Polynesian Mythology (book)
Grey writes that he felt that translators were not able to adequately explain the context of allusions in written communications and that the additional delays to speaking meant that conversation was inevitably condensed in a way that made it harder to connect with people.
Te Rangikāheke compiled manuscripts about most aspects of Māori culture, including about myths and tribal history; these formed the basis for at least a quarter of Polynesian Mythology, though Grey introduced "alterations, combinations and omissions" and "did not acknowledge his debt.
[3] Additional manuscript pages, including the legend of Kae and part of the Māui story, came from Hēnare Mātene Te Whiwhi.
[4] Robert Stokes, then the proprietor of the New Zealand Spectator and a political ally of Grey, was involved in the initial typesetting of manuscript pages in early 1851.
Māui, the son of Taranga, was born prematurely and thrown into the sea wrapped in a tress of his mother's topknot; he is found by his ancestor Tama-nui-ki-te-Rangi, who nurses him to health.
Māui takes food to his ancestor Muri-ranga-whenua, who recognises him as her descendant and gives him her jawbone by which he might work great enchantments.
Hinepiripiri finds him and saves him, and Tāwhaki departs with his family and warriors to build a fortified village atop a mountain.
At first they trick her by taking the roots when she is not looking, but then Tāwhaki restores her sight to her, and she gives the brothers information about how they can ascend to the heavens by climbing hanging vines.
Hinauri, having thrown herself into the sea after Māui turned her husband into a dog, washes ashore at Wairarawa and is found by two brothers.
Māuimua, also called Rupe, was unable to find her, so he journeyed to the tenth heaven and consulted with his ancestor Rehua, who directed him to Motutapu island, where Hinauri had been taken as wife to the superior chief Tinirau.
Rupe arrives in the form of a pigeon just as Hinauri is about to give birth, and he takes her and her baby up to the heavens with him, but as they fly the placenta is accidentally dropped and eaten by a shark.
Tinirau and his wife smell the cooking whale over the sea and know what has happened, and while they want revenge, they know that a group of warriors arriving at Kae's village will be seen as a threat.
Rātā waits for the new moon and is able to kill Matuku as he washes his hair but is told that he will need to seek elsewhere to find Wahieroa's bones.
When Tamatekapua and Whakatūria come looking for the dog, they hear it barking from within Uenuku, so they steal pōporo fruit from his village as retaliation.
When the villagers discover that their pōporo trees no longer have fruit on them, they lie in wait to find the people stealing from them; Tamatekapua manages to escape, but Whakatūria is caught and hung up in the longhouse to slowly die from the smoke.
On the voyage, Tama sleeps with Kearoa, and in anger Ngātoro calls up a whirlpool, leading to the loss of many provisions and some people, before he takes mercy and calms the seas again.
Ngātoro climbs Mount Tongariro, but struggles to reach the top through the snow, so he prays to the gods of Hawaiki to send fire to him and they turn the mountain into a volcano.
Once there, the men cover themselves in blood from beating their own noses and pretend to be corpses as if the curse has been made true, and then wage war on Manaia's village.
Manaia manages to escape the slaughter, and eventually brings a host of warriors to attack Ngātoro at his fortified village on the island Motiti in the Bay of Plenty.
He steals her riches and runs away with Kurangaituku in pursuit; he escapes when he jumps over the hot springs at Rotorua and she wades through them and is burned.
Eventually, they reach New Zealand at the Aotea Harbour, move to Pātea, and form the ancestors of the Whanganui and Ngāti Manu tribes.
Manaia's dog smells land and jumps off the canoe, swimming to Aotea, where the tribe finds the carcass of a whale.
Conflict between the first canoes to arrive leads Manaia to travel throughout the island, eventually settling at the mouth of the Waitara River.
Tūtānekai often played music with Tiki, his hoa takatāpui, from a balcony on Mokoia Island, and the sweet sounds of their instruments would reach Hinemoa across the waters of Lake Rotorua.
Hotunui arrives in Kāwhia on the Tainui, but is falsely accused of stealing sweet potatoes, so departs for Hauraki, leaving behind his pregnant wife.
Upon arrival, Marutūāhu and his slave encounter the two daughters of Te Whatu, the chief of Hauraki, and the younger and prettier of the two claims him as her future husband.
Horowhenua leads a rescue mission, resulting in a fierce battle; he kills his half-brothers, Toawhena and Toapoto, and brings Pāoa back to safety.
"[6] Katharine Luomala wrote that the work "holds a place comparable to that of Malory’s ‘Morte d’Arthur’ in English literature.
Sir George Grey is the Caxton to whom we owe gratitude for preserving this masterpiece.”[6] Scholarly critiques of Polynesian Mythology discusses the difficulties of constructing a single authentic version of the myths.
Percy Smith reported that Te Rangikāheke "had never been educated as a priest, and consequently many old men of the Arawa tribe will tell you that his work is a pokanoa, or unauthorised proceeding, and not correct, inasmuch, as it leaves out much detail, and actions are frequently credited to the wrong individuals."
