Kupe
Kupe was born in the geographically uncertain Māori homeland of Hawaiki, to a father from Rarotonga and a mother from Raiatea, between 40 and 23 generations ago.
Māori oral history recounts that Hawaiki and other Polynesian islands were experiencing considerable internal conflict during his time, which is thought to have possibly caused an exodus.
Various legends and histories describe Kupe's extensive involvement in the settlement of New Zealand, around 1000–1300 CE, with many talking of his achievements, such as the hunting and destruction of the great octopus, Te Wheke-a-Muturangi.
[4] The historical Kupe is thought to have been born in the uncertain Māori homeland of Hawaiki, to a father from Rarotonga and a mother from Raiatea.
He was well educated in Polynesian navigation, and likely spoke the hypothetical proto-Māori language, which would have been most similar to Cook Islands Māori or Tahitian.
Most histories claim that in a time approximately 40 generations ago (between 900 and 1200 AD),[3] Kupe, his wife Kuramārōtini, the great warrior Ngahue, and a relatively large crew, boarded Kuramārotini's canoe Matawhourua (or in some dialects Matawhaorua).
According to the Waitangi Tribunal's Wai 262 report, Matawhaorua was a classical Polynesian open-ocean catamaran, capable of carrying a complement of 25 people under sail or paddle, fully provisioned.
The report states he eventually found the remaining crew at Pikopikoiwhiti, a nearby village "renowned for its ready supply of adventurers".
A legend says that Kupe then continued his pursuit of Muturangi's octopus, eventually destroying it with a blow to its head after a fierce battle in the Cook Strait.
Kupe sailed back via Hokianga Harbour, where he sacrified his son Tuputupu-whenua, drowning him in the spring of Te Puna-o-te-ao-Mārama to guard the land from under the water while he was gone.
[7] According to oral history, Kupe believed sacrificing his son would ensure the mauri (life essence) of his whakapapa (descent line) would remain in Aotearoa permanently, even though he would be gone.
Nukutawhiti had memorised his grandfather's navigational instructions for reaching Aotearoa, knowing off by heart the star path to follow to get there.
He left his cousin Hoturapa to drown during a fishing expedition and kidnapped his wife, Kūāmarotini, with whom he fled in her great canoe Matawhourua.
During their subsequent journeys, they overcame numerous monsters and sea demons, including the great octopus named as Te Wheke-a-Muturangi, and discovered New Zealand.
David Simmons said "A search for the sources of what I now call 'The Great New Zealand Myth' of Kupe, Toi and the Fleet, had surprising results.
Kupe was and is known, in the traditions of the Hokianga, Waikato, East Coast and South Island: but the genealogies given did not tally with those given by S. Percy Smith.
Similarly, the story of Toi and Whatonga and the canoe race leading to settlement in New Zealand could not be authenticated except from the one man who gave it to Percy Smith.
Traditions about Kupe appear among the peoples of the following areas: Northland, Ngāti Kahungunu, Tainui, Whanganui-Taranaki, Rangitāne, and the South Island.
A 100 feet (30 m) frieze depicted the progress of New Zealand, groupings of pioneers, lions in Art Deco style, a large fountain and a figure of Kupe standing on the prow of his canoe were produced for the centennial exhibition.
