Polynesian Mythology and Ancient Traditional History of the New Zealand Race as Furnished by Their Priests and Chiefs is an 1855 collection of Māori mythology compiled and translated by Sir George Grey, then Governor-General of New Zealand, with significant assistance from Te Rangikāheke. The English edition is a translation of Ko ngā mahinga a ngā tūpuna Māori (The Deeds of the Ancestors), published in 1854, which was an expanded version of a manuscript entitled Ko ngā mōteatea, me ngā hakirara o ngā Māori (The Traditional Chants and Songs of the Māori) originally published in New Zealand in 1853.
Compilation from primary sources In a preface to the book, George Grey writes that he felt he was unable to effectively communicate with Māori leaders and petitioners without speaking Te Reo Māori and understanding the references and allusions made in writings. 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.
By 1849, a Māori tribal leader named Te Rangikāheke was working closely with him and teaching him Te Reo Māori. 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."
Some stories, such as the legend of Hatupatu, are considered to be the sole work of Te Rangikāheke; the legend of Hinemoa consists of Te Rangikāheke's work interwoven with portions of the version of that story that Grey obtained directly from the inhabitants of Mokoia Island. Additional manuscript pages, including the legend of Kae and part of the Māui story, came from Hēnare Mātene Te Whiwhi. Parts of the manuscript can be attributed to a wealth of other contributors, including tribal leaders and some missionaries.
The way in which Grey compiled different versions of myths from different sources created a "patchwork which does not truly represent the traditions of any particular region." Nonetheless, the versions compiled can be considered reliable as "a wide range of tribal areas is represented" and "other things being equal, an informant who was born into the pre-contact culture, may be regarded as more reliable than one who knew the unaltered culture only by hearsay. Grey's informants or recorders were often people who had experienced life in a period relatively unaffected by European contact or who had access, in the persons of their fathers, or relatives of the father's generation, to informants who had lived in the pre-European situation."
Publication history
About the time that Te Rangikāheke joined Grey's household in 1848, Grey's collection of manuscripts was destroyed by a fire; this was one factor that made him decide to put his Māori texts into print.Coleridge, Kathleen. "Governor George Grey publishes Maori poetry." Bulletin (Bibliographical Society of Australia and New Zealand) 28.4 (2004): 5-19. https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/ielapa.200700063 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. By September 1853, printing was complete of a 432-page Māori-language manuscript bearing the name Ko nga moteatea, me nga hakirara o nga Maori (a copy exists in the Auckland Public Library that includes a 96-page supplement, 18-page index, 2 pages of errata, and a preface), and Grey gave several copies to close associates before sailing to England at the end of 1853. In London, he had an expanded version of the Māori-language manuscript, including additional legends from Te Rangikāheke's manuscripts, printed and bound by Remnant and Edmonds under the name Ko Nga Mahinga a Nga Tupuna Maori.
While Grey's earlier publications had been smaller, the English translation of Polynesian Mythology was a considerably larger publication and a commercial venture. Publisher John Murray was a well established firm and footed the production costs in exchange for half the profit. The book was aimed at a Victorian audience, with illustrations included and source material excised for reasons of length, repetitive theme, and so as not to offend that audience; modern scholarship of the legend of Hinemoa and Tutānekai look at the relationship between Tutānekai and his Takatāpui Tiki in a queer light.
Summary of myths
The Children of Heaven and Earth Originally, there was Rangi and Papa, the heavens and the earth, and they were tightly pressed together with their children in between them without light or space. Tūmatauenga, the god of war, suggested killing Rangi and Papa so that he and his brothers might have space, but Tānemahuta, the god of forests and birds and insects, suggested that instead they should separate the heavens from the earth. All of the brothers agreed to this except for Tāwhirimātea, the god of winds and storms, but the brothers were not able to do so until finally Tānemahuta placed his head in the earth and his feet against the sky and stood up.
In revenge for these actions, Tāwhirimātea waged war against his brothers. Tangaroa, the god of the ocean, fled to the sea, but his children Tūtewehiwehi, the father of reptiles, and Ikatere, the father of fish, disagreed about where to go, and so the fish ended up in the sea and the reptiles ended up on land. Rongomātāne, the god of cultivated plants, and Haumia-tikitiki, the god of uncultivated food, took refuge hidden within Papa, so Tāwhirimātea could not find them. Finally, Tāwhirimātea fought against Tūmatauenga, but Tūmatauenga stood firm and resisted his brother. Tūmatauenga then turned against his brothers because they had not helped him, so he sought out the food from all of his brothers' domains. His children increased and were mankind.
The Legend of Māui 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. After introducing himself to his mother and brothers and living with them, he came to wonder where Taranga went to during the day. After investigating, he found that she disappeared into a cave, and so in the form of a pigeon, he flew down into the cave until he found his mother lying with her husband. His father Makeatutara took him into the water to be baptized, but Makeatutara in his haste skipped over a portion of the blessings, which he knew would mean that the gods would be sure to punish by causing Māui to die.
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. The first of these was to take his brothers and ensnare the sun so that it might move more slowly and give longer days. The next of these was to haul up a great fish from the depths of the sea with his enchanted fish-hook which became the North Island; although he told his brothers not to cut into it until he had appeased the gods, they did, so the fish thrashed around and created the mountainous geography.
Wanting to know where fire came from, Māui put out all the fires in the village so he would be sent to Mahuika to collect more. After extinguishing all bar one of her flaming fingernails, Mahuika grew angry at Māui and sent fire after him to destroy him, but Māui called out to Tāwhirimātea and Whaitiri-mātakataka, who sent rains to save him. Later, Māui quarrels with his brother-in-law Irawaru and turns him into the first dog. Distraught with grief, his sister Hinauri throws herself into the sea.
Māui returned to the land of his father, where he is told that because he was baptised incorrectly, he will die. Māui set out to defeat Hinenuitepō, the goddess of the night and of death, by climbing up through her womb and out through her mouth. Māui brought with him some birds as companions and instructed them not to laugh until he was almost out of her mouth, but the water wagtail could not help but laugh, and so Hinenuitepō woke up, closed her legs together, and killed Māui. As a result, humans are mortal.
The Legend of Tāwhaki Tāwhaki on the way back from fishing with the brothers of his wife, Hinepiripiri, when they attack him and leave him for dead. Hinepiripiri finds him and saves him, and Tāwhaki departs with his family and warriors to build a fortified village atop a mountain. First, Tāwhaki gets revenge on those who attacked him by calling down floods of waters from the heavens. Next, Tāwhaki seeks revenge on the Ponaturi who had killed his father and imprisoned his mother, Urutonga. The Ponaturi live under the sea during the day and on the land at night, so Urutonga has Tāwhaki and his brother Karihi block up the windows to their house so that the Ponaturi will be tricked into staying above the sea after dawn, at which point the sun's rays can destroy them.
Having heard of his deeds and his beauty, Tangotango comes down from the heavens to see Tāwhaki and sleep with him; Tangotango bears him a daughter, but is offended by Tāwhaki and so returns to the heavens. Tāwhaki and Karihi set off for the heavens to find them again and find Matakerepō, their blind ancestor, counting taro roots. 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. Karihi tries first, but grabs a loose vine and very nearly dies, but Tāwhaki is able to climb a strong vine and reach the heavens. Once there, he disguises himself as an old slave and performs wonders until he reveals himself to his wife and daughter.
The Legend of Rupe 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. Rupe and Hinauri live with Rehua in the heavens.
The Legend of Kae’s Theft of the Whale Tinirau brings the magician Kae to his village to perform enchantments for his newborn son Tūhuruhuru. Kae arranges to be taken home on Tinirau's pet whale Tutunui, and once he reaches his village, he kills Tutunui. Afterwards, he and his village butcher and eat the whale. 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. Instead, a canoe of forty women go to Kae's village so as not to arouse suspicion. They have been told that they will recognise Kae by his overlapping teeth, so when they arrive they perform tricks to get everybody to laugh. Once they have found Kae, they perform enchantments to make everybody in Kae's village to sleep, and then they take Kae back to Tinirau, where he is slain.
The Legend of Tūwhakararo Tūhuruhuru has many children, including Tūwhakararo and Mairatea. After her marriage, Tūwhakararo goes to visit Mairatea at the Āti Hāpai; a young woman there takes a liking to him, which angers the man she has been courting, and so Tūwhakararo is killed and eaten. Whakataupōtiki hears of this and takes warriors to get revenge, which he is able to do by disguising himself with charcoal and cutting his hair.
The Legend of Rātā