Various Māori traditions recount how their ancestors set out from their homeland in ''waka hourua'', large twin-hulled ocean-going canoes (''

waka Waka may refer to: Culture and language * Waka (canoe), a Polynesian word for canoe; especially, canoes of the Māori of New Zealand ** Waka ama, a Polynesian outrigger canoe ** Waka hourua, a Polynesian ocean-going canoe ** Waka taua, a Māori w ...

''). Some of these traditions name a mythical homeland called

Hawaiki In Polynesian mythology, (also rendered as in Cook Islands Māori, in Samoan, in Tahitian, in Hawaiian) is the original home of the Polynesians, before dispersal across Polynesia. It also features as the underworld in many Māori stories. ...

. Among these is the story of

Kupe Kupe ( ~1180-1320) was a legendary Polynesian explorer, navigator and great rangatira of Hawaiki, who is said to have been the first human to discover New Zealand. Whether Kupe existed historically is likely but difficult to confirm. He is g ...

, who had eloped with

Kuramarotini In Māori mythology, Kuramarotini was the daughter of Toto, a chief of Hawaiki. Toto made a gift to her of the canoe Matahourua, in which she went out fishing with her husband Hoturapa and their friend Kupe. Kupe tricked Hoturapa to dive into t ...

, the wife of

Hoturapa In Māori tradition, Hoturapa was a chief of Hawaiki. His wife Kuramarotini owned the canoe Matahourua. One day, Hoturapa and his wife went out fishing in the Matahourua with their friend Kupe. Kupe tricked Hoturapa to dive into the water to f ...

, the owner of the great canoe ''

Matahourua In Māori tradition, ''Matahourua'' was the canoe of the legendary hero Kupe, who, in some accounts, was the discoverer of Aotearoa (New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It ...

'', whom Kupe had murdered. To escape punishment for the murder, Kupe and Kura fled in Matahourua and discovered a land he called

Aotearoa ''Aotearoa'' () is the current Māori-language name for New Zealand. The name was originally used by Māori in reference to only the North Island, with the name of the whole country being ''Aotearoa me Te Waipounamu'' ("North Island and Sout ...

('land of the long-white-cloud'). He explored its coast and killed the sea monster Te Wheke-a-Muturangi, finally returning to his home to spread the news of his newly discovered land. Other stories of various

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 Co ...

tribes report migrations to escape famine, over-population, and warfare. These were made in legendary canoes, the best known of which are '' Aotea'', ''

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'').Kurahaupō ''Kurahaupō'' was one of the great ocean-going, voyaging canoes that was used in the migrations that settled New Zealand in Māori tradition. In Taranaki tribal tradition, ''Kurahaupō'' is known as ''Te Waka Pakaru ki te moana'' or 'The Can ...

'', ''

Mātaatua ''Mātaatua'' was one of the great voyaging canoes by which Polynesians migrated to New Zealand, according to Māori tradition. Māori traditions say that the ''Mātaatua'' was initially sent from Hawaiki to bring supplies of kūmara to Māori ...

'', ''

Tainui Tainui is a tribal waka confederation of New Zealand Māori iwi. The Tainui confederation comprises four principal related Māori iwi of the central North Island of New Zealand: Hauraki, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Raukawa and Waikato. There are ...

'', ''

Tākitimu ''Tākitimu'' was a ''waka'' (canoe) with ''whakapapa'' throughout the Pacific particularly with Samoa, the Cook Islands, and New Zealand in ancient times. In several Māori traditions, the ''Tākitimu'' was one of the great Māori migration ...

'', and '' Tokomaru''. Various traditions name numerous other canoes. Some, including the '' Āraiteuru'', are well known; others including the ''Kirauta'' and the sacred '' Arahura'' and '' Mahangaatuamatua'' are little known. Rather than arriving in a single fleet, the journeys may have occurred over several centuries. Polynesian Migration

"Great fleet" hypothesis

Percy Smith believed that the Polynesian traditions may have been flawed in detail, but they preserved the threads of truth that could be recovered using a method already well established for Hawaiian traditions by

Abraham Fornander Abraham Fornander (November 4, 1812 – November 1, 1887) was a Swedish-born emigrant who became an important journalist, judge, and ethnologist in Hawaii. Early life and education Fornander was born in Öland, Sweden on November 4, 1812, to An ...

(''An Account of the Polynesian Race'', 1878–1885). The method involved seeking out common elements of tradition from different sources and aligning these to genealogies to give a timeframe for the events. Fornander, Smith and others used the method to reconstruct the migrations of the Polynesians and traced them back to a supposed ancient homeland in India. Smith used the Fornander method and combined disparate traditions from various parts of New Zealand and other parts of Polynesia, to derive the "Great Fleet" hypothesis. Through an examination of the genealogies of various tribes, he came up with a set of precise dates for the Great Fleet and the explorers that he and others posited as having paved the way for the fleet. According to '' Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand'', "Smith's account went as follows. In 750 CE the Polynesian explorer Kupe discovered an uninhabited New Zealand. Then in 1000–1100 CE, the Polynesian explorers Toi and Whātonga visited New Zealand, and found it inhabited by a primitive, nomadic people known as the

Moriori The Moriori are the native Polynesian people of the Chatham Islands (''Rēkohu'' in Moriori; ' in Māori), New Zealand. Moriori originated from Māori settlers from the New Zealand mainland around 1500 CE. This was near the time of th ...

. Finally, in 1350 CE a 'great fleet' of seven canoes – '' Aotea'', ''

Kurahaupō ''Kurahaupō'' was one of the great ocean-going, voyaging canoes that was used in the migrations that settled New Zealand in Māori tradition. In Taranaki tribal tradition, ''Kurahaupō'' is known as ''Te Waka Pakaru ki te moana'' or 'The Can ...

'', '' Mataatua'', ''

'', '' Tokomaru'', ''

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'').Tākitimu ''Tākitimu'' was a ''waka'' (canoe) with ''whakapapa'' throughout the Pacific particularly with Samoa, the Cook Islands, and New Zealand in ancient times. In several Māori traditions, the ''Tākitimu'' was one of the great Māori migration ...

'' – all departed from the Tahitian region at the same time, bringing the people now known as Māori to New Zealand. These were advanced, warlike, agricultural tribes who destroyed the Moriori." The Great Fleet scenario won general acceptance, its adherents including the respected Māori ethnologist

Te Rangi Hīroa Sir Peter Henry Buck (ca. October 1877 – 1 December 1951), also known as Te Rangi Hīroa or Te Rangihīroa, was a New Zealand doctor, military leader, health administrator, politician, anthropologist and museum director. He was a prominen ...

(Sir Peter Buck), and it was taught in New Zealand schools. However, it was effectively demolished during the 1960s by the ethnologist David Simmons, who showed that it derived from an incomplete and indiscriminate study of Māori traditions, as recorded in the 19th century. Simmons also suggests that some of these "migrations" may actually have been journeys within New Zealand. The historian Rāwiri Taonui, writing in 2005 for ''Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand'', accuses Smith of falsification: "The Great Fleet theory was the result of a collaboration between the 19th-century ethnologist S. Percy Smith and the Māori scholar

Hoani Te Whatahoro Jury Hoani Turi Te Whatahoro Jury (4 February 1841–26 September 1923) was a New Zealand Ngāti Kahungunu scholar, recorder and interpreter. He was born in Wairarapa, New Zealand on 4 February 1841. His mother was Te Aitu-o-te-rangi Jury and his f ...

. Smith obtained details about places in Rarotonga and Tahiti during a visit in 1897, while Jury provided information about Māori canoes in New Zealand. Smith then 'cut and pasted' his material, combining several oral traditions into new ones. Their joint work was published in two books, in which Jury and Smith falsely attributed much of their information to two 19th-century tohunga, Moihi Te Mātorohanga and Nēpia Pōhūhū". In addition, it is now understood that the Moriori are an isolated offshoot of Māori who settled the Chatham Islands around 1500 CE.

Notes

References

*R. D. Craig, ''Dictionary of Polynesian Mythology'' (Greenwood Press: New York) 1989, 24–26. *A. Fornander, ''An Account of the Polynesian Race'' 3 volumes. (London: Kegan Paul), 1878–1885. *T. R. Hiroa (Sir Peter Buck), ''The Coming of the Maori''. Second Edition. First Published 1949. Wellington: Whitcombe and Tombs) 1974. *K. R. Howe,
Ideas about Māori origins
, ''Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand'', updated 3-Apr-2006. *G. Irwin, ''The Prehistoric Exploration and Colonisation of the Pacific''. (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge) 1992. *D. R. Simmons, ''The Great New Zealand Myth: a study of the discovery and origin traditions of the Maori'' (Reed: Wellington) 1976. *S. P. Smith, ''History and Traditions of the Maoris of the W. Coast, North Island, New Zealand'' (New Plymouth: Polynesian Society) 1910. * *R. Walter, R. Moeka'a, ''History and Traditions of Rarotonga by Te Ariki Tara 'Are'', (Auckland: The Polynesian Society) 2000, viii. {{DEFAULTSORT:Maori Migration Canoes Māori mythology Māori history Polynesian navigation Exploration ships

"Great fleet" hypothesis

See also

Notes

References