| Great Māori migration waka | |
| Commander | Rongo-i-tua |
|---|---|
In Māori tradition, Mānuka was one of the great ocean-going, voyaging canoes that was used in the migrations that settled the South Island of Aotearoa (New Zealand).[1] The canoe is said to have travelled to the Polynesian homeland of Hawaiki to procure kūmara, a type of sweet potato.[2][3][1] Although the Mānuka returned with kūmara, most accounts state that efforts to germinate and grow the tubers it brought back ended in failure.[3][1][2]
Origin story[edit]
In Ngā Waka o Neherā (2009), Jeff Evans writes that Mānuka was built from the same tōtara tree as Āraiteuru, her sister waka (canoe).[4] There was a dispute between Tua-kakariki, who first found the log on the beach, and Rongo-i-tua, a visitor who was eager to return home.[4] To stake his claim, Rongo-i-tua had deposited his own excrement on the log while Tua-kakariki was away trying to assemble a work party to move it.[4]
Rongo-i-tua was awarded the log and got help from the Kahui-tipua people to build a canoe, promising to lead an expedition to bring back more dried kūmara.[4] The first canoe to be built was called Mānuka ('ma' = claim possession, 'nuka' = deceive) for the way he claimed the log.[4] Once the canoe had been completed, the Kahui-tipua claimed it for their own and travelled to Hawaiki to acquire kūmara.[4] However, once they returned, they were unable to successfully cultivate it.[4]
Explanations[edit]
One version of the story is that the kūmara failed to grow because the South Island was too cold.[2] According to a Murihiku account, the crop rotted in the ground because ritual incantations were not performed.[3]
Other accounts state that the Mānuka had brought back only a "scraggly few" plants.[3] Subsequent canoe voyages were tasked with bringing back the "better kinds" of kūmara.[3] In one such narrative, Rongo-i-tua, or Roko, set forth from Hawaiki on the Āraiteuru, but was caught in a storm which pushed the kūmara overboard.[2] After washing up on shore, the vegetables were petrified to form the Moeraki Boulders.[2]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c Māori Peoples of New Zealand / Nga iwi o Aotearoa. Auckland: David Bateman. 2006. p. 60. ISBN 978-1-86953-622-0.
- ^ a b c d e "Page 8. Canoes of the South Island". Te Ara, The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
- ^ a b c d e Barber, I. G.; Higham, T. F. G. (2021). "Archaeological science meets Māori knowledge to model pre-Columbian sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) dispersal to Polynesia's southernmost habitable margins". PLOS ONE. 16 (4): e0247643. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0247643. PMC 8046222. PMID 33852587.
- ^ a b c d e f g Evans, Jeff (2009). Ngā Waka o Neherā: The First Voyaging Canoes. New Zealand: Libro International. pp. 83–84. ISBN 9781877514043.