South Island Māori Myths and Legends

The books in this list contain information about many South Island Māori myths and legends. The library has copies of all the books - please ask if you would like us to show you where they are.

Folklore and fairy tales of the Canterbury Māori, as told by Taare Te Maiharoa

Four generations from Māoridom: the memoirs of a South Island kaumatua and fisherman, Sid Cormack

Includes legends in appendix 3.

He korero pūrakau mo ngā taunahanahatanga a ngā tūpuna = Place names of the ancestors, a Maori oral history atlas. Te Aue Davis

Includes: Tamatea Ure Haea (Tamatea: The Greatest Explorer) (pg. 63), He Whakarāpopotanga i Ngā Kōrero Mo Poutini (Poutini: A Guardian Taniwha) (pg. 79), Ngā Taunahanatanga o Ngā Roto o Te Waka ō Aoraki (Rākaihautu: Naming Great Lakes) (pg. 87)

Horouta, R. W. Halbert

Chapter 7 includes Ngāi Tahu migration to the South Island

Illustrated encyclopedia of Māori myth and legend, Margaret Orbell

Myths and legends include: Aoraki (p. 26), Āraiteuru (p. 30), Matakauri, Matamata (p. 110), Rehua (p. 154), Rukutia (p. 163), Tahu pōtiki (p. 167), Tama-nui-a-Raki (p. 175), Te Akē (p. 195), Te Kahui Tipua (p. 201), Te Waka-a-Raki, Te Wera (p. 211), Whaitiri (p. 242)

Kaiapohia Pa centenary

Kaikoura coast, W.J. Elvy

Kei puta te Wairau: a history of Marlborough in Māori times, W.J. Elvy

Legends of Aotearoa, Chris Winitana

Includes: Aoraki (p. 124), Tū-te-raki-whānoa (p. 126), Poutini (p. 132), Matau (p. 140)

Legends of the land

Includes: Poutini and Pounamu (p. 116), Te Ara a Kewa / Foveaux Strait (p. 132)

Lore and history of the South Island Māori, W.A. Taylor

Maori folk tales of the Port Hills, Canterbury, New Zealand, James Cowan

History as told by Hone Taare Tikao and Tame Kirini (T. E. Green) to the author on: Ch. 1: The story of the rocks (Port Hills); Ch. 2: Port Hills and their names; Ch. 3: Round the Sugarloaf; Ch. 4: Rapaki; Ch. 5: Te Ahi a Tamatea; Ch. 6: Hills of Faery (Fairies).

Māori legends of the land, Pita Graham

Māori lore of lake, alp and fiord, H. Beattie

Māori myth and legend, A.W. Reed

Myths and legends include: pouakai and Ruru (p. 60), pounamu (p. 64), Matau, Matakauri (p. 76)

Māori nomenclature: names in Canterbury, W.H.S. Roberts

Māori nomenclature: early history of Otago, W.H.S. Roberts

Māori place-names of Canterbury, H. Beattie

Māori place names in Buller County, G.G.M. Mitchell

The Māoris and Fiordland, H. Beattie

The Māoris of the South Island, T.A. Pybus

Ngā Pikituroa o Ngāi Tahu = The oral traditions of Ngāi Tahu, Rawiri Te Maire Tau

Ngā reo o Aotearoa = Voices of Aotearoa. Volume 1 : a collection of treasured Māori stories. Cyrus Hingston

Includes: Te waka o Aoraki (The canoe of Aoraki) (pg. 3), Ngā roto o Te Waipounamu (The lakes of the South Island) (pg. 17).

Ngā reo o Aotearoa = Voices of Aotearoa. Volume 2 : a collection of treasured Māori stories. Cyrus Hingston

Includes: Kupe me te wheke nui (Kupe and the giant octopus) (pg. 5), Ngā ahi a Tamatea (The fires of Tamatea) (pg. 7), Te Kaitiaki (The Guardian) (pg. 21), Ngā ahi kai kōura a Tama ki te Rangi (The crayfish cooking fires of Tama ki te Rangi) (pg. 25).

Ngāi Tahu Māori Trust Board claim before the Waitangi Tribunal

Includes a history of Māori settlement in the South Island (vol. 1, p. 62-74)

Ōtamahua/Quail Island: a link with the past, Peter Jackson

Chapter 1 includes: Creation story told by the Waitaha people of Canterbury, Te Kimi mō Aoraki (The search for Aoraki), Tamatea Pokai Whenua (Tamatea who travelled over land), Ngā tangata ō te whenua (The people of the land).

Our southernmost Māoris, H. Beattie

Rapaki remembered, Arthur (Hiwi) Couch

Song of Waitaha, Barry Brailsford

South Island Maoris, W. Stack

History has been divided roughly by the author into four sections: 1. Prior to the arrival of Waitaha; 2, Waitaha occupation, 1477 1577; 3, Ngati Mamoe occupation, 1577 1677; 4, Ngai Tahu occupation, 16771827. Topics covered include traditions, local history, internal tribal battles, myths, legends and poetry.

Takitimu, J.H. Mitchell

Includes Tahu-pōtiki (p. 44)

Tikao talks, Teone Taare Tikao

Traditional history of the South Island Māoris, James Stack

Traditional lifeways of the Southern Māori, H. Beattie

Under the eye of the Saddle Hill taniwha, Sharron Bray

Te Waiatatanga mai o te Atua: South Island traditions

Te whakatau kaupapa: Ngāi Tahu resource management strategy for the Canterbury region

Te Whakatau Kaupapa, Te Maire Tau

Includes local history and explanations of original placenames, famous ancestors, p. 5.2-5.75.

Te Waiatatanga mai o te Atua, M. Tiramorehu

History pertaining to the Creation story according to South Island traditions.

Other sources which may locate useful information are:

• The journal of the Polynesian Society
• Te karaka and Te pānui runaka, magazines produced by Ngāi Tahu
• Te kerēme, the Libraries' index to the Ngāi Tahu claim

We would be happy to show you where these are and how to use them.