Mahuhu

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In Māori tradition, Mahuhu is a canoe which voyaged from Hawaiki to New Zealand under the command of Rongomai. He was drowned when the canoe overturned, and his body was eaten by the araara or trevally fish. Because of this incident, the Nga Puhi and Rarawa iwi who claim descent from Rongomai, did not dare to eat the trevally in the times before they embraced Christianity.

[edit] References

• E. Shortland, Traditions & Superstitions of the New Zealanders (Longman, Brown: London), 1856, 25.
• E.R. Tregear, Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary , (Lyon and Blair: Lambton Quay), 1891, 20-21.