Pūrākau - Legends of Te Tau Ihu

The stories and legends, or pūrākau, of Te Tau Ihu tell of significant events in the history of the region. Some are Polynesia-wide legends, including creation myths, adapted to local landscapes; others are parables to identify or protect valuable resources, or sagas which glorify human qualities prized by Māori. Some stories act as an aide-memoire to recall ancestors and events of the Hawaiki homeland; others are oral maps for the guidance of travellers. Some well known ones are:

The Separation of Rangi and Papa, from Cowan, J. Legends of the Maori (Volume 1) Part of: New Zealand Text Collection 
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• The creation myths which explain the origins of the South Island, and the names for Nelson-Marlborough - Te Tau Ihu o Te Waka a Aoraki or Te Tau Ihu o Te Waka a Māui.
• The legend of Ngahue and Poutini, an oral map which identifies significant stone resources in Te Tau Ihu.
• Stories of taniwha which challenged Māori ingenuity and courage, especially Ngārara Huarau, known in tribal traditions throughout New Zealand and Polynesia, a monster who terrorised local communities; he features in legends based at Moawhitu, Rangitoto (D'Urville Island), Wainui, Mohua (Golden Bay), and Karauripe (Cloudy Bay). Kaiwhakaruaki, another terrible taniwha known across the Pacific, inhabited the Parapara Inlet in Golden Bay / Mohua, and Tutaeporoporo was an enormous shark caught in Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere who later preyed on human travellers on the Whanganui River.

Tutaeporoporo, The Taniwha of the Whanganui from Cowan, J. (Ed.) Legends of the Maori. In New Zealand Electronic Text Centre
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There are stories of very early visitors to Te Tau Ihu from Hawaiki:

•  Makautere and Tapuae-o-Uenuku landed at Waipapa on the Kaikōura Coast, and named many rivers, mountains and other features.
• Kupe, whose exploits are known throughout Aotearoa and beyond, travelled on the Matahourua in pursuit of a giant octopus which was interfering with his fishing in Hawaiki. His journey took several years, and he finally dispatched the octopus at Whekenui (named for the event) in Tory Channel / Kura Te Au. Hundreds of traditional place names in Te Tau Ihu derive from Kupe's visit.

Other stories encompass:

• Hinepoupou's epic swim from Kapiti Island to Rangitoto (D'Urville Island) after being abandoned there by her unfaithful husband
• an explanation about the origins of the name Onamalutu in the Wairau Valley, a corruption of the name Ōhinemahuta.
• Hui Te Rangiora's exploration of the southern seas where he encountered icebergs
• the origins of the name Te Moana Raukawa (Cook Strait).

Some accounts of pre-whakapapa tribes and early whakapapa tribes have mythical elements:

• Ngā Tūrehu were a supernatural people usually associated with elves and fairies (the fair-skinned Patupaiarehe); Māori are said to have acquired netmaking and weaving skills after Māori women were kidnapped by Ngā Tūrehu and later escaped.
• Ngā Kāhui Tipua are variously depicted as a race of giants, dog-faced ogres, taniwha, or human beings. Their stories are based in Te Koko-o-Kupe / Cloudy Bay about the time of Kupe's visit.
• Rākaihautū, an ancestor of Waitaha, disembarked from the Uruao from Hawaiki at Whakatū. Armed with his magic kō he journeyed south digging lakes - Rotoiti, Rotoroa, and Rangatahi (Lake Tennyson) - and sculpting mountain ranges, to rejoin the Uruao in Foveaux Strait / Te Ara-o-Kiwa.

These myths, legends and oral histories demonstrate how Māori perceived the world in times past, what they feared, and what human qualities they admired. They are important keys to many local place names.

2008 

Updated April 2020

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