__NOTOC__
Mokoia Island is located in
Lake Rotorua
, image = Lake Rotorua.jpg
, caption = Lake Rotorua
, alt = Lake Rotorua
, image_bathymetry =
, pushpin_map=New Zealand#North Island
, pushpin_map_alt = Location of Lake Rotorua
, pushpin_relief=yes
, caption_bathymetry =
, location = R ...
in New Zealand. It has an area of 1.35 square kilometres. The uninhabited island is a
rhyolite
Rhyolite ( ) is the most silica-rich of volcanic rocks. It is generally glassy or fine-grained (aphanitic) in texture, but may be porphyritic, containing larger mineral crystals (phenocrysts) in an otherwise fine-grained groundmass. The mineral ...
lava dome
In volcanology, a lava dome is a circular mound-shaped protrusion resulting from the slow extrusion of viscous lava from a volcano. Dome-building eruptions are common, particularly in convergent plate boundary settings. Around 6% of eruptions on ...
, rising to 180 metres above the lake surface. It was formed after the
Rotorua caldera
The Rotorua Caldera, now in filled with Lake Rotorua, is a large rhyolitic caldera. It is one of several large volcanoes located in the Taupō Volcanic Zone on the North Island of New Zealand. Geography
The major regional settlement of Rotorua ...
collapsed and rhyolitic magma was pushed through the cracks. One of the cracks was below where Mokoia island is today. The foreshores of the island have
geothermal springs with hot spring water forming the Hinemoa pool, known to locals as Waikimihia. It also has very rich volcanic soil, which was why the local Māori grew
kūmara
The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the bindweed or morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a root vegetable. The young shoot ...
on it. The stone statue of Matuatonga on the island protected the island's kūmara crop, and
tohunga
In the culture of the Māori of New Zealand, a tohunga (tōhuka in Southern Māori dialect) is an expert practitioner of any skill or art, either religious or otherwise. Tohunga include expert priests, healers, navigators, carvers, builders, teache ...
would bring seed kūmara to touch the statue.
It was also a very good strategic location, which was why it was often fought over.
Mokoia Island is privately owned by local
Māori
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 C ...
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 ...
, who run it in conjunction with the
New Zealand Department of Conservation
The Department of Conservation (DOC; Māori: ''Te Papa Atawhai'') is the public service department of New Zealand charged with the conservation of New Zealand's natural and historical heritage.
An advisory body, the New Zealand Conservation Au ...
. It is a bird sanctuary and access is limited to tour parties only. It is home to several rare species, including the
North Island kokako
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.
Etymology
The word ''north'' is ...
, the
North Island brown kiwi
The North Island brown kiwi (''Apteryx mantelli''; ''Apteryx australis'' or ''Apteryx bulleri'' as before 2000, still used in some sources) is a species of kiwi that is widespread in the northern two-thirds of the North Island of New Zealand and ...
, and a breeding population of the endangered
North Island saddleback
The North Island saddleback (''Philesturnus rufusater'') is a forest-dwelling passerine bird species endemic to the North Island of New Zealand. It was once considered conspecific with the South Island saddleback. The IUCN lists the species as Ne ...
.
The island is also the location of regular
Mau rākau
Mau rākau, meaning "to bear a weapon", is a martial art based on traditional Māori weapons.
Weapons
Mau rākau is a general term referring to the skilled use of weapons. It is said that the use of weapons was taught in the Whare-tū-taua (Hou ...
training camps in the Maori
martial art
Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preserv ...
of
taiaha
A taiaha () is a traditional weapon of the Māori of New Zealand; a close-quarters staff weapon made from either wood or whalebone, and used for short, sharp strikes or stabbing thrusts with efficient footwork on the part of the wielder.
Taiaha a ...
.
Hinemoa and Tūtānekai
The island is sacred to
Māori
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 C ...
of the
Te Arawa
Te Arawa is a confederation of Māori iwi and hapu (tribes and sub-tribes) of New Zealand who trace their ancestry to the Arawa migration canoe (''waka'').[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 ...]
, and is the location of one of the most famous legends of New Zealand, that of Hinemoa and Tūtānekai, which has parallels with the classical Greek tale of
Hero and Leander
Hero and Leander is the Greek myth relating the story of Hero ( grc, Ἡρώ, ''Hērṓ''; ), a priestess of Aphrodite (Venus in Roman mythology) who dwelt in a tower in Sestos on the European side of the Hellespont, and Leander ( grc, Λέ ...
.
According to legend, the two lovers were forbidden to marry, and Hinemoa's father Umukaria, a chief from the shores of the lake, ordered that she not be allowed to travel by canoe to Tūtānekai's tribal village on the island. Hinemoa decided to swim 3.2 kilometres across the lake to the island, guided by the sound of Tūtānekai's flute-playing. For flotation she wrapped rushes (a type of reed) around her and swam her way to the island. According to another version, she made a flotation device from gourds.
The Te Arawa version of the widely known traditional Maori love song "
Pokarekare Ana" references the story of Hinemoa and Tūtānekai. The lyrics imply Hinemoa's crossing the lake to reach Tūtānekai.
See also
*
Pokarekare Ana
*
List of volcanoes in New Zealand
This is a partial list of active, dormant, and extinct volcanoes in New Zealand.
Kermadec Arc and Havre Trough
North Island
Taupō Volcanic Zone
Elsewhere
Mangakino Culdera
South Island
Other
Ross Dependency
New Zealand a ...
*
List of islands
This is a list of the lists of islands in the world grouped by country, by continent, by body of water
A body of water or waterbody (often spelled water body) is any significant accumulation of water on the surface of Earth or another plane ...
*
Desert island
A desert island, deserted island, or uninhabited island, is an island, islet or atoll that is not permanently populated by humans. Uninhabited islands are often depicted in films or stories about shipwrecked people, and are also used as stereot ...
References
External links
Images of Mokoia Island
{{Authority control
Taupō Volcanic Zone
Lake islands of New Zealand
Rotorua
Māori mythology
Māori culture
Protected areas of the Bay of Plenty Region
Uninhabited islands of New Zealand
Pleistocene lava domes
Private islands of New Zealand
Rotorua Volcanic Centre
Rift volcanoes