Kā tapuwae o Māui – Māui's travels
A story from Poutini ki te Toka
This book is about Māui’s further exploration of Te Waipounamu and his famous catch – Te Ika a Māui.
Māui sailed to Kā Umu o Hapopo.
Seals sunned themselves on huge pounamu boulders. Māui climbed above the bay and struck the earth with his toki, Tiheimauriora.
Māui sailed on, marvelling at the mountains that rose from the sea.
His pet bird Piopio decided to stay. So Māui changed into a bird and flew around with his friend one last time. He named this place Piopiotahi.
Māui sailed further. He anchored Mahunui and this place became known as Te Puka o te Waka o Māui. Māui and his crew landed on a long sandy beach where they rested and gathered kai for the voyage ahead. This place they named Ōmāui.
Mahunui sailed on. Stormy weather and rough seas ripped their sail. So Māui looked for a safe place to land.
At Pukekura Māui found a sheltered bay and stayed for a while to repair the waka.
Mahunui sailed until they reached Te Tai o Marokura. Māui smeared his fish hook with blood from his nose and cast it into the ocean.
Māui pulled and pulled and pulled. Finally an enormous fish came up from the bottom of the sea. We call this fish Te Ika a Māui.
Words to share with children
| Aotea | a special blue stone from Maitahi |
| awa | river |
| Kā Umu o Hapopo | Big Bay in Poutini ki te Toka |
| kai | food |
| kekeno | seals |
| Mahunui | Māui’s voyaging waka |
| manu | birds |
| Māui | superhero of the Pacific |
| mauka/maunga | mountain |
| Ōmāui | a place on the coast near Bluff |
| Piopiotahi | Milford Sound |
| pounamu | greenstone found in Poutini ki te Toka |
| Poutini ki te Toka | South Westland |
| Pukekura | Taiaroa Head, Otago Peninsula |
| Tai o Marokura | the sea off Kaikōura |
| Te Puka o te Waka o Māui | Rakiura, Stewart Island |
| Tiheimauriora | Māui’s magic toki (adze) |
| toki | adze |
| waka | canoe, catamaran |
Concepts and References
Atua
| Hinepūnuiotoka and her daughters | wind goddesses |
| karakia and tohunga | ritual practice in all aspects of life |
| Rakinui | sky father |
| Takaroa, Tangaroa | god of the oceans |
| Tānemahuta | god of the forests |
Whakapapa (Ancestry)
Māori cultural origins are found in the Pacific but has evolved its own cultural identity shaped by our landscape.
Māui – the Pan-Pacific superhero credited with many deeds that benefited mankind. He is of the land but nurtured by the winds and raised by the sea.
Te Ao o te Pūrākau me te Wāhi ki ngā Atua (Magical realms)
|
Tiheimauriora |
Māui's magic toki |
|
Maui’s fish hook |
made from the jawbone of his grandfather in the ocean, Murirakawhenua |
| Te Ika a Māui | Maui’s fish, the North Island of Aotearoa |
| Māui the shape-shifter | Māui’s ability to transform from man to bird |
Te Aotūroa (the Natural World)
- huge mountains
- islands, fiords, peninsulas, beaches
- lush subtropical rainforests, southern rātā
- wild oceans and coastline
- mountains jutting out of the sea (Piopiotahi/Milford Sound)
- marine life – aihe (dolphins), tohorā (whales), kekeno (seals), ika (fish)
- birds – toroa (albatross), kororā (little blue penguin), karoro (seagull), piopio (extinct) native thrush), weka, kiwi
Wāhi (place)
| Ōmāui | coast near Bluff |
| Pukekura | headland of Otago Peninsula |
|
Tai o Marokura |
sea off the coast of Kaikōura |
| Piopiotahi | Milford Sound |
| Kā Umu o Hapopo | Big Bay in South Westland |
| Poutini ki te Toka | South Westland |
|
Te Ika a Māui |
North Island |