''Te Waka a Māui'' (the canoe or vessel of Māui) is a Māori name for the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

of New Zealand. Some

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 ...

says that it was the vessel which Māui (a demi-god hero, who possessed magic powers) stood on as he hauled up '' Te Ika-a-Māui'' (the fish of Māui – the North Island). There are also stories about other people, Kupe and Toi, who discovered Aotearoa (New Zealand). Māui lived in the Māori ancestral homeland of Hawaiki. One day he hid in the bottom of his brothers' canoe as they went on a long fishing voyage. Māui used his magical powers to increase the distance back to shore so when he was discovered his brothers would not take him back home. When they were far out into the ocean, Māui dropped his magic fishhook over the side of the canoe. He felt a strong tug on the line, too strong to be a normal type of fish. Māui called on his brothers to help. After quite a struggle they pulled up the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

of New Zealand – which, since that day, has been known to Māori as ''Te Ika-a-Maui''. Since then, the South Island of New Zealand has been known as ''Te Waka a Maui'' (the canoe of Māui). The third (smaller) island lying to the south of New Zealand is known as ''Te Punga a Māui'' (Māui's anchor), as it was the anchor for Māui's canoe. In English it is known as Stewart Island / Rakiura. The official names are the

or ''Te Waipounamu''. Another old South Island name for the island, following a different tradition from the one above, is ''Te Waka a Aoraki'', the canoe of

Aoraki Aoraki / Mount Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand. Its height, as of 2014, is listed as . It sits in the Southern Alps, the mountain range that runs the length of the South Island. A popular tourist destination, it is also a favourit ...

References

External links

"Māori legends and myths - The Legend of Maui and the magic fishhook"
''New Zealand in History''
"The Legends of Maui and the magic fishhook"
''Maori-in-Oz'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Te Waka a Maui Geography of New Zealand Māori words and phrases Māori mythology