16.5 Maui the Navigator’s Visit to New Zealand
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or be taken, as a fortress, to fall in fragments, to crumble down. Pekapeka is to be
opposed to, to quarrel and also to be punished for little or no crime, to be in bonds,
to suffer as a prisoner, to have one’s hands bound behind one’s back or to a post or
to be driven away.
The defeat of the two “tiger sharks” by Maui, the hero, and revenge for the humiliating defeat of his father is, of course, the expected outcome in a hero’s tale. And
indeed the very name of the axe with which Maui slew the two sharks celebrates
this triumph, for the axe is called Tihe-mauri-ora. Tihi can be translated as to sneeze
or snore but also to arrive, to appear, the second translation, Tregear informs us [8],
embodying the general notion that the spirit has returned after wandering. Mauri is
the heart, the seat of the emotions, the soul, life. Ora carries all the implications of
life, good health, of being whole and sound and safe and also of having escaped,
of being recovered. Tregear tells us the name of Maui’s axe is repeated when
someone sneezes as a charm to ward off evil spirits, the equivalent of the English
“Bless you!”
But Maui’s setting out in search of new lands following his winning this battle in
his homeland suggests he was conscious that he had won a battle but not the ongoing
war against two sets of powerful enemies. Migration for the defeated appears to be
a looming possibility that he has to prepare for on behalf of his people.
We have already discussed conflict and defeat-driven migration in the Spice
Islands as possible factors leading to the migration to Madagascar, to migrations
within Island Southeast Asia and to two early migrations to Hawaii. Oral traditions
tell us that Maui’s visit to New Zealand was part of a more comprehensive exploration of the Pacific which included a voyage to Hawaii, said to have occurred after
his visit to New Zealand.
At one level, then, the tale of Maui’s visit to New Zealand can be seen as encoding historical events – invasion, warfare, defeat for Maui’s father followed by Maui’s
recent triumph in battle. It does so in a traditional tale celebrating a hero’s triumph
over traditional enemies. This heroic tale, however, gains force from the mythological context in which Maui’s discovery of the North Island of New Zealand is
presented. Through his fishing up of the North Island, Maui becomes more than a
hero, navigator and explorer. Metaphorically he becomes Maui the demi-god drawing up the first land from the sea in a primal act of creation. The extraordinary mana
accruing to him from this act belongs not only to himself but also to his tribe and to
his descendants. Mana is seen as being drawn from other levels of reality through
Maui’s daring and success. In tradition, both myth and karakia (invocations) straddle different realms, different levels of reality, and can bring about a transference
of mana from ancient mana-filled events, places and people to the present, harnessing that mana for the living. Thus the story of Maui’s discovery, his fishing up of
the North Island, is not just a narrative embellishment of an historical event. It is a
fundamental claim by the historical Maui the Navigator to a primal acquisition of
personal and tribal mana. As discovery entails land rights and as status is inherited,
this has direct, practical consequences for Maui and his descendants.
Maui’s landing on the West Coast of the South Island confirms that the sailing
instructions that he had received, or inherited from, first-wave explorers followed the
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or be taken, as a fortress, to fall in fragments, to crumble down. Pekapeka is to be
opposed to, to quarrel and also to be punished for little or no crime, to be in bonds,
to suffer as a prisoner, to have one’s hands bound behind one’s back or to a post or
to be driven away.
The defeat of the two “tiger sharks” by Maui, the hero, and revenge for the humiliating defeat of his father is, of course, the expected outcome in a hero’s tale. And
indeed the very name of the axe with which Maui slew the two sharks celebrates
this triumph, for the axe is called Tihe-mauri-ora. Tihi can be translated as to sneeze
or snore but also to arrive, to appear, the second translation, Tregear informs us [8],
embodying the general notion that the spirit has returned after wandering. Mauri is
the heart, the seat of the emotions, the soul, life. Ora carries all the implications of
life, good health, of being whole and sound and safe and also of having escaped,
of being recovered. Tregear tells us the name of Maui’s axe is repeated when
someone sneezes as a charm to ward off evil spirits, the equivalent of the English
“Bless you!”
But Maui’s setting out in search of new lands following his winning this battle in
his homeland suggests he was conscious that he had won a battle but not the ongoing
war against two sets of powerful enemies. Migration for the defeated appears to be
a looming possibility that he has to prepare for on behalf of his people.
We have already discussed conflict and defeat-driven migration in the Spice
Islands as possible factors leading to the migration to Madagascar, to migrations
within Island Southeast Asia and to two early migrations to Hawaii. Oral traditions
tell us that Maui’s visit to New Zealand was part of a more comprehensive exploration of the Pacific which included a voyage to Hawaii, said to have occurred after
his visit to New Zealand.
At one level, then, the tale of Maui’s visit to New Zealand can be seen as encoding historical events – invasion, warfare, defeat for Maui’s father followed by Maui’s
recent triumph in battle. It does so in a traditional tale celebrating a hero’s triumph
over traditional enemies. This heroic tale, however, gains force from the mythological context in which Maui’s discovery of the North Island of New Zealand is
presented. Through his fishing up of the North Island, Maui becomes more than a
hero, navigator and explorer. Metaphorically he becomes Maui the demi-god drawing up the first land from the sea in a primal act of creation. The extraordinary mana
accruing to him from this act belongs not only to himself but also to his tribe and to
his descendants. Mana is seen as being drawn from other levels of reality through
Maui’s daring and success. In tradition, both myth and karakia (invocations) straddle different realms, different levels of reality, and can bring about a transference
of mana from ancient mana-filled events, places and people to the present, harnessing that mana for the living. Thus the story of Maui’s discovery, his fishing up of
the North Island, is not just a narrative embellishment of an historical event. It is a
fundamental claim by the historical Maui the Navigator to a primal acquisition of
personal and tribal mana. As discovery entails land rights and as status is inherited,
this has direct, practical consequences for Maui and his descendants.
Maui’s landing on the West Coast of the South Island confirms that the sailing
instructions that he had received, or inherited from, first-wave explorers followed the