Maui Legends

As part of Matariki we re-read the legends of Maui. We then retold a legend and created artwork. Below is my work.

Long, long ago, there lived a man called Maui. One evening Maui was sitting by a fire, wondering what it would be like to have no fire. So that night when everyone was asleep, Maui took jars of water and put out every fire in the village. The next morning everyone in the village was furious with Maui.    “You annoying person,” they cried. “Now you have to go south to the volcano and get us more fire!” Nobody wanted to go with Maui, but as he walked towards the volcano his friends the birds joined him. Piwakawaka, Hihi, Tui, Rupe and Huia flew to be with him and Pukeko and Kiwi wanted to come too. The volcano was many miles away from the village. The landscape was dry and bare. Deep in the heart of the volcano Maui saw a flicker of flame. He told his friends the birds to wait for him by the stream and he went in alone. He climbed over the boulders and saw an old woman sitting by a fire. ‘She has to be my Aunty Mahuika, the Goddess of fire Maui thought. “Kia ora Aunty,” said Maui. “All the fires in the village have gone out, so can I have one of yours?” Mahuika lifted up her gnarled hands. At each tip of her fingers there burned a flickering flame. She removed a flame from her thumb and gave it to Maui. “ Be very careful with this flame, it is sacred” Mahuika said. Maui cupped the flame in his hands very carefully. Surprisingly it did not burn him. “I have got some magic fire, but I still don’t know how fire is made” said Maui to the birds. “So I will go back”. Maui threw the flame into the stream. “Aunty Mahuika, the flame went out. Can I have another one, please?” Mahuika sighed, “Take more care of this flame Maui, these flames are very precious”. So Maui went back to his friends and threw the flame into the stream again. Every time Maui was given a flame he got rid of it and made up an excuse. “Oh Aunty, I dropped it! The wind blew it out. A bird flew down and took it. It started to rain and the flame went out. I sneezed and it went out. A Taniwha stepped on it.” When Mahuika was down to her last flame she was very furious. “Maui!” She cried. “No more. You have nearly taken all my flames. There is only one left now.” Maui tried to take the last flame from the tip of her finger. Mahuika flew into a rage. She stamped her foot and flames roared up out of the earth. Maui fled as fast as his waewae (legs) could take him. Mahuika erupted into flames like lava pouring out of a volcano. Maui said the magical karakia and changed into a hawk, as Mahuika threw her last flame far into the tops of the kaikomako trees. Later when the flames had died down, Maui came back to the kaikomako tree and climbed up high to the top of it. He snapped of a few branches and carrying them in his hands he took them to his home in the north. “I am absolutely sure that Mahuika’s last flame is in these branches,” said Maui to the people of his tribe. Maui took a kaikomako branch and rubbed it against a piece of mahoe wood. “Come out flame” Maui said. “I know you're in here.” He breathed on the wood and rubbed it harder. Very slowly a flame started to appear. The people of Maui’s tribe never had to worry about losing fire ever again!

Retold By Grace & Rebekah.

This is Grace’s artwork.






This is Rebekah’s artwork.