Myths are set in the remote past and their content often have to do with the supernatural. They present Māori ideas about the
creation of the universe and the origins of gods () and people. The mythology accounts for natural phenomena, the weather, the stars and the moon, the fish of the sea, the birds of the forest, and the forests themselves. The Māori understanding of the development of the universe was expressed in genealogical form. These genealogies appear in many versions, in which several symbolic themes constantly recur. From it came Te Pō (The Night), becoming Te Pōroa (The Long Night), and then becoming Te Pōnui (The Great Night). Gradually
Te Ao (The Light) glimmered into existence, stretching to all corners of the universe to become Te Aotūroa (The Long-Standing Light). Next came Te Ata (The Dawn), from which came Te Mākū (The Moisture), and Mahoranuiatea (Cloud of the Dawn). Te Mākū and Mahoranuiatea wed to form
Rangi.
Earth's creation Generally, Rangi's wife is
Papa, though they are known throughout Polynesia, even when they're not considered spouses. Hence became the South Island.
Origin of humans There are many mythologies that describe the creation of
humankind. Though Tūmatauenga is the major god associated with humanity and its activities, humanity's creation is sometimes credited to Tāne Mahuta, and often involves Tiki. In one story, Tāne Mahuta abandoned his wife
Rangahore, for only giving birth to a stone. One such legend of humanity's origins is which Tāne Mahuta created the first woman,
Hineahuone, from soil and with her became the father of
Hinetītama. Other versions say either Tāne Mahuta or Tūmatauenga created Tiki as the first man. In
Ngāti Hau traditions,
Mārikoriko is said to be the original woman created by
Ārohirohi with
Paoro's help. After seducing Tiki, she gave birth to
Hinekauataata.
Māui's exploits The sun is slowed In the days of old
Tamanuiterā, the sun, used to move through the sky at much too fast a pace for humanity to complete all their days' chores leaving long, cold nights that lasted for many hours while Tamanuiterā slept. Māui and his brothers journeyed to Tamanuiterā's sleeping pit with a large rope, which in some tellings was made from their sister
Hina's hair. The brothers fashioned the rope into a noose or net, and in doing so "discovered the mode of plaiting flax into stout square-shaped ropes, (); and the manner of plaiting flat ropes, (); and of spinning round ropes", which when Tamanuiterā awoke found himself caught in. Using a
patu made from the jawbone of their grandmother, Murirangawhenua, Māui beat the sun into agreeing to slow down and give the world more time during the day.
North and South Islands In south
Westland,
Kāti Māhaki ki Makaawhio's Te Tauraka Waka a Māui Marae is named in honour of the tradition stating that Māui landed his canoe in
Bruce Bay when he arrived in New Zealand. In a tale collected from a
Kāi Tahu woman of
Lake Ellesmere / Te Waihora, Māui threw a
giant to the ocean and then buried him beneath a mountain at
Banks Peninsula. One day he managed to sneak out to the waters with them by hiding in their canoe. Once they were far out to sea he revealed himself and used Murirangawhenua's jawbone, now fashioned into a fishing hook, to catch fish. Māui went to examine his catch, and have it blessed by priests from
Hawaiki, trusting his brothers to look after it. Out of jealousy though, the brothers took to beating the fish and cutting it open, carving out the mountains and valleys of what would become , the
North Island. , the South Island, likewise was the name of Māui's canoe,
Stewart Island was , Māui's anchor stone, and
Cape Kidnappers became , Māui's fish hook.
Fire is brought to humanity One night, Māui put out all the fires in his village, out of a curiosity to learn where it actually comes from. His mother
Taranga, the village's , sent Māui to his grandmother
Mahuika, the of fire, to retrieve more. She gave him a fingernail, but he extinguished it, so she kept giving him fingernails until she became furious with him, setting fire to the land and sea to attack Māui. He transformed into a
kāhu to escape, but the fire singed the underside of his wings, turning them red. He talked to his ancestors
Tāwhirimātea and
Whaitirimatakataka to send rain to extinguish the fire.
Mahuika threw her last nail at Māui, which missed and set fire to the , , , , and
māhoe trees; the dried sticks of the were brought back by Māui to show his people how to make fire for themselves.
Hina and Tinirau Māui turned Hina's husband,
Irawaru, into the first dog () after a dispute they had during a fishing trip. Only two survived;
Tongahiti and . A son named
Wahieroa was born to Tāwhaki and Hinepiripiri, so named because after an attack on Tāwhaki, Hinepiripiri warmed him by the fire, with firewood. Alternatively, Tāwhaki's people were too lazy to collect firewood for their village, so Tāwhaki collected it himself and threw it to the ground, startling the people. Wahieroa would marry
Matoka-rau-tāwhiri, who when pregnant had a craving for flesh, and so asked her Wahieroa to kill for her to eat. In journeying through the forest, Wahieroa is captured and killed by the
ogre Matuku-tangotango.
Life of Rātā Rātā, the son of Wahieroa and Hinepiripiri, set out to avenge his father's death. How he killed Matoka-rau-tāwhiri is dependent on where the tale is told, but, he won in the end, and used the ogre's bones to make spears. He soon found out though, that Wahieroa's bones were lying with Tāwhaki's old enemies, the . In order to get to the , Rātā had to build a canoe. Rātā set about chopping down the tree for his canoe, cutting the top away, and went home after the day's work was over. The next day, he found the tree standing upright as if it had never been touched. He repeated the task of chopping it, and the next day it was again re-erected. He decided to hide in a nearby bush for the night to understand what was happening, and discovered that his work was being undone by the birdlike spirits, who explained that he didn't perform the correct rituals and thus his attempts to fell the tree were an insult to Tāne Mahuta. With expressing regret, the constructed his canoe for him. While rescuing Wahieroa's bones, Rātā overheard the singing a song called while banging the bones together. He killed the priests and later used the song to turn the tides of a losing battle against them. In a flash, the dead of Rātā's people returned to life and slaughtered the in their thousands. Rātā's sons by Tonga-rau-tawhiri were
Tūwhakararo and
Whakatau. In other accounts, their parents were Tūhuruhuru and
Apakura. As Whakatau's brother, Tūwhakararo had been murdered by the Āti Hāpai (or Raeroa) tribe, so the former avenged him by gathering an army and slaughtering the offending tribe. This is one event that was said to trigger migrations from Hawaiki. == Traditions ==