The Migration of Turi to Aotearoa

 The Migration of Turi to Aotearoa

(A legend from New Zealand)

While Kupe was away from Hawaiki on his voyage of discovery a quarrel arose between Turi and the high chief Uenuku, which led to Turi's leaving Hawaiki in the canoe Aotea. This was the second of the two canoes that Toto built, being made from the other half of the tree from which Matahorua had come. It belonged to Turi's wife, Rongorongo, who was the daughter of Toto and sister of Kura marotini.

The quarrel between Turi and Uenuku began when Turi, after getting in his kumara crop, sent Uenuku a portion as his atinga, or tribute, and Uenuku took the smallness of the gift as an insult. The tribute was carried to Uenuku by a little boy named Potiki roroa. Some say that this child was Turi's son. When Uenuku saw how small a portion of the crop had been set aside for him, he killed the boy who brought it, and devoured him.

Then Turi set his mind upon revenge. He decided that the most satisfying form of utu would be to kill Uenuku's own small son, whose name was Oe potiki. In the hope of enticing him to come out he set all the children of his own family to whipping tops, throwing the teka, and other games, on a piece of ground where Oe potiki could see them. This did not work; but later, on a day that was very hot, the children of Turi's household all went bathing in the river, and this time Oe potiki came out to join them. Then Turi snatched him and split his head with a club. The body of this child was eaten by Turi and his friends, but the manawa, or heart and lungs, were kept aside and when some women were carrying gifts of food to Uenuku, Turi handed them a basket of baked kumara, with the manawa of Oe potiki, cut up and cooked as a relish in the middle.

Uenuku had not yet learned the fate of his son, and as he sat down to the feast he sighed: 'Poor little Oe potiki, how he would have liked this delicious food; but he no longer comes to sit and eat beside me.' After he had eaten, one of Uenuku's friends who had been told about it said to him: 'They have made you eat the manawa of Oe potiki.' He answered with the saying, 'Very well, he lies in the belly of Toi,' meaning that there would be a dreadful revenge. But he showed no other sign of feeling, lest he satisfy his enemy.

Turi then was living in his house Rangiatea, and his wife, Rongorongo, had a new baby daughter, whose name was Tane roroa. One night Rongorongo went outside to feed her baby and she heard Uenuku singing a chant about Oe potiki:

Bring me the thousands,

bring me the many,

bring me all the Ngati rongotea!

Let Oe potiki work death. The first revenge is sweet!

Assemble here!

Let all who hear assemble!

She went to Turi and told him, and Turi at once knew what this meant. He knew that Uenuku was planning a great revenge for the murder of his son and for being made to eat his heart.

Now Kupe had by this time returned to Hawaiki, and when Turi heard of the land he had discovered, this land of high mists inhabited only by birds, he decided to come to Aotearoa. He therefore embarked with all his family in his wife's canoe, the Aotea, and from Kupe he received the directions. 'Mind that you keep sailing to the east,' said Kupe, 'where the sun rises. Keep your bow pointing always in that direction.' Yet Turi reached these islands in spite of this advice. He tried to persuade Kupe to accompany him, but Kupe replied with the saying which we still use, 'E hoki Kupe?', which means in the pakeha's words, 'Not I!'

'When you get there,' said Kupe, 'you had better go at once to the river I found. Its mouth opens to the west, on that side of the island. You will find there only two inhabitants. One carries its tail straight up and sticking out. Do not mistake the voice of the other for a man, it cries out just like one. If you stand on the other side of the river and call out to them, you will hear them answering you from the other side. That will be the place I found.' This place that Kupe spoke of is the mouth of the Patea river.

In his haste to get away Turi nearly forgot to take on board the two great steering paddles that belonged to the Aotea - their names were Kautu ki te rangi and Te Rokuowhiti - and also the two bailing scoops, Tipua horonuku and Rangi ke wheriko. They were fetched for him by his brother-in-law Tuau, and when Tuau had put them on board Turi said to him: 'Just come out a little way and see me started.' Good-naturedly, Tuau agreed and went on board, intending to leave the canoe as it passed the harbour opening.

And so the Aotea left Hawaiki, carrying some seed kumara of the variety called kakau; some edible rats in cages, and some tame green parrots; some pukeko, or swamp-hen; and seeds for growing the gourd, or calabash, and many other necessary things for founding a new settlement. Hence the name of that canoe, 'Aotea of the precious cargo'. There were also taken certain gods, in the form of the carved sticks in which their spirits lived, including Maru. The adze Te Awhiorangi, too, is said to have been brought here in the Aotea.

As they left the shore in the late afternoon Tuau sat in the stern paddling, as a gesture, to help his brother-in-law on his way. Near the harbour entrance Turi said to him: 'You come to the middle here and let me paddle,' which Tuau did. But soon he found that they had gone well past the headland where he intended to get out, and Turi, who was short of crew, paid no attention when he was asked to stop. Thus Tuau was carried off by a trick of Turi's, and left Hawaiki grieving for his family, lest they think he had deserted them.

When daylight came, Tapo, the priest and navigator of that canoe, became insolent and disobedient to his chief (some say because of Turi's trickery to Tuau) and Turi had him thrown over the side. When Tapo found himself in the sea he called out cheerfully: 'Come on, Turi, let me live in the world a little longer,' as if it was all a joke. From his manner Turi realised that Tapo must be under the protection of Maru, one of the gods they had brought with them; and Maru, in fact, let Turi know that he was angry, for Turi distinctly heard the god say: 'If you go without my servant you will never reach Nukuroa'. Not to anger Maru any further, he therefore turned about, and took that navigator on board again.

And so they sailed across the ocean, in the direction of these islands and not towards the east as Kupe had directed. When they had been at sea for some days and had been through some heavy weather, the Aotea's seams began to open. Water from the waves was pouring through the cracks beneath the topstrakes, the bailers were hard at it day and night, and Turi was constantly reciting chants to keep the canoe afloat. At last they sighted the small rocky island of Rangitahua. They landed there, and replaced the lashings and caulking of their topstrakes, and refitted the whole canoe. It is said they also obtained some berries of the karaka tree and brought them to this land. If this is so, then they were there in the month of March.

Now another canoe was travelling in company with Aotea. It was called Te Ririno, and its chief was Potoru. This canoe also landed at Rangitahua. It was carrying some dogs, to supply both food and clothing for the chiefs in their new country. On Rangitahua they killed two of these dogs, Whakapapa tuakura and Tangi kakariki. One, they cut up and offered as a sacrifice to the gods, and the other they cooked and shared amongst themselves. When they had eaten, they unwrapped a sacred cloak called Hunakiko and spread it on the ground, and called upon the gods to see them safely over the last part of their journey. They set up posts to the gods on that island, and removed all bad luck from the canoes by saying over them the prayers Keuenga, Takanga, and Whaka inuinumanga. After that they were ready to embark.

Then there was a great argument down on the shore between Turi and Potoru, the chiefs of the two canoes. They had different ideas about the proper sailing directions. Turi was for sailing east, according to Kupe's strict advice, and Potoru was for heading in the direction where the sun went down. Turi kept repeating what Kupe had said, but Potoru insisted that they must travel west; so Turi gave in, and it is said that they left Rangitahua on a south-west course. As a result of this the Ririno was wrecked on a reef in that island group, and hence the popular saying about the 'obstinacy of Potoru'.

Now Potoru was right, of course. But after this Turi set his canoe toward the rising sun, and still reached Aotearoa. During this last part of the voyage Turi's wife Rongorongo gave birth to a son, whom they named Tutawa. By this time they had only nine of their kumara left. Turi offered one of them to the gods to secure protection for Tutawa. He touched the roof of the baby's mouth with it and spoke the appropriate prayers and cast it into the sea, and then sailed on. Some days later they sighted land, and even at that time there was trouble on board. One of the crew, a man named Tuanui a te ra, who had a crooked foot, was disobedient and insolent to Turi, so he was thrown overboard.

At last the Aotea was run ashore on the western side of the north island, in a little harbour north of Kawhia to which the name Aotea was given. One of the first things the voyagers saw when they walked on the beach to stretch their legs was the crooked footprint of a man-none other than Tuanui a te ra.

They rested for a while and then, leaving Aotea in the harbour, set off to the south to look for the river running west that Kupe had described. One party, Turi sent ahead under Pungarehu, with stones from some of their karaka berries, to be planted on the way. Then Turi followed with another party, crossing many rivers facing west and giving them the names they bear today. He skirted round Kawhia harbour and named it. He crossed what we call the Mokau river, naming it Moekau from his sleeping there. The Waitara he named from the wide steps he took when fording its mouth. At two places he spread out the sacred cloak or kura called Hunakiko, and from this act those places were named Oakura and Maraekura. To other places also, Turi gave the names that are written down in the book by Governor Grey.

At last Turi reached the river mouth that Kupe had described, and there he built a pa, or fortified village, which he called Rangitawhi. It is said that there were no inhabitants when Kupe came to these islands, yet Turi built a pa. He erected a post there which he called Whakatopea, a house which he named Matangirei, and a latrine called Paepae hakehake. His whata, or storehouse, he named Paeahua, and the well he dug was Parara ki te uru. To the river itself he gave its name, Patea.

At this settlement Turi planted his kumara seed. Because of the sacrifice at sea, they had now only eight. These they divided into pieces and planted separately, and when the shoots came up Turi used the chant called Ahuroa to make the ground tapu and pro- mote the plants. As a result, in due season they lifted eight hundred baskets of kumara from that kumara plot.

Rows of puke (earth mounds) where kūmara will be planted

In this way Turi took possession of this part of the land that Kupe found. Rongorongo was his principal wife, and from their children sprang the tribes of the Whanganui district, and the Ngati Ruanui.

Source:

Maori Myths and Tribal legends

Antony Alpers

1966

Pages: 141-147

The Wandering Mountains

 The Wandering Mountains 

(A Story from New Zealand)

In the centre of the North Island there were once many more mountains standing together than there are today. There was Tongariro, the chief; at that time his top had not broken off, and his snow-covered peak pointed to the sky. Tongariro also comprised Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe. Taranaki, Putauaki and Tauhara were nearby. They were all males, proud and aggressive. 

The only female was Pihanga, a smaller mountain with soft and gentle curves, clothed in a cloak of brilliant green. Pihanga was desired by all the warrior mountains, and eventually they came to blows over who was to have her as his wife. 

The winner of the battle was Tongariro; with a mighty roar he blew his top right off and frightened the other suitors away. That night Putauaki and Tauhara decided to head east, in the direction of the rising sun. Putauaki travelled to the farthest edge of the Kaingaroa Plain before he was stopped by the light of day. 

Tauhara, on the other hand, kept turning back to look once more at his lost love, so that he managed to go no further than the northern shore of Lake Taupo, from where he still gazes at Pihanga. 

The hole left by the departure of these two mountains filled with water and became known as Rotoaira. 

Taranaki, the mightiest of the three, declared that he would seek the place where the sun sets. With a roar he set off to the west, digging a great chasm as he went, down which now flows the Wanganui River. 

Pihanga still remains with Tongariro, and when the people of the mountains see the mists enfolding her green cloak, sent from Tongariro’s warm springs, they say: ‘See! The Great One sends greetings, as in the days of old!’ 

Source 

Maori Legends

1993

Pages: 39-43

Kupe`s Discovery of Aotearoa

Kupe`s Discovery of Aotearoa

(A Legend from New Zealand)

It was the demigod Maui who fished up these islands from the bottom of the sea, but it was Kupe who discovered them, and returned to Hawaiki* with news of a land inhabited only by birds. The voyage of Kupe came about in this way. There was in Hawaiki a very great canoe-builder named Toto, who had two daughters. He went to cut down a fine large tree on the banks of the lake called Waiharakeke, and when it fell this tree split lengthwise into two equal parts. Toto therefore made two great ocean canoes, one of which he named Aotea and gave to his daughter Rongo-rongo, and the other he named Matahorua and gave to his daughter Kura marotini.

Now Kura marotini was the wife of Kupe's young cousin Hoturapa, and Kupe desired her. One day Kupe and Hoturapa were out fishing, a long way from the shore, when Kupe's line got caught on a snag. Being accustomed to giving orders, he said to his cousin: Hotu, my line is caught on something, just dive down and loosen it for me, would you?’ Hotu took hold of the line and said: ‘Let me see if l can't loosen it.’ “It’s no use,’ said Kupe. “I've tried, it won’t come, just dive down, go on.’

So Hoturapa jumped over and dived. But as soon as he was gone Kupe cut the anchor rope, threw the rest of his line into the sea, and paddled quickly for the shore. When Hotu came up again the canoe was far away. “E Kupe!’ he cried, 'Kupe! Come back and get me!’

The whole thing was a trick on Kupe’s part to get rid of Hotu and have his wife. Hoturapa was drowned, and Kupe made off with Kura marotini. But her relations were suspicious about the accident, and to escape their vengeance Kupe decided to leave Hawaiki. And so, in her canoe Matahorua, taking his own family, and Reti as the priest and navigator, he set off into that part of the Ocean known as Te Tiritiri o te Moana, Share of Ocean. It was thus that Kupe came to explore this part of the Great Ocean of Kiwa, and found these islands that now are called Aotearoa.

After they had sailed for many days, keeping a constant watch for any sign of land, such as a patch of different colour on the underside of the clouds, or a cloud of unusual shape, it fell to Hine te aparangi, wife of Kupe, to be the first to see something. She cried, ‘He ao! He ao!’ and the land beneath the cloud, when they sailed along it, was found to be much longer than any island those people had ever known. They therefore named it Aotearoa, Long White Cloud (today known as New Zealand).

As he was going down the east coast of the north island Kupe passed close to a small projecting piece of land** In a large cave there a wheke, or giant octopus, had its home, and Kupe surprised this wheke. Frightened by the sight of a canoe with men in it, the wheke left its cave and fled before the bows of Matahorua, turning round the bottom of the island in the direction of Raukawa***. Thus Kupe found the opening between the two islands of this land. He passed Cape Terawhiti and crossed the strait to look at the land on the other side. Finding the opening at Te Awaiti, he went into it and encountered a very strong current, to which he gave the name Kura te au. Strong as it was, Kupe made his paddlers fight that current, and he entered Te Awaiti.

Castlepoint, New Zealand

Now the wheke, whose name was Te Wheke a Muturangi, had gone there to hide. And when it heard the canoe approaching, and the paddling chants of Kupe's men as they struggled against the current, it raised its enormous arms above the water and slapped its suckers against the sides of Matahorua, to devour her and her crew. Then followed a great sea battle between the wheke and this chief. Kupe took up the adze Rakatuwhenua, which he had with him, and with fierce strokes he slashed at the wheke's many limbs. When the wheke had laid them over the sides of the canoe Kupe sliced bits of them, and his people ate them, but the monster took no notice at all. It writhed and lurched, and lashed about, and the canoe was in danger of being swamped in that rapid current. Then Kupe thought of a way to deceive the wheke. Dropping his adze, he picked up a large hollow gourd that had been full of drinking water. He threw it overboard, and the wheke, thinking it was a man, let go the canoe and seized the gourd. Then Kupe took his adze again, and when the wheke’s head and vital parts were wrapped around the gourd he severed it in two with one tremendous blow. Thus died the wheke of Muturangi.

Kupe and Wheke

After this, Kupe also severed the island of Aropawa from the South island, and the islands of Kapiti and Mana from the North. That is to say, he sailed in through Te Awaiti and around Aropawa island, and then up the west coast of the north island on the inside of Kapiti and Mana. And this old chant recalls these facts:

I sing, I sing of Kupe,

the man who severed the land!

Kapiti stands apart,

Mana stands apart,

Aropawa stands apart.

These are the signs

of my ancestor Kupe,

who discovered Titapua,

who explored the land.

Kupe stayed a short time at Whanganui a Tara, the great harbour of Tara****, and two small islands in it were named after two of his daughters, Matiu and Makoro, who were with him. It is said also that another of his daughters, Taiapua, killed herself at the red cliff Tamure, outside the western heads of the harbour. Kupe went there to bewail her death, and cut his forehead with a piece of obsidian, as was the custom, to show his grief. The blood of this chief stained the rocks all red, and they are red today, as can be seen by those who pass that way.

It was after this that Kupe travelled up the coat to the place where Patea now stands. He set up a post there to mark his visit, and he heard the voices of the only two inhabitants of this country he ever spoke of. He heard the cry of the kokako, or crow, and he saw the little tiwaiwaka, which flicked about in front of his face and snapped its tiny beak, and fanned out its black-and-white tail.

Now Kupe’s work was this, that he discovered these islands and some of the openings, the harbours and rivers, and to some of them he gave names. On his return to Hawaiki he spoke of the great land of high mists which he had seen. When he was asked if there were people there he replied, he saw only kokako and tiwaiwaka. This was more polite than saying ‘No’. When he was asked if he intended to return, he replied ‘E hoki Kupe?'-‘Will Kupe return?’- which down to this day is used as a way of saying no.

* * *

Kupe’s friend Ngahue travelled with him. Ngahue left Hawaiki because of the quarrel between obsidian and greenstone. Ngahue owned the block of greenstone which was called Pounamu, or sometimes ‘The Fish of Ngahue', and Hine tu a hoanga became enraged. Her fish or stone was waiapu, or obsidian. She drove him out, and Ngahue, seeking a resting place for his greenstone, travelled to Tuhua. But Hine-of-the-Whetstone-Back pursued him, and to escape her again he came to this land, Aotearoa. He travelled beyond the places Kupe visited, and carried his greenstone to Arahura, on the western coast of the south island, or Te Wai Pounamu. There he made an everlasting resting-place for his greenstone.

He broke a piece off it, and taking it with him he returned to Hawaiki, and reported that he had found a country which produced pounamu in abundance and also the very large bird called moa, standing higher than a man. According to some persons he killed one of these moa, and put it in a taha, or calabash, and carried it back to Hawaiki. From his greenstone Ngahue made the sharp adzes Tutauru and Hauhau te rangi. From the little pieces that were chipped away many precious ornaments of chiefs were manufactured. The eardrop Kaukaumatua was one of these. This was in the possession of Te Heuheu, and was only lost as recently as 1846, when he and many of his people were killed by a landslide.

*Hawaiki - mythical ancestral homeland of the Māori.

**Castlepoint

***Cook Strait

****Wellington

Source:

Maori myths and tribal legends

Antony Alpers

1966

Pages: 133-139

The Ant and the Cicada

The Ant and the Cicada

                 (A Tale from New Zealand)                

In the summer the New Zealand forest quivers with the song of Kikihi the Cicada. The air trembles with sound, the sun shines through the leaves as the warm wind gently stirs the foliage, and winter seems far away. That is the burden of the song of Kikihi. “The winter is past and summer is here. Let us sing our song on the warm bark of the trees and be glad, for cold and darkness have gone away forever.”

But there is another song that few have heard because they are deafened by Kikihi. It is a little song, sung by those who are working through the summer days, near the ground, close to the warm earth. It is the song of Papakorua the Ant. “Winter is coming,” he sings, as he scurries around, collecting food and storing it away. “We need food to keep us alive in the cold days of winter. Let us work to live.”

The days pass and winter comes. The leaves that danced in the sunshine shiver in the cold wind and icy rain flows over them down to the sodden earth.

Then Kikihi, who was warm and happy and carefree in the summertime, grows thin and cold and in the end, he dies, clinging to the unfriendly bark. But Popokorua is warm and snug in his home, well-fed, and looking forward once more to the coming of summer.

Source:

Myths and Legends of Maoriland

A.W.Reed

1947

Page: 207

Māui and the Giant Fish

Māui and the Giant Fish
(A Legend from New Zealand)

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."

Waka (Otago Museum Dunedin)

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.

"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.

Māui and the Giant Fish

"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.

Source:

http://eng.mataurangamaori.tki.org.nz/Support-materials/Te-Reo-Maori/Maori-Myths-Legends-and-Contemporary-Stories/Maui-and-the-giant-fish