Paikea & Māui
Our ancestor, Paikea came to New Zealand from the Pacific Islands on the back of a whale many centuries ago. His descendants include the Ngāti Kuri of Kaikōura.
The Whale Rider
Paikea was the youngest and favorite son of the chief Uenuku. This favoritism made Paikea's elder brothers extremely jealous. They conspired to kill Paikea while fishing offshore and tell Uenuku he drowned. But the night before the trip Paikea feigned sleep and overheard his brothers plotting. When far out to sea Paikea foiled their plan by deliberately sinking the canoe and drowning his brothers.
Now adrift in a great ocean, Paikea clung to a canoe plank and awaited his own death. It was then that Tohorā the whale appeared and lifted Paikea onto his great back. Tohorā took Paikea south to New Zealand and the settlement of Whangara just north of present-day Gisborne. Here, Paikea began a new and prosperous life.
Ngāi Tahu share this ancestor with the Ngāti Porou people. One of Paikea’s descendants was Tahupōtiki, from whom Ngāi Tahu take their name.
In the early 18th century Ngāi Tahu, led by Pūraho and his sons Maru and Mako, left the North Island for Te Wai Pounamu (the South Island)
It is fitting that the descendants of Paikea continue to ride on the back of a whale to a new life and prosperity.
Carvings depicting the legends of Paikea and Maui
Legend has it that Māui used the Kaikōura Peninsula as a foothold to brace himself when he fished the North Island out of the sea. From this comes the Peninsula’s earliest name: Te Taumanu o te Waka a Māui, the thwart or seat of Māui canoe.
To this day the North Island is known to Māori as Te Ika a Māui or Māui fish.