Talk:Māui (Māori mythology)

Nukutaememeha

Ngati Porou do have claims that his waka, Nukutaememeha (sometimes referred to as Nukutaimemeha) is inside Mount Hikurangi (since Hikurangi is the piece of land that Maui hooked onto). Also some of the Ngati Porou hapu can whakapapa back to Maui. Just a point of interest. RIANZ 00:39, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

Yep, most or all Māori iwi can whakapapa back to Māui. Kahuroa 11:00, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Te Waka a Māui

In the south, the South Island is often called Te Waka a Aoraki. Aoraki and his brothers came here in their waka, looking for Papa, the woman with whom their father Raki (= Rangi) had committed adultery. The waka was overturned, and became the South Island, while Aoraki himself became the mountain Aoraki (Mt Cook).

Māui came to the South Island later from the west. His crew saw the Southern Alps and told him that there was land in sight. He looked and saw the snowy peaks—something he'd never seen before—and said, "That isn't land, it's a mirage of the sea – he tiritiri o te moana." Te Tiritiri o te Moana is the Māori name of the Southern Alps. Māui came into Milford Sound, and named this beautiful place after the most beautiful thing he possessed, his pet parrot, Piopiotahi. He afterwards stood on the Kaikoura Peninsula and fished up the North Island. I understand other traditions also make Kaikoura the standing place.

I'm not sure if I can find published sources for all this, but I've heard it from a number of speakers. I don't know just how wide-spread it is. I've an idea I've heard it in Canterbury as well as in Otago, but I can't be sure of that. I would need to know more details before I felt confident to edit the article.

It would be good to make a brief comparison with other Polynesian traditions of Māui as well as providing the links. Koro Neil (talk) 02:28, 25 September 2009 (UTC)

Maui & The Giant Fish

Hi, I have a question about Maui and the giant fish. If we assume that this myth is brought about because the North Island looks like a sting ray and the South Island looks like a waka (boat) then wouldn't the Maori have an detailed idea of what New Zealand looked like? Does anyone know when the myth dates from? 123.200.203.54 (talk) Goldmann —Preceding undated comment added 02:41, 22 May 2010 (UTC).

The myth is much older than the Polynesian discovery of New Zealand. Māui fished up the Hawaiian islands, Mangareva, etc, etc. The legend was applied to the NI when Māori came here. But it would be strange if Māori didn't have a pretty good idea of what New Zealand looked like - they were seafarers and fishing was very important in them, and you only have to climb a few hills and mountains to see large parts of the country. Kahuroa (talk) 03:53, 22 May 2010 (UTC)

Finds His Mother and His Brothers

I'm not sure why this change was originally made. "Māui emerges from the sea and goes to his mother's foot, with the whole around it while the father is looking for food that all the chickens eat while they are asleep" is not an English sentence, and I don't know what was intended there. —Preceding unsigned comment added by CaptainManacles (talk • contribs) 16:48, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

Merge?

Any thoughts on merging with all the other cultural articles on Maui? I think together they can all make a really good article on Maui, giving he is one of the few characters found throughout all Polynesia. This info would then become a section of the larger one, but I feel it would defiantly create an excellent and informative article on a pan-Polynesian character. Big-bad-juju (talk) 15:37, 3 November 2018 (UTC)

Māori, not Disney, not Hawai'i

This page at present has a section on a character from a US/Disney movie which is supposedly based on the Hawai'ian entity Maui. This is not appropriate for a page about the Māori entity. This page at present includes a photo of a person in a street parade in Hawai'i supposedly dressed as the Hawai'ian entity Maui. Again not appropriate for a Māori entity. I am deleting both of these.Brunswicknic (talk) 13:10, 18 March 2020 (UTC)

The film character was based on a syncresis of several Polynesian traditions, of which Hawai'i, Aotearoa, and Sāmoa were the most prominent. The first version of the script was written by a Māori scriptwriter and several characters were voiced by Māori actors. —VeryRarelyStable 00:14, 19 March 2020 (UTC)

Thank you for that information VRS (if I may). However the text on the page did not convey that information well, furthermore on a page about a Māori entity, to cite such a loose connection to Māori mythology ("several Māoris were involved at some stage in a US movie") seems less than impressive. Presumably there are works of art, songs, literary references &c. to Māui from both Māori and Pakeha culture. These would reflect the popular cultural view of the Māori entity Māui. If a section discussing the Disney film included Aotearoan/New Zealander reaction to the movie and its depiction of Māui, then that would be a strong addition. Aside from that, thank you for your work. Brunswicknic (talk) 03:48, 19 March 2020 (UTC)

Second most read page 30/6/21

Does anyone know why this page is the second most popular on Wikipedia today?

Will.torkington (talk) 20:04, 29 June 2021 (UTC)