Moteo Marae

There was once a boy who was spoiled by his father and mother. His father’s name was Pourangahua. They gave him everything that he asked for, as they loved him so much.

As their little son grew, Pourangahua noticed something very strange. Their son was always poking out his tongue, and always did it in the same direction, towards the sea. Pourangahua and his wife asked themselves what this could possibly mean.

They thought of many things, but in the end they decided that ‘perhaps our son is hungry’, and his wife agreed. They brought the child great quantities of food that they could find. But it was no use, he continued to poke out his tongue in the direction of the sea. Pourangahua said, “the food for which our son hungers must be across the sea. I will go in my canoe to find it.’’ So he farewelled his wife and son and paddled out into the vast ocean.

He paddled many days and saw no land. Then at last he reached an island. The people there were very friendly and made him welcome. They set before him a strange food. Pourangahua ate this food and found that it was much better than anything he had ever tasted. It was called the kumara. Pourangahua knew that it must be the kumara for which his son had been craving.

He stayed some time on the island as a guest of Chief Tane and his people. After a while he became homesick and wanted to go home. However, he found his canoe had dissappeared, and there was no way for him to return. Tane saw that his friend was sad and asked him the cause of this. When Pourangahua had told him, Tane said “there is a way for you to go, but it is very dangerous. Only the bravest of men could attempt it. If you wish to return home, I will lend you my bird. You must sit upon its back and it will carry you back across the ocean.’’

The great bird was Chief Tane’s pet, a fierce and beautiful creature with huge wings. “There is yet more danger,’’ Tane said. “After a time, you will come to a mountain called Hikurangi. On this mountain there lives a monster called Tama. As you fly past him he will attack you, therefore you must go past him as the sun is setting. At this time of day, the rays of the sun will blind his eyes so that he will not be able to see you and you can escape his clutches.’’

“There are two conditions which I require of you, if you borrow my bird. You must treat him with kindness and you must alight from his back as soon as you reach your homeland. Otherwise, he will not be able to return past the monster at the time when it is safe to do so.’’

Pourangahua promised Chief Tane that he would abide by these conditions and he climbed onto the bird’s huge back.

He took with him a basket of kumaras, so that he might grow this wonderful food in his own land.

The bird then flapped its great wings and rose into athe air. It flew fast and high above the ocean until it came to the mountain where Tama the monster lived. He reached out to grab and devour them, but the sun was almost setting and the rays came straight across the water and blinded Tama’s eyes, thus they escaped this peril.

At last Pourangahua saw in the distance, the hills of his land. In his excitement, he forgot the two promises he had made to Chief Tane. He had said he would treat the bird with kindness, but he reached out and pulled a long feather from its back. This feather sank down through the water beneath them and grew into a tall spreading tree.

Pourangahua had also promised that he would alight from the bird as soon as he reached land. But he made the bird take him all the way to his village.

Because of this delay, by the time the great bird flew back to Chief Tane, it was in the middle of the day. At this time Tama’s eyes were not blinded by the sun and when the great bird flew past him, he seized and devoured it.

When Chief Tane heard of the fate of his pet bird, through his magic, he sent across the sea three diseases which attack kumara.

The Maori people of Aotearoa now have the kumara but, they must work hard to cultivate it and sometimes it does not always flourish, all due to Pourangahua not keeping his promises and his unkindness to the bird.