Māhuhu-ki-te-rangi

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Māhuhu-ki-te-rangi
Great Māori migration waka
Commander Rongomai
Iwi Nga Puhi, Ngāti Whātua, Te Rarawa

In Māori tradition, Māhuhu-ki-te-rangi (also known as Māhuhu) was one of the great ocean-going, voyaging canoes that was used in the migrations that settled New Zealand. The canoe, which voyaged from Hawaiki to New Zealand, was 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 Te Rarawa iwi who claim descent from Rongomai, did not dare to eat the trevally in the times before they embraced Christianity.

[edit] See also

[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.