Te Waka a Maui- Polynesian LocationLocation · Landmark

The Canoe of Māui

Te Waipounamu, the South Island of Aotearoa, is the waka from which Māui stood when he fished the North Island from the depths of the ocean. In the tradition recorded by George Grey, Rakiura (Stewart Island) at the southern tip is Te Punga o Te Waka a Māui, the anchor stone that held the canoe steady while Māui hauled up his enormous catch. The Southern Alps that run the length of the island are the thwarts and hull of the great vessel, the mountain spine that gave the waka its strength.

The Fishing of Te Ika a Māui

Māui had hidden aboard the canoe, concealing himself from his brothers who had not wanted to take him fishing. He was the youngest, the trickster, and they had heard enough of his schemes. When he revealed himself far out at sea, they were furious, but it was too late to turn back. Māui baited his hook with blood from his own nose and cast his line into the deep. The hook was fashioned from the jawbone of his ancestress Murirangawhenua. Something enormous took the bait. Māui hauled and strained, and from the ocean floor rose a fish so vast it became an island.

Māui told his brothers not to touch the fish while he went to make offerings to the gods. In his absence they fell upon it with their adzes, cutting and hacking. The fish thrashed in agony, and its writhing and their carving created the mountains, valleys, and harbours of the North Island, Te Ika a Māui. Had they obeyed, the land would have been smooth and bountiful. The fish's shape is still visible in the geography: Wellington is the head, Northland the tail.