Overview
Kupe
Kupe is an important ancestor to the Maori people, and in many but not all iwi narratives he is accredited with being the first Polynesian to discover the islands of Aotearoa New Zealand. There are numerous stories, songs and places associated with Kupe, and though they vary by iwi, all are significant to those who hold them.
The story of Kupe and his journey is generally accepted to have begun in his homeland of Raiatea or Hawaiki, where his people encountered difficulties while fishing. The source of their misfortune was revealed to be a giant octopus that would come to be known as Te Wheke o Muturangi so named because it belonged to Muturangi, a rival of Kupe who had instructed his pet to prevent Kupe and his people from fishing. After confronting Muturangi to call off his pet with no avail, Kupe vowed to track and kill the octopus in order to return prosperity to his people. (1).
Kupe set out with his wife, family, and crew in a great waka known as the Matawhaorua, and in some versions he was joined by a second waka named Tawhirirangi which was captained by his friend Ngake or Ngahue. The pursuit of Te Wheke o Muturangi was long and difficult and it took Kupe and his crew far from their homes. Eventually the great octopus was followed to an ocean which would come to be known as Raukawakawa or Cook straight. Here Kupe and his people engaged the beast in a lengthy battle where it was eventually defeated and killed, and in the process Aotearoa was discovered. (2).
In the far north a slightly different version is told, and it is said that in the pursuit of Te Wheke o Muturangi that Kuramarotini, the wife of Kupe noticed something on the horizon. She is said to have stood within the great waka and cried out to her family and crew “he ao tea roa”, or “a long white cloud” and this is how the islands of Aotearoa gained their name. (3). Following the clouds observed by Kuramarotini the waka Matawhaorua was then guided by a light reflected from the mountain Ramaroa to a great harbour. Kupe was so overwhelmed by the beauty of the light that he named the harbour “Te Puna O Te Ao Marama”, or “the spring of the world of light”. This is said to have been the first landing of Kupe and after an extensive exploration of new lands it was from this harbour that Kupe also departed Aotearoa to return to his homeland, he declared “e kore e hokianga mai” or “I shall never return”. It was from this statement that Hokianga Harbour was named and is still known today. (4).
The arrival of Kupe to Aotearoa is an important event for Maori, and he represents the whakapapa or a genealogical anchor and an ongoing relationship to the whenua or land. Kupe therefore is a prominent ancestor in the whakapapa or genealogies of many iwi and great effort is made to cite an association with him. This is reinforced by the many numerous places named for Kupe, his family and their travels throughout the lands of Aotearoa.
References
(1). Hiroa, T. (1950). The coming of the Maori (pp. 5-8). Wellington: Whitcombe and Tombs.
(2). Kawaharada, D. and Henry, T. (1995). Voyaging chiefs of Havai'i. [ebook] Honolulu, HI: Kalamaku Press. Available at: http://www2.hawaii.edu/~dennisk/books/voyaging_chiefs.html [Accessed 6 Nov. 2019].
(3).. Royal, C. (2005). First peoples in Maori tradition - Kupe. [online] Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Available at: https://teara.govt.nz/en/first-peoples-in-maori-tradition/page-6 [Accessed 6 Nov. 2019].
(4). Himiona, K. (1957). The Story of Kupe. The Journal of the Polynesian Society, [online] 66(3), pp.232 - 248. Available at: http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document//Volume_66_1957/Volume_66%2C_No._3/The_story_of_Kupe%2C_by_Himiona_Kaamira%2C_p_232-248/p1 [Accessed 6 Nov. 2019].