The legend of Aoraki

The story of Aoraki is about four brothers who made a huge mistake and that mistake became the mountain range known today as Te Tiritiri o Te Moana (The Southern Alps).

The story begins when there was only darkness. Out of the darkness came Maku (moisture), who married Mahoranuiatea and they has a son called Raki. Raki married Pokoharua-te-po and their sons were Aoraki, Rakiroa, Raaraki and Rakiroa. They all lived in a special place in the heavens, where they had everything they could ever want. Until one day, Pokoharua-te-po became upset because Raki had fallen in love with another woman, Papatuanuku (Earth Mother). Raki descended from his home in the heavens to the earth, where he married his new love. Pokoharua-te-po just cried and cried.

Aoraki and his three brothers became angry because of what their father had done to their mother and they decided to visit Papatuanuku. They climbed into their magical canoe called Te Waka o Aoraki and descended from their home in the heavens, sailing across a great ocean called Te Waonui o Takaroa (The Great Ocean of Takaroa). Aoraki and his brothers journeyed for a long, long time until they found the new wife of their father. They gazed at Papatuanuku as she lay across the ocean with their father and realised their father was really in love with her.

Aoraki and his brothers decided that they should return home to comfort their mother who had remained in the heavens.

Aoraki stood in the magical canoe and began the sacred chant that would make the canoe rise back into the heavens. But he made a mistake in the chant and instead of returning to the heavens, Aoraki and his brothers remained on earth. Strong winds began to blow and the sea began to rise. Aoraki and his brothers panicked when they realised they were stranded on earth. The storm became stronger and the canoe turned on its side. Aoraki and his brothers climbed onto the side of the canoe and waited for someone to come and rescue them. They waited for a long, long time, but no-one came. Slowly, as the passed, their hair turned white and their bodies became as hard as stone.

Finally, Aoraki and his brothers became snowcapped mountains. Aoraki, the eldest of the four brothers, was the tallest peak of the mountain range and is known today as Aoraki of Mount Cook, with his brothers sitting on either side of him. Their canoe became the land we live upon today, known as Te Waipounamu (The Greenstone Waters), but the ancient name our ancestors gave the South Island was Te Waka o Aoraki.

Source: Te Karaka Makariri/Winter 1998 p48