Te Orokohanga - The Creation Narratives

^{Paul Meredith, 'Te hī ika – Māori fishing - Traditional practices', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand}

E ai ki te iwi Māori, nā Māui-tikitiki-a-Taranga tētahi ika nui i hī ake i te moana. Na wai rā i kīia, ko te motu raki ō Aotearoa. He maha ngā ingoa o te ika nei ki tā te Māori, heoi ko Te Ika-a-Māui te mea rongonui. E ai ki ngā kōrero, ko ngā pae maunga e toru nei, ko Remutaka rātou ko Tararua, ko Ruahine hoki te tarakina ō taua ika. Ko te nuinga o ngā whenua ō roto Upper Hutt, e hāngai ana ki tēnei kōrero.

According to Māori, the ancestor Māui-tikitiki-a-Taranga is credited with fishing up a giant fish, which came to be what is known as the North Island of Aotearoa (New Zealand). This fish is known by many names to Māori, the most common being Te Ika-a-Māui or The Fish of Māui. The Remutaka, Tararua and Ruahine mountain ranges, make up the spine of the fish and much of the landscape of Upper Hutt comes from this tale.

Ngake and Whātaitai

I te haerenga mai a Māui, i haere mai hoki ēnei taniwha tokorua ā Ngake rāua ko Whātaitai. I ngā rā ō mua i te wā i Whanganui-a-Tara ai te whanga, he roto kē te hanga. Hē taniwha marino a Whātaitai, i te taha raki o te roto ia e noho ana. He taniwha hihiko, he taniwha kaha hoki a Ngake. I te tonga o te roto ia e noho ana. I rangona e Ngake te oro a Te Moananui o Raukawakawa e pāorooro ana i tua atu i te taha tonga o te roto. I tau a ia kia puta atu i te roto ki waho rā kite ai te moana i rangona e ia. I tae atu a Ngake ki te wāhanga raki o te roto, i te piupiu haere tōna hiku, kātahi ka whakatetonga tana anga, ka tīmata tana kaukau. I tere, i horo te rere atu ki te tonga kia puta ki waho i te roto. I pao, i tukituki, kātahi ka wāhia okaokatia ngā toka e Ngake, kia rere ngā wai o te roto ki te moana, kia huaki hoki i Te Au-a-Tane, hei ara māna ki te moana. I kitea e Whātaitai tēnei putanga a Ngake. Ko tā Whātaitai, he whai i te ara nā Ngake i wāwahi. Heoi, i te maringi, i te kōmama a te wai o te roto ki te moana, i pāpaku haere te roto, katahi ka poharu katoa a Whātaitai. E hia kē ngā tau i noho poharu a ia, nā wai rā, nā tētahi rū ā Ruaūmoko ia i whakahī ake hei whenua.

The tale of Māui and his fish brought the appearance of two taniwha (guardian)  - Ngake and Whātaitai. Whātaitai lived in the north of a lake where Wellington harbour now is, and was gentle. Ngake, who lived further south, was more energetic. Ngake could hear the waters of Te Moananui o Raukawakawa  (Cook Strait) pounding to the south, and decided to escape the lake to get to it. He went to the north of the lake to build up his speed for the attempt, then headed off rapidly towards the south. Ngake crashed into and through the rocks at Te Au-a-Tāne (the present entrance to Wellington Harbour) and headed out into the Strait. This was seen by Whātaitai, who tried to follow Ngake out of the new entrance. However, the water was now running out of the lake and Whātaitai became stranded in the shallows. He stayed there for many generations before being lifted high onto the land by a great earthquake. Most notably for Upper Hutt, the force released from the tail of Ngake, as it propelled itself from the northern shores out of the lake created what is known as Te Awa Kairangi, the Hutt River.