Fish imagery in art 70: Polynesian Maori carving of the Maui myth

Abstract

New Zealand’s Polynesian Maori had no written history, though many legends were recorded in stylised wood carvings in meeting houses, fortifications and other structures. A myth widespread among Polynesian peoples, including New Zealand Maori, relates to a man named Maui, to whom legend attributes many miraculous feats. One of these myths tells how Maui was in a canoe, fishing with his brothers. They would not let him use their gear, but Maui happened to have his grandmother’s jawbone with him, which he used as a hook. He hooked a tremendous fish, and when he hauled it to the surface it became the North Island of New Zealand, still known to Maori as Te Ika a Maui (Maui’s fish). Some traditions say that the canoe was stranded on a mountain, but later slid into the sea, to become New Zealand’s South Island (Buck 1949).