Wonders of Whakatane - The Deeds of Legendary Maui

Just before leaving Whakatane, the New Zealand town where my parents live, I came across two really cool murals I hadn't seen before. Granted, they are on the outside wall of the police station, where I haven't frequented a lot, but they looked so amazing that I just had to dedicate a last post to them.

Both pictures seem to be painted by the same artist, though I could not find a signature on either of them. However, they both seem to address Maori legends of the mythical character and ancient ancestor, Maui, who is said to have performed some extraordinary feats. These are two of them.

How Maui Caught North Island as a Giant Fish

Back when Maui was a young boy, he always wanted to go fishing with his older brothers, but they wouldn't let him. Instead they made fun of him for being so small that he would be mistaken for bait, and find himself on a hook. So Maui tied some good length of rope out of flax, which grows abundantly on this land, and hid below it in his brothers' waka (boat).

Once out at sea, they discovered their younger brother, and were quite upset with him. But he told them he could help them catch more fish than they had ever caught, using an enchanted jawbone of his ancestors. First his brothers didn't believe him, but once they tried, it worked like a charm, and they drew in enough fish to fill the waka.

“Now it's my turn to catch some fish!” proclaimed Maui, but his brothers still doubted him. They wouldn't even supply any bait, so Maui just hit himself on the nose, and smeared his own blood on the jawbone. As soon as he cast the line, there was a fish on the hook... a big one. With the help of his brothers Maui drew in the biggest fish anyone had ever seen.

It was much too big for the waka, so Maui told his brothers to guard it while he went home to Hawaiki (Hawaii, the ancient homeland of the Maori) to get help. When he returned, he saw his brothers tearing off huge chunks from the fish, as big as mountains, while fighting with each other over the pieces. As the story goes, the fish became the North Island, while Maui's waka became the long shaped South Island.

How Maui Caught the Sun, Slowing It Down to its Current Pace

In another story, Maui was preparing dinner with his brothers, when the sun sped across the sky, plunging quickly into the West. Back in those days that was the norm. The used to set soon after rising, se people didn't have enough time to complete all the chores of a day.

“That's it,” Maui declared, completely annoyed that they didn't have enough daylight to finish preparing their hangi. “I'm going to stop the sun from speeding like a maniac.” Of course all his brothers laughed at him. Who could stop the sun, after all? But Maui told them how he caught a giant fish, on whose body they could settle and make their homes, and his brothers had to acknowledge that it had been a pretty incredible deed.

So they started out by tying long rope out of flax, and the journeyed eastward to find the sun before it would rise. Eventually they came upon a hole in the ground where the sun was sleeping. They used wet clay to build a protective barrier, and they tied the ropes round the neck and shoulders of the sleeping sun.

When the sun awoke, it started to rise, and the men had to pull with all their might to hold the sun back. However, the sun was too powerful, so once again Maui got out his magic jawbone, and used it to intimidate the sun. Once again, it worked like a charm, and the sun had to give himself defeated.

“Why are you doing this?” the sun asked Maui. Using diplomatic reasoning, Maui explained to the sun that the days were way to short to get anything done. In the end he managed to convince the sun to take it a bit slower. The sun agreed and from that day on there has been sufficient time to complete all of a day's chores in one day.