Te Ika a Māui- Polynesian LocationLocation · Landmark"The Fish of Māui"

The Fishing of the Island

In George Grey's account, Māui stowed away on his older brothers' fishing canoe and waited until they were far from shore. Then he cast his enchanted fishhook, fashioned from the jawbone of his ancestress Murirangawhenua and baited with blood struck from his own nose, into the deep ocean.

The hook caught something vast. Māui chanted karakia and hauled with all his strength. An enormous fish broke the surface of the sea: Te Ika a Māui, a creature so immense it formed a new landmass. Māui told his brothers to wait while he performed the rituals of thanksgiving, and he left.

The Shaping of the Land

The brothers could not wait. They began hacking at the fish to claim portions for themselves. Without the blessing of proper ritual, their butchering distorted the fish's smooth form. The cuts became mountains. The gouges became harbours and valleys. Had they held back, tradition holds, the land would have been flat.

The North Island keeps the shape of a stingray lying on its belly: Wellington Harbour at the south is its mouth, the Tararua ranges its spine, and the Northland Peninsula its tail. The canoe from which Māui fished is the South Island, Te Waka a Māui. Stewart Island, Te Punga o Te Waka a Māui, is the anchor stone.