Māui-roto- Polynesian FigureMortal
Also known as: Maui-roto
Description
One of Māui's older brothers who crewed the canoe during the great fishing. When Māui left to perform the proper rituals over the enormous catch, his brothers could not wait. They carved into the great fish, and their cuts became the mountains and valleys of the North Island.
Mythology & Lore
The Stranger Brother
In the traditions recorded by George Grey, Māui was born too early and cast into the sea. His ancestor Tāmanui-ki-te-Rangi found him and raised him. When Māui returned to his family as a grown stranger, his four older brothers rejected the claim. Their mother Taranga recognized her lost son, but the tension between the ordinary brothers and their extraordinary youngest never settled.
Māui-roto was one of these four, alongside Māui-mua, Māui-taha, and Māui-pae. Where Māui bent the world to his will, his brothers doubted and followed.
The Great Fish
Māui hid aboard his brothers' canoe and waited until they were far from shore. Then he cast his line: the jawbone of his ancestress Murirangawhenua, baited with his own blood. What rose from the deep was Te Ika a Māui, a fish so vast it would become the North Island.
Māui left to perform the rituals of dedication over the catch. His brothers did not wait. They hacked into the great fish while it still thrashed, carved it and divided it among themselves. Their cuts gouged mountains from its spine and valleys from its flanks. Had they waited, the land would have been smooth and flat. Instead, the North Island carries the scars of their impatience.
Relationships
- Family