Māori mythology Māori mythology and Māori traditions are two major categories into which the remote oral history of New Zealand's Māori may be divided. Māori myths concern fantastic tales relating to the origins of what was the observable world for the pr ...

, Irawaru is the origin of the dog. He is the husband of

Hinauri In Māori mythology, Hinauri is the sister of Māui and the wife of Irawaru In Māori mythology, Irawaru is the origin of the dog. He is the husband of Hinauri, the sister of Māui. Māui becomes annoyed with Irawaru and stretches out his lim ...

, the sister of Māui. Māui becomes annoyed with Irawaru and stretches out his limbs, turning him into a dog. When Hinauri asks Māui if he has seen her husband, Māui tells her to call "Moi! Moi!" whereupon the poor dog runs up to Hinauri. Learning the truth, she throws herself to Tangaroa (the ocean) never to be seen again. Versions differ as to the cause of Māui's annoyance with his brother-in-law. In some, he is jealous of Irawaru's success at fishing; in others, he is angry at Irawaru's refusal to give him a cloak, or disgusted at Irawaru's greedy nature. In other Ngā Puhi Nui Tonu mythology, three dogs were brought to Aotearoa by Kupe. These spirits were known as kehua or guardians brought over from Hawaiki. During the arrival to Aotearoa they were sent to

Cape Reinga , type =Cape , photo = Cape Reinga, Northland, New Zealand, October 2007.jpg , photo_width = 270px , photo_alt = , photo_caption = , map = New Zealand , map_width = 270px ...

with a few men to guard the escape of their souls. The

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

later was named Ngāti Kurī. Their job was to guard the spirits through to the

afterlife The afterlife (also referred to as life after death) is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's identity or their stream of consciousness continues to live after the death of their physical body. The surviving ess ...

. In traditional Māori society, dogs (''

kurī Kurī is the Māori name for the extinct Polynesian dog. It was introduced to New Zealand by the Polynesian ancestors of the Māori during their migration from East Polynesia in the 13th century AD. According to Māori tradition, the demigod M ...

'') were given the best cuts of meat and were highly regarded as sacred. Their fur was highly regarded for cloaks reserved for

rangatira In Māori culture, () are tribal chiefs, the hereditary Māori leaders of a hapū. Ideally, rangatira were people of great practical wisdom who held authority () on behalf of the tribe and maintained boundaries between a tribe's land and that ...

. The story accounts for the characteristics of dogs: they warn of danger or night raids, they respond to commands, and are loyal companions that ward off evil spirits.Tremewan 2002:95–96

Notes

References

*E.R. Tregear, ''Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary'' (Lyon and Blair: Lambton Quay, 1891). *C. Tremewan, ''Traditional Stories from Southern New Zealand: He Kōrero nō Te Wai Pounamu'' (Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies: Christchurch), 2002. Māori mythology Mythological dogs Legendary Māori people {{Māori-myth-stub

See also

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References