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Aoraki (Mount Cook) - Maori History
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Once there was no New Zealand.
The heaving waters, sometimes dark blue, sometimes sullen grey of the Great
Sea of Kiwa rolled over the place now occupied by the South Island, North
Island and Stewart Island. No sign of our fair land existed on the breast of
the ocean.
Before Raki (the Sky-Father) wedded Papa-tua-nuku (the Earth-Mother) each of
them already had existing children by other unions. After the marriage some
of the Sky-Children came down to inspect the new wife of their father and
some married the Earth-Daughters.
Among the celestial visitors were four sons of Raki, who were named Ao-raki
(cloud in the sky), Raki-roa (long Raki), Raki-rua (Raki the second) and
Raraki- roa (a long, continuous line). They came down in a canoe which was
known as Te Waka-a-Aoraki and cruised around Papa-tua-nuku, who lay as one
body in a huge continent known mostly as Hawaiiki. Then the canoe left the
shores of the Earth-Mother and boldly put out to sea. It was an immense
canoe, but go where it would the voyagers could find no land. Then disaster
overtook them and the karakia (invocation) which should have lifted their
canoe to the skies went wrong and their craft sank on to an undersea ridge,
being turned to earth and stone in the process.
Unfortunately it did not sink levelly, the western side being left much
higher than the eastern, as a rule, except opposite Kaikoura. The four
voyagers clambered onto the high side, and were turned to stone. Aoraki
became Mt Cook, and his three younger brothers became the three peaks
nearest him. The whole canoe forms the South Island, - the oldest known name
of which is Te Waka-a-Aoraki, and the highest point in the canoe is the
stone representation of Aoraki himself. |
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