294 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



Aet. XXXIV. — Maori Origins. 

 By Elsdon Best. 



[Read before the Atickland Institute, 6th November, 1899.] 



The following disconnected notes on Maori origins have been 

 culled from many manuscript books in my possession con- 

 taining a great amount of matter concerning the mythology, 

 history, &c., of the Maori people of New Zealand. The search 

 for and gathering-together of such sporadic notes requires a 

 considerable amount of time, and when put together they do 

 not make a by any means harmonious whole, but I hold that 

 we who dwell in the dark places of the earth should strive 

 but to collect and place on record all such matter, and leave 

 higher forms of compilation and all generalising to those who 

 have no means of obtaining such matter at first hand — or to a 

 future generation. 



Origin of the World. 



According to the Maori cosmogony the world grew from 

 primal chaos, darkness, and nothingness. The genesis or 

 growth of the world has been likened to that of a tree. 

 Names are given of primal beings who brought forth offspring 

 of a like nature, even until Eangi and Papa (heaven and 

 earth) were born or came into existence. It would, however, 

 appear probable that these primal names represent periods of 

 time rather than beings of an anthropomorphous type. From 

 Te Pu (the very origin) sprang Te More (the tap-root). From 

 Te More sprang Te Weu (the rootlets or fibrous roots). Then 

 came Te Aka (the creeper or vine). Then Te Eea (the in- 

 crease). Then Te Wao-nui (the great forest or tree). Then 

 followed Te Kune (the forming, the conception). Then Te 

 Whe or Wheke, which represented sound. Then Te Kore 

 (void) and Te Po (darkness). 



Born of the void and darkness were Eangi and Papa, the 

 Sky Father, the Earth Mother. From these sprang Tane, 

 Tu, Eongo, Wainui, and Tangotaugo. Tane is the origin of 

 forests, the tutelary deity of birds and trees. Tu is the su- 

 preme god of war, while Eongo presides over the food-pro- 

 ducts and the arts of peace. Tangotango is the cause or 

 origin of night and day, while Wainui is the mother of waters, 

 the origin and personification of streams, lakes, and the great 

 ocean. 



From Tangotango sprang the sun, the moon, the stars, and 

 phosphorescent light. Tangaroa, the Polynesian Neptune, is 



