'Religion' and 'spirituality' are very important to the Maori and they involve not only their tribe, but the land, sea and sky within their culture. The Maori people did not have a written language until missionaries created one in the mid 19th century, so their history was passed down orally through myths and legends.


The great Polynesian navigator Kupe who discovered New Zealand originated from Hawaiiki, the mythical ancestral homeland of the Maori. The story of his arrival in New Zealand makes for interesting reading, with as much legend intertwined as there is fact. Read more about Kupe.

The North and South islands of New Zealand are known respectively as the fish and canoe of the legendary hero Maui. Maui was a demi-god, who lived in Hawaiiki. He possessed magic powers that not all of his family knew about.  Read more about Maui.

The legend of the Creation say that Rangi, the Sky Father, had been joined in an amorous embrace with Papa, the Earth Mother. This clasp left the world in perpetual darkness, and the nakedness of Papa was covered with vegetation that thrived in dark moisture.  Read more about The Story of the Creation.

When the firestones fell from the sky father, the cries described our fears and our anguish, when the days went backwards, the night became the day and the day became the night.  The trees shriveled up and the land ran like water, we knew the smoke shrouded the lands to hide the hills and the waters. Read more about Walking with the Gods.

There was once a nameless hill that lived in the Hautere Forest. He was a slave to one of the most prestigious mountains of Tauranga Moana, called Otanewainuku and desperately in love with Puwhenua, but her heart had already been captivated by Otanewainuku. When the nameless hill found that there was no hope left for him, he decided to take his life by drowning himself in Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa ( Pacific Ocean). Read more about The Legend of Mauao.

Main source of research:
'Land of the Long White Cloud (Maori Myths, Tales and Legends)' - Kiri Te Kanawa
'Maori myths and tribal legends' - Antony Lepers