Patience and unity bring greater rewards than greed and haste.

How does the Maori version differ from other Polynesian versions?

In the Maori version, the fish becomes the North Island of New Zealand (Te Ika a Maui), while his canoe becomes the South Island.

Maui is a Polynesian demigod and trickster-hero credited with fishing up islands, slowing the sun, and discovering fire. He appears in the myths of New Zealand, Hawaii, Tahiti, Tonga, and other Pacific cultures.

What does Maui's fishhook represent?

Made from the jawbone of his ancestor, the fishhook symbolizes the power of heritage and ancestral wisdom. It represents how the tools of the past can shape the world of the future.

Folklore

Maui and the Great Fish

#Creation

#Heroism

#Cleverness

Available Variants

New Zealand, Oceania

Maui and the Great Fish

Annotations Enabled

Maui was the greatest of Polynesian heroes, a demigod born prematurely and thrown into the sea, then rescued by sea spirits and returned to his family. He possessed a magical jawbone from his ancestor and a fierce determination to make life better for humankind.

One day Maui hid in his brothers' fishing canoe. Far out at sea, he revealed himself and cast his fishhook made from the ancestral jawbone into the deepest waters. He felt a tremendous tug and hauled with all his might. Slowly, land rose from the ocean floor. His brothers, greedy, chopped the great fish into pieces, creating the islands of Polynesia. Had they waited, the land would have been one vast continent.