The producers organized a meeting yesterday from 9 to 10:30 to update the group on what's happening with the project. The marae leaders will not be back from muttonbirding until May 17th and they believe that they were offended by our lack of protocol on the visit and won't be in a hurry to grant their blessing, if at all. We were given the option of pushing our story away from Bubba the storytellers, or writing a new script and using the assets we've already made for that. Anna rightly pointed out that a new script would mean throwing out her work and and all new storyboard for her to make. Kate and Ben watched the storyboard after the meeting with Anna. Kate asked me to do some research on the Tamarereti story to find another source of the legend.
Nga Pepeha a Nga Tipuna
By Hirini Moko Mead, Neil Groveavailable online
Lore of the Whare-wananga: Or Teachings of the Maori College on Religion, Cosmogony, and History 1 Volume Set
| Author: | H. T. Whatahoro |
| Series: | Cambridge Library Collection - Anthropology |
General Fields
- :
- : Cambridge University Press
- : Cambridge University Press
- : Contains 2 Paperbacks
- : November 2011
- : 216mm X 140mm
- : United Kingdom
- : January 2012
- : books
Special Fields
- : Multiple copy pack
- : 532
- : H. T. Whatahoro
- : 1 b/w illus.
- : 398.209931
Also available through inter library loan from Otago University in Dunedin
Te Waka o Tamarereti
Maori oral traditional also tells of the Polynesian explorer Tamarereti who also
ventured south to find a “white land”. An article entitled “Voyage of Adventure,
Ancient Maori Discovery of the South Pole”, presents a detailed account by Hare
Hongi of the voyage by 'Te Rua o Maahu' – the name of the canoe that was to
under take the dangerous voyage to the deep south. 4 This voyage may be not
mythological as much as it is historic. Although much is unknown regarding the
nature of Tamarereti, what is known is that he was not considered of the order of
gods, demi-gods, or volcanic deities as is common throughout Maori mythology.
Rather he was a mortal being albeit the most intrepid of ancient mariners, but
mortal nevertheless, suggesting a historical perspective more so than a
mythological one.
The Maori had observed the Aurora of the far southern regions, when the whole
sky seemed to be ablaze at regular intervals. It was thought that a god may have
kept his temple there and that the “darting shafts of splendour were signals of his
activities.” Because this was a puzzle to the cosmological Maori sages (tohunga),
Tamarereti (Reti) announced that he would voyage to the far south and discover
the secret of the Aurora. It is universally accepted in the Maori world that upon
return Reti's canoe Te Rua o Maahu brought back with it certain understanding of
the physicality of the Antarctic region.
Te Rua o Maahu, a magnificent ocean going canoe was built of Totara and
ornamented with plumes of feathers and paua shell. Seventy young Chiefs and
two tohunga accompanied Reti along with food provisions and fire staffs which
could be lit easily. The boat travelled through Te Aumiti now known as the
French Pass in Marlborough, a treacherous suction current and headed south
directly for Te Kahui Rua-Maahu, the point which the southern cross circles.
Eventually after much time passing and anxious sentiment about the welfare of
the expedition from the people home on land, the Waka was sited off shore. (4 Hare Hongi. Voyage of Adventure, Ancient Maori Discovery of the South Pole.) 5
Unfortunately the boat was foundering as the crew were exhausted and
eventually approaching a rocky shore stuck rock and was wrecked. It was
affirmed as Reti's canoe. Reti was killed along with all but two of the survivors.
One of the survivors was a tohunga and the other was a member of the crew.
The two were nursed reverently back to health and lived long enough to tell the
story. The story is brief but concise, the far south was reached as the tale
consists of enormous ice cliffs with towering mountain ranges behind them. The
ice cliffs were described as having no footing. The season was said to be suited
to observation of the Aurora Australis which was a spectacular blaze of colour
and eventually after shortening days the sun disappeared completely their guide
the stars alone implying that they crossed the Antarctic Circle.
Tamarereti is variously remembered by Maori in the stars. For many the Milky
Way traditionally represents the waka (canoe) of Tamarereti. The front and back
of the waka are seen in the Scorpius and Orion constellations. The Maori name
for Crux (the Southern Cross) is “Te Punga” – “the anchor”. It is thought of as the
anchor of Tamarereti's waka, where the Pointers are its rope.
Nga Korero Paki o Nga Whetu – The Stories of the Stars
http://www.carterobservatory.org/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=505&Itemid=103
Hongi, H. (1925). Voyage of Adventure, Ancient Maori Discovery of the South
Pole. The Weekly Press Christchurch NZ. Thursday June 18, 1925 (Front Page).
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