rivers. It is thought that they are about 70 minor deities, who were firmly locked in an unbreakable embrace by their parents until the moment that tired of so much protection they conspired to get out of it.
The villagers believe that subsequently humans, animals and any other living being that inhabits the earth are born from them.
Sons of the gods Rangi and Papa
However, in history the most mentioned sons are:
- Tane, god of the jungle or forests.
- Rongo, known for being the deity in charge of taking care of cultivated plants.
- Tangaoa, minor god who watches over fish and reptiles.
- The wild plants have the deity Huamia.
- Known for his character Tu, he is a minor god of war.
- The rains and storms are managed by the deity Tawhiri.
The creation in the Maori mythology
The creation story revolves around some children who wanted to get out of the yoke of their parents so they conspired to separate them and break that impenetrable embrace.
It should be noted that not all their children tried to separate them but it was the god Tane, custodian of the forests, which managed to break the protective embrace of their parents, this was done by a push with his head to his father and his mother so strong.
After getting them to let go, Tane proceeded to place the Sun and the Moon in the firmament, along with the stars in the sky.
Within this story, it is mentioned that Tane was the one who created the first woman on this earth and married her and then had children, who are thought to be the first Polynesians.
However, not everything was magical because Tawhiri, the god of wind, did not want the separation of his parents, so enraged he filled with storms and hurricanes the forests of Tane and the seas that were under the custody of his other brother, Tangaroa, the god of the sea, since both were guilty of what happened.
Tu, the god of war
The son of Rangi and Papa most fierce and brave who proposed to kill his parents in order to be free. Known under many names but with the same meaning TU, the god of war. However, his idea was rejected by his brothers, since they wanted them separated but not dead.
It should be noted that Tu was the only one of the series of brother gods who contained the wrath of the god of storms, who was sorry for what happened to his parents, attacked the rest of the deities.
For this reason, Tu decides to take revenge on his brothers for not supporting him, so he ends up eating everyone except Tawhiri, who to this day attacks humans with storms and hurricanes.
It is attributed to the deity Tú that humans managed to survive on earth, so it was thought that they were his descendants, since it is considered that:
- They hunted birds on behalf of Tu chased the children of his brother Tane.
- They were able to fish in the sea because he fished Tangaroa’s sons.
- They learned to cultivate and harvest because Tu did exactly the same with the sons of Rongo and Haumia-tiketike.
Tu cult
The god of war was worshipped because the act he did against his brothers according to historians made mankind learn about war.
Being represented as the deity of war, Tu was invoked when fighters went out to engage in battle, in addition to the times when a child of the population was being taught how to fight and the arts of war.
It should be noted that a very common offering for this god according to the versions is that when the first warrior fell during a battle, he was given to Tu.
However, the sacrifice was not only human but also animal, specifically a dog.
On the other hand, today the existence of this mythological being is still recognized because the Maori name of the current army of New Zealand, translated into English means “the tribe of Tu, the angry face” (Ngāti Tūmatauenga).
Maui, demigod of the sea
Maui is recognized as a demigod of the sea who brought the Pacific islands into being. His personality is brave, womanizing and resourceful who was rejected by his mother as he was premature so she wrapped him in a lock of hair before throwing him into the sea.
However, an ancestor of Maui’s saw him fall and saved him from death by returning him to land.
Legends about his Prowess
His most impressive story was how he created the islands in the Pacific where Polynesians live today. This story goes back to a fishing trip in which his brothers thought to exclude him but he hid and they did not notice.
When he came out, he sat down to fish and caught the North Island, later called Mount Hikurangi, located in East Cape in the North Island, which became a sacred place for the members of the local tribe who consider themselves his direct descendants.
Likewise, there are many versions that point to him as the one responsible for not only this island to emerge from the ocean but many more.
The reason is that it is thought that his hook was elaborated with an ancestral magic jaw, so that by pulling the line so hard he was able to raise part of the oceanic terrain.
Maui was a good son, and regardless of how his mother treated him, he was devoted to her, which is why when his mother became overwhelmed because he did not have enough time to do his daily chores.
He cut the sacred braids that his wife Hina had in order to make a rope to catch the Sun, when he got it he controlled the passage of the same by the skies, bringing as a consequence that the days became longer in summer and shorter in winter.
He pushed the heavens higher so that he would not be in the way of a furnace he was building on earth, also to impress a woman.
Hine-nui-te-po
The goddess Hine-nui-te-po is recognized as the great woman of the night, she is in charge of darkness and death, that is, she rules the underworld in Maori mythology.
She was the daughter of Tane, a god who felt the need to have a wife, so he created her with the help of his mother Papa, and when he finished, he married her.
One day, anxious to know who her father was, she bothered him until he told her the truth. After finding out she decided to flee to hell, where she told Tane that she would wait for her children.
The representation in the mortal world of her existence is the red color that sets at sunset, as it is created by her.
Legends at the Maori Mythology
Below is a list of some legends of Maori mythology:
Kupe Navigator
Remembered in the stories of the Maori tribes of New Zealand. The character Kupe was the first person to reach the shores found by the demigod Maui, he came from the mythical land Hawaiiki (Original Paradise). Let’s see some versions of Kupe’s story.
The fisherman and the Octopus
The first version revolves around Kupe Muturangi’s rival Muturangi always fight to see who first catches an octopus that lived in the depths of the sea. Until one day the octopus took Kupe’s bait. Kupe, wanting to be victorious, chased the animal day and night until it drove them away from the shore and put him and his crew out to sea.
It was not until several weeks later that they reached the island of the great white cloud “Aoetearoa”, named after his wife Kuramarotini, after seeing a volcanic eruption in the sky. The end of this version comes when Kupe finally caught the giant octopus in the Raukawakawa Strait (today’s Cook Strait).
However, this was not all, Kupe and the crew explored the coastline and devised a nautical transmission chart to return. Upon returning home they told the story to the tribe and it was passed down from generation to generation. Years later the clan decided to emigrate from the mythical land following the route of the brave fisherman in a succession of canoes.
Wife thief
Kupe was a Hawaiki fisherman, who secretly lusted after his friend Hoturapa’s wife, named Kuramarotini.
Therefore, he planned a tragic accident with the motive of being able to keep his wife, which consisted that one day on the high seas. He made him jump into the sea to untangle a fishing line and then cut it and flee to the shore leaving him to die.
Kupe managed to complete his plan but Hoturapa’s family did not believe him and feared reprisals against him. He abducted Kuramarotiniy and went to sea with no intention of returning.
After days and nights at sea, Kupe saw land nearby, which was covered by white clouds to which he gave the name of Aotearoa. Without knowing that there is that mythological island extracted from the bottom of the ocean by Maui-tikitki.
Paikea, the whale rider of Maori Mythology
Within Maori mythology, there is also talk of an ancient ancestor named Paikea, who decided to come to New Zealand in search of a better life, his arrival became known because he traveled on the back of a whale Tohorā.
For this reason, this legend represents the spiritual union between the human and the animal or natural world. Demonstrating to the villagers that when nature is respected it can potentially help humans.
The Maori people who live on the coast of Kaikoura in the South Island. This is the home of the whales that swim beneath the seas of New Zealand.
