''The Fish of Māui'', also known as ''Te-Ika-a-Māui'', is a 1981 New Zealand children’s book by

Peter Gossage Peter Gossage (22 October 1946 – 30 July 2016) was a New Zealand author and illustrator. Known for his children's picture books based on Māori mythology, Gossage published over 20 books with deceptively simple storytelling popular inside and ...

, a

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

author. The book is retelling of the traditional

Māori legend Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

of how Māui fished up the

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

''(Te Ika a Maui)'' of New Zealand when he sneaks onto his brothers' canoe after they have refused to take him fishing.

Plot summary

The book introduces Māui, who has magical powers and is much better at everything than his brothers. As a result, his four foster brothers were jealous of his skills and set out one day to go fishing, without telling him. However, early the next morning Māui would hide himself in the bottom of his brother's canoe. The brothers called him ''Nukurau'', the trickster, and had no clue he was in the canoe with them. The brothers travelled out into the water but before they could settle in an open space, Māui jumped up from his hiding space, telling them to go further. The brothers did as ''Atamai'', the quick-witted, Māui said. Māui paddled by the light of ''Marama'', the moon, so even when all his brothers fell asleep, he continued to wade in the water until morning, when he was finally satisfied. His brothers did not share their bait with Māui and so instead he struck himself on the nose and smeared his own blood all over the magic jawbone hook, given to him by his ancestors. When Māui swung his hook, it descended into the sea and caught onto what Māui thought was a big fish but was actually a Tekoteko of a

whare A wharenui (; literally "large house") is a communal house of the Māori people of New Zealand, generally situated as the focal point of a ''marae''. Wharenui are usually called meeting houses in New Zealand English, or simply called '' whare' ...

. He was not landing a fish; he was fishing a land. Māui chanted a

karakia Karakia are Māori incantations and prayer used to invoke spiritual guidance and protection.Māui Māui or Maui is the great culture hero and trickster in Polynesian mythology. Very rarely was Māui actually worshipped, being less of a deity ( demigod) and more of a folk hero. His origins vary from culture to culture, but many of his main expl ...

- The trickster * Roto - One of Māui's foster brothers. * Mua - One of Māui's foster brothers. * Pae - One of Māui's foster brothers. * Taha - One of Māui's foster brothers.

Mythology

Like many of Gossage's other publications, this book was inspired by

Māori mythology Māori mythology and Māori traditions are two major categories into which the remote oral history of New Zealand's Māori people, Māori may be divided. Māori myths concern tales of supernatural events relating to the origins of what was the ...

and the legend of the North Island. Just like the book says, the Māori myth recites how Māui's brothers began carving out pieces of the huge fish, creating the many valleys, mountains, and lakes that you see today on the North Island. Over many thousands of years, those valleys and mountains became part of the landscape of

, ''

Aotearoa ''Aotearoa'' () is the Māori name for New Zealand. The name was originally used by Māori in reference only to the North Island, with the whole country being referred to as ''Aotearoa me Te Waipounamu'' – where ''Te Ika-a-Māui'' means N ...

'', as we know it today and in time birds, plants, animals and people populated the giant fish of Māui. Since then, the magical hook, according to legend, became the cape which now forms the southernmost tip of Hawke's Bay.

Te Rangihaeata Te Rangihaeata ( 1780s – 18 November 1855) was a Ngāti Toa chief and a nephew of Te Rauparaha. He played a leading part in the Wairau Affray and the Hutt Valley Campaign. Early life Te Rangihaeata, a member of the Māori iwi Ngāti Toa, was ...

of the

Ngāti Toarangatira Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...

tribe dictated that if the brother's had not fought over the fish, then the land would have retained its fish shape. As well as this, in the myth, the whare that Māui's hook fastened onto was the underwater house of Tonganui, the grandson of

Tangaroa Tangaroa (Māori; Takaroa in the South Island dialect; cognate with Tagaloa in Sāmoan) is the great atua of the sea, lakes, rivers, and creatures that live within them, especially fish, in Māori mythology. As Tangaroa-whakamau-tai, he exercis ...

, God of the sea. When looked at today, the head of the fish sits on the southern end of the North Island, now recognised as

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

, while the tail stretches to the very tip of the country in what we know as the

Northland region Northland (), officially the Northland Region, is the northernmost of New Zealand's 16 regions of New Zealand, local government regions. New Zealanders sometimes refer to it as the Winterless North because of its mild climate all throughout t ...

. Just next to the tail is a wedge which is now the modern day

Coromandel Peninsula The Coromandel Peninsula () on the North Island of New Zealand extends north from the western end of the Bay of Plenty, forming a natural barrier protecting the Hauraki Gulf and the Firth of Thames in the west from the Pacific Ocean ...

.The left fin represents

Taranaki Taranaki is a regions of New Zealand, region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano Mount Taranaki, Taranaki Maunga, formerly known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the ...

and the right fin represents the East Coast.p-229-230-BLM-1-How-Maui-Fished-up-the-North-Island-Belonging-EFP-1.pdf (fnesc.ca)

References

{{reflist Māui in books Children's books based on myths and legends New Zealand children's books Books by Peter Gossage

Plot summary

Mythology

See also

References