Maui and the Raising of the Islands

(It was so tempting to name this one “Go Fish With a Demigod!”)

Howdy all! I hope you had a lovely week. I'm back today with a story about Maui, a Polynesian demigod whose actions literally shaped the lands the Polynesians live upon – at least according to their stories!

Shall we begin?

The Maori, Hawaiians, and the Te Arawa of New Zealand are a few of the cultures who have stories about their homeland being raised from the depths of the ocean by Maui. It must have taken several fishing trips to raise all of those islands!

The stories usually say that two of Maui's brothers were going on a fishing expedition. The demigod asked to join them, and tagged along in their boat. After a day without catching anything, the brothers began to nod off. Before they fell asleep, Maui asked them to not make any noises, as they might startle his catch.

In some versions of the tale, Maui used his own blood as bait. In others, the fishing hook he used was the enchanted jawbone of his grandmother ('cause that's not disturbing at all!).

Whatever he used, Maui was ultimately successful. His line grew taut with the weight of his catch. He began to haul upon the rope.

In some versions, Maui's brothers woke up and began to row backwards at his command, helping him drag up his catch. Unfortunately, upon seeing that Maui was hauling up not a fish, but a land mass, the brothers broke their silence. Despite Maui's warnings, they exclaimed their shock.

Whatever spell Maui had cast was broken. The land fell off of his hook, only partially out of the water. The Polynesians of New Zealand use this to explain why their islands are so lopsided compared to the rest of the landmass. I've heard Hawaiian stories claim that the multiple islands are because the land fell off of Maui's hook one piece at a time.

In each story, Maui was only partially successful. He had raised land from the depths of the ocean...but not as much as he wanted.

Thanks for reading guys! I hope you enjoyed the post.  Moana comes out this week - if you go see it, please let me know how it is!  I'm wondering how many mythology references will be in it.

Have a good week, and happy early Thanksgiving to all of my American readers! I'll be back next week with the tale of how Maui beat up the sun. See you then!