Toi (name)
Toi is a fairly common man's name in Māori and other Polynesian languages.
The best known men named Toi are the following from Māori legendary history, who are sometimes confused with one another:
- Toi-te-huatahi, in Te Arawa tradition, a chief who never left Hawaiki. In the Ngati Awa tradition, a descendant of Tiwakawaka (fantail), the original settler of New Zealand. In the discredited 'orthodox' or "Great Fleet" story, a man from Hawaiki who settled at Whakatane after following his grandson Whatonga.
- Toi-te-huatahi II in the discredited Great Fleet story, a man who settled at Whakatane after following his grandson Whatonga, much later than Toi-te-huatahi I.
- Toi-kai-rākau, an ancestor of the Tūhoe tribe. In some traditions, this is an alternative name for Toi-te-huatahi.
The descendants of Toi-kai-rākau are named Te Tini-a-Toi – the many descendants of Toi. In the part of the Bay of Plenty where the Mataatua canoe landed, these descendants were divided into at least 18 groups or hapu[1]. Sometimes also the name Te Tini o Toi is used.
See also
Literature
- Halbert, R. (1999) Horouta, Reed Books, Auckland. ISBN 0-7900-0623-5
- Simmonds, D.R. (1976)The Great New Zealand Myth, Reed Books.