Purākau - Legends

Te Wheke of Muturangi

Many years ago Kupe lived in Hawaiki. His men went out fishing everyday, but always the bait on their lines was taken by many small fish called octopus. The chief culprit was a huge octopus - the pet of a man named Muturangi.

Muturangi would not listen to Kupe's request that he deal to his pet which was enticing the small octopi to the fishing grounds.

The tohunga however told Kupe that he should kill Te Wheke or his men would never have any success with their fishing.

Kupe and his family, in one waka named Matahorua, and Ngake (Kupe's brother-a-law) and others in a second waka named Tawhirikura set out to chase Te Wheke. Te Wheke led them a merry dance all the way to a strange new land - New Zealand.

They finally met up with Te Wheke in Cook Strait. Te Wheke swam up between the two waka, and Kupe struck at his tentacles with his axe, Rakatuwhenua. He and his men threw water bottles at Te Wheke. Te Wheke grasped the water bottles with his tentacles. Kupe dealt him a huge blow to the head and eyes, and killed him at last. A karakia was chanted to hide Te Wheke from Muturangi, and Nga Whatu (Brothers Rocks) became tapu to all.

Since that time voyagers in Cook Strait have been urged to turn their eyes away from Nga Whatu (Brothers Rocks) lest a gale spring up and capsize their waka.

How Hine Popo crossed the Sea of Raukawa

This is the story of Hine Popo, an ancestress of the Rangitane, which tribe formerly occupied Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara: -

In those ancient times there were two brothers living in this district, and the name of the elder was Te Hiki-paroa and that of the younger, Manini-pounamu. The younger brother married Hine Popo, who belonged to Rangitoto, an island in the Sea of Raukawa, which you Pakehas call d'Urville. One night, Manini-pounamu with fifty men twice told took to their canoes and sailed away from Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara across Raukawa, until they reached Rangitoto, where they remained.

When Hine Popo awoke in the morning she found the kainga deserted and her husband gone. Then she was overcome with grief and her heart was sad within her. But our ancestress possessed great powers, the powers which emanate from the gods of the Maori. So she prepared to seek her husband, Manini-pounamu, even in that far land whither he had gone. Now all the canoes of the village had been taken by her husband and his people, so that she was compelled to cross that great sea of Raukawa by swimming. (Friend, do not laugh when I speak of these things which happened in those remote times, for they are quite true. You Pakehas do not possess powers such as did the Maori of olden times, therefore you should not laugh at things which you do not understand. It is only thoughtless people who do so.)

So Hine Popo proceeded to perform rites and to repeat the prayers necessary to the occasion. Then she went down to the seashore and standing by the waves of the ocean, she chanted a sacred incantation calling upon the taniwhas of the deep to assist her. And that name of the incantation is Maro.
With the confidence which comes from the possession of great powers, she entered the waves and started on her long and weary way to Rangitoto, a way beset with many dangers and terrors to the Maori. It is said that her dogs swam after her, until they were forced to turn back, and then they returned to land and there howled dismally for their lost mistress. Even now, it is whispered among us that, upon dark or foggy nights, the dogs of Hine Popo can be heard wailing on the seashore, waiting for her return. And so our ancestress swam on and on, far out upon the ocean, until she reached a floating island upon which she rested for some time.

Again taking to the water she swam until she reached Toka-kotuku (a rock in Queen Charlotte Sound) where she again recited incantations to the Hapuku. Swimming on from there, she reached the Papanui-a-Puta (a rock outside Pelorus Sound) where prayers to the taniwhas were repeated. Long and weary grew the way to Hine Popo and it was at such a time as this when the Maori of old prayed that the land might not be drawn out lengthways.

At last she reached the shores of Rangitoto and went up to her father's house where she remained in the porch and wept aloud in her sorrow. Her father called out "Who are you?" but she did not reply. Again he called, "Who are you?" Hine Popo replied, "It is I who was abandoned at Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara." Then her father knew who this strange visitor was and cried out, "Oh, my daughter!" So the parent and child wept together until Hine asked, "Have my people arrived here of late?" The father answered , "They have arrived," and asked "How did you come?" His daughter replied, "I swam here across the great ocean." Then said her father, "Two chiefs and one hundred men have come to this place, and the names of those chiefs are Te Hiki-paroa and Manini-pounamu".

This is the first part of this story of Hine Popo. Hine Popo is sometimes seen by our people, even in these times. When we are on the shore or traversing the cliffs of Raukawa, we see, at times, far out upon the ocean, the form of Hine Popo floating on the waves and her long hair washed by the waters."

Source: Journal of the Polynesian Society, vol 39 (3). This legendary tale was given to the writer by Te Pakauwera, of Ngati-Kuia tribe, of Pelorus.

How Manini-pounamu and Te Hiki-paroa went to a far off land and the strange things they saw there

This tradition is evidently a localised version of the Polynesian legend of Tura, who journeyed to a far country where he found a people who had no fire, ate their food raw, and were much affected by smoke. This story is known as far west as the Polynesian colony in New Guinea. Strangely similar is the account given by those early Phoenician voyagers of the people whom they encountered on the African coast and who appear to have been monkeys.

And it fell on a certain fine day that all the people of the kainga went to fish for hapuku on the rock called Te Pananui-a-Puta. There went Manini-pounamu and Te Hiki-paroa, together with their people, fifty twice told. There also went Hine Popo and her father. On arriving at the hapuku grounds, they proceeded to fish, and after some time had passed, Hine Popo again repeated an incantation to the monsters of the deep. Then there arose a dreadful storm and the canoes of these people were driven far out to sea by its violence. The canoe which contained Hine Popo and her father reached Rangitoto in safety, but all the hundred warriors of Manini-pounamu were drowned, engulfed by the great waves of the dark ocean. The canoe which held Manini-pounamu and Hiki-paroa was not destroyed by the storm, but was driven far across the dark ocean. Far, far away, those men were carried in that canoe, beyond the isles of the great sea, beyond the place where the sky hangs down.

At last they were cast ashore in a strange land of which no man had ever heard. And there were many things in that strange land, and strange people lived there. It may be that that land was Hawaiki, of which our learned men have told us, and from whence our ancestors came in past ages. But who can say? Friend, there are some things what even the ancestors of the Maori did not know.

So these two brothers were cast ashore in that strange land. Close to where they landed they found a cave, and in that cave lived an old woman. This old woman then told them of a fierce man-eating taniwha which lived in that land, and which had destroyed many of the people. And she said "Possibly you two, who have come from far lands, may be able to kill that taniwha?" Te Hiki-paroa replied, "It is possible that we may kill it." But that old woman would not believe that these two men could accomplish such a great task, for she had seen so many brave men lose their lives attempting to deliver the people from the dreadful scourge. She said "Alas! You will never destroy the monster. It will surely kill you."

Now these two brothers being hungry, they proceeded to kindle a fire and to cook the food, whereby they might regain their strength. But when the fire burnt up the old woman was terribly alarmed and was very ill, being affected by the smoke. Behold! that people were unacquainted with fire and ate their food raw. If they touch cooked food or go near the fire, they become quite ill.

So these people consulted together as to how the fierce taniwha might be overcome. Said the old woman, "If you are able to kill it I will give you my daughter in marriage." "The girl shall be mine", cried Hiki-paroa. "Wait", said the old woman, "The younger brother is the swiftest, he shall be sent to entice the monster to where he may be killed." Then the people dug a great pit, into which Hiki-paroa went, and Manini-pounamu was sent to lure the dragon towards it. The old woman gave him directions how to act. "You must go over those far hills, and when you arrive at the last ridge call out, and the taniwha will pursue you." Manini-pounamu did as he was told, and the fierce monster gave chase to him, and very nearly caught him in its long claws, but he escaped and descended into the pit were Hiki-paroa was hidden. Then the great taniwha rushed up to the pit and tried to kill those two brave men, and the very earth shook beneath its huge bulk. The creature thrust its claws down into the pit, but they were cut off by the warriors, who were beyond its reach. And when they had severed its long claws they attacked the monster and killed it. The people of the land then opened this great dragon, and in its huge stomach they found the bodies of their friends whom it had devoured. There they lay, old people and young, and women with their children on their backs, all heaped together. So the taniwha was killed.

Then all those people were overjoyed at the death of the monster which had destroyed so many of their friends, and they took the two brothers in triumph to their village, crying: "The taniwha is dead."

And all the people of the land assembled, and there was a great feast with much
rejoicing, and great honour was paid to the hero chiefs. After the feast was over, the old woman said: "Perform the dance, so that my daughter's accomplishments may not be lost sight of." So they all commenced to dance, wearing balls of red feathers in their ears as ornaments. Both Hiki-paroa and Manini-pounamu contended for the girl, but the old woman said: "The younger brother shall have her, for it was he who lured the dragon to its doom." And so Manini-pounamu married the young girl, and they lived for many years and were very happy. But Hiki-paroa went away to a far-off land and there remained. "

Source: Journal of the Polynesian Society v 39 (3)

The legend of "The Brothers", Sea of Raukawa, Canoeing in Cook Strait

The following text originally appeared in a guide to the Marlborough Sounds issued by the NZ Department of Tourism and Health Resorts in the early 20th Century. It was subsequently reproduced in an issue of the Marlborough Express newspaper printed on 28 May 1909. The legends were likely provided to the publication by the Ngāti Rārua Chief, Hare Rore Pukekohatu (c. 1827 – 1912). Please note that the spelling and language style used reflects the era in which this piece was originally written and should read in that context.

Many Maori stories and songs are associated with the Sea of Raukawa (Cook Strait). In olden days Maori canoes very frequently passed to and fro across this oftimes stormy strait; flotillas of large war canoes, particularly those under the command of the famous cannibal conqueror Te Rauparaha, many times made their way southwards from Otaki or Kapiti Island or Porirua Harbour, bound on expeditions of blood against Ngaitahu of the Greenstone-land. Sometimes the canoes met with sudden gales in the strait, that placed them in real peril, and not infrequently these long narrow craft were capsized and lost with all hands. Sometimes for safety two canoes would be fastened together and strengthened with a deck or platform across midships, so as to form a double canoe, such as those in which the Polynesian ancestors of the Maori navigated across the Pacific Ocean. The Maori canoe-men of those days were weatherwise sailors, and would wait for days in some cove or bay across the coasts until a favourable slant of wind and a smooth sea offered for sailing or paddling across the strait. The Maoris of Wairau, Cloudy Bay, Marlborough, say that the canoe sailors of former days would carefully watch the weather conditions at the time of the rising of Kopu, the morning star (Venus), and if the sea were smooth then and the wind fair, it would be a favourable day for putting to sea over Wairau Bar and laying a course for Kapiti Island, or Mana, or the Whanganui-a-Tara, now known as Wellington Harbour.

Crossing Cook Strait at night from Wellington to Picton or Nelson, the ten-second flashlight of The Brothers will be seen as the steamer approaches the coast to Arapawa Island. This lighthouse is situated on one of the high rocky islands known to the Maoris as Nga-whatu ("The Rocks") and christened by the early white navigators "The Brothers". Captain Cook's ship the "Endeavour" was in considerable danger where when working out from Queen Charlotte Sound in 1770, and was very nearly carried on to the rocks through being becalmed in a strong tide-rip. These islets of danger lie off Cape Koamaru, Arapawa Island, and were in the direct course of the Maori canoes in the olden time making from Kapiti Island or Mana to Arapawa or Kura-te-au (Tory Channel) or Cloudy Bay, and from Wellington Harbour to the northern parts of Queen Charlotte Sound, or Pelorus Sound, or Nelson. They were dreaded because of their rocky dangers and the high and broken seas which frequently arose as they were neared.

Nga-whatu was regarded as a tapu place, and was invested by the superstitious Maori with a supernatirual mana or influence of dread. An atua, a deity, who had dominion over winds and seas, abode in those surf-beaten fog-wreathed sliffs, and it were well to appease him with appropriate karakias or charms, and with other ceremonious observances, so that canoes could pass his sacred crags in safety.

It was a custom in former days, when strangers to the Sea of Raukawa were crossing the strait for the first time, to veil their eyes when the islets of Nga-whatu were neared. It would be a breach of the tapu for these tauhou or new-comers to look upon the isles of omen on their first voyage. So if any tauhou happened to be in a canoe, while yet some distance from "The Brothers" their eyes were blind-folded (kopareitia) with a covering usually consisting of several large leaves strung together, and it was not removed until these rocks were well astern. If strangers looked upon these sacred cliffs on their first crossing of Raukawa the atua of the isles would be affronted and would by his enchantments stop the canoe and fix it there, so that, paddle the canoemen never so strongly, they would never get past Nga-whatu : a belief that has in it something of the elements of the legend of Vanderdecken and the story of Jonah. A stranger who refused to veil his eyes when nearing Nga-whatu would probably be dumped overboard as Jonah was, and he would be lucky if a friendly taniwha were at hand to rescue him.

There was, fortunately, a beneficient atua who could be summoned from the blue deeps of rolling Raukawa if a canoe were in danger of being lost. This sea-god was Pane-iraira ("Speckled Head"), from very ancient times a traditional taniwha or marine deity of the descendents of the Polynesian adventurers who came to New Zealand from the South Seas Islands in the "Tainui" canoe. Pane-iraira is descrbed as a great whale-like fish with a hollow on his back. He is the guardian of the high chiefs of Tainui stock when they travel by sea. Says Hare Rore, an old whaleboat sailor, chief of the Ngati-Rarua Tribe, Wairau: -
"If our canoes were in danger when crossing the Sea of Raukawa in former times,
particularly when nearing the coast of Arapawa or passing Nga-whatu, through a gale of wind coming on suddenly, or a high sea rising, those on board her would repeat invocations to Pane-iraira, the taniwha, to come to their aid. If there were a tohunga or priest on board he would recite a karakia to Pane-iraira, who lived in these waters. And if the tohunga were a man of mana, and he recited the charm correctly, then the sea-god would appear and save the canoe. He would swim along by the side of the waka, and his sacred mana would smooth the seas and make safe the ocean of the crew who trusted in their ancestral taniwha.

The mana of a Maori taniwha was evidently as potent as oil upon troubled waters.
(Hemi Matenga's account of whale rescue in 1834).
The following song, well known to the old Maoris on both sides of Cook Strait,
contains an allusion to the custom of blindfolding strangers on their first canoe passage of Raukawa, past The Brothers. It is a pao, or love-song composed about 60 years ago by a young woman named Tuhupu, of the Ngati-Awa Tribe, who lived on the coast of the North island, not far from Wellingon Harbour, for her lover who sailed away across the strait in the war-canoe of the chief Heteraka Putatahi (uncle of Hare Rore): -
(te reo Māori)

O gentle western breezes,
So softly blowing over the sea
Across Tawake's distant peak.
Ye bring to me fond thoughts of love
For one who's far away.
For him to whom I was betrothed
While yet but a little one.
Oh, would that I could go to him
Across the swelling sea
To seek some island of our own!
I'd seat me in the bows
Of "Te Rewarewa", the canoe of Patutahi,
And sail so far away;
I'd bind mine eyes so carefully
The while we crossed Raukawa's sea,
Lest I should see Nga-whatu's crags;
And when we'd passed the isles of dread
And freely gazed around again
We’d see the shores of Cloudy Bay,
The wondrous works of Kupe,
Our ancestor who sailed these seas
And severed islands from the main.
But where is now my loved one,
My love from childhood's days?
I'm left behind to mourn alone,
My heart swells high with sorrow!

The Maori singer often addressed his poem to the winds; a very frequent opening to a love-song or a lament is a reference to the idea that the breezes and the scudding clouds are messengers from those who are far away. The girl who composed this waiata had evidently ascended a hill where she could see the mountains of Arapawa loming blue in the west across the strait, in the direction in which her lover's canoe had gone; Te Tawake, mentioned in the song, is a prominent peak on Arapawa. The sentiment with which the chant begins reminds one of Robert Burns’ old love-song -

Of a' the airts the wind can blaw,
I dearly like the west.

Cloudy Bay, the name which Captain Cook gave in 1770 to the wide indent into which the Wairau River flows, is here pidgin-Maorified into "Karaurupe"; the proper Maori name is Te Whanga-nui ("The Big Bay"). The allusion to the "works of Kupe", refers to the Maori tradition of the canoe explorations of Kupe, the early Maori navigator who sailed to these Islands of New Zealand from his far-off home in Hawaiiki, in the Eastern Pacific in the canoe "Matahourua"; he came down the west coast, naming many places on the shores as he came, and explored the islands and sounds of Cook Strait and the northern shores of the South Island. In the poetic symbolism of the Maori, Kupe's discovery and circumnavigation of the various islands hereabouts is spoken of as his god-like severing of them from the mainland. The row of jagged rocks on Barrett's Reef at the entrance to Wellington Harbour was named "Te Tangihanga-a-Kupe" (Kupe’s Weeping-Party), because of the fancied resemblance of the rocks to a row of mourners at a Maori tangi. There are many other coastal place-names memorising the great canoe-sailor.

Kupe, in the "Matahourua", entered Porirua Harbour and remained there some time. A celebrated and venerated relic of his stay there is the great stone called "Te Punga-o-Matahourua" (anchor of "Matahourua"). This is a very large block of sandstone, with a hole in it, said to have been used as the mooring stone of the canoe; it lay on the sandy shore near Paremata Railway-station until recently, when it was handed over to the Government for safe-keeping, and was placed in the Maori room of the Wellington Museum.

The rocky point on which the lighthouse stands in French Pass (Te Au-miti) is said by the Maoris to be one of the parirau or wings of a fabulous bird, the Kawau-a-Toru ("Toru's Cormorant" or shag) which came from the Hawaiiki fatherland, the South Sea Islands, and which in endeavouring to breast the strong current that sweeps through the Pass was killed and its wings broken and case ashore, where they were transformed to stone.