Bohemian Conservative
Maori Mythology
How The Kiwi Lost His Wings
Full acknowledgement to maori.org.nz
One day, Tanemahuta was walking through the forest. He looked up at his children reaching for the sky and he noticed that they were starting to sicken, as bugs were eating them.
He talked to his brother, Tanehokahoka, who called all of his children, the birds of the air together.
Tanemahuta spoke to them.
"Something is eating my children, the trees. I need one of you to come down from the forest roof and live on the floor, so that my children can be saved, and your home can be saved. Who will come?"
All was quiet, and not a bird spoke.
Tanehokahoka turned to Tui.
"E Tui, will you come down from the forest roof?"
Tui looked up at the trees and saw the sun filtering through the leaves. Tui looked down at the forest floor and saw the cold, dark earth and shuddered.
"Kao, Tanehokahoka, for it is too dark and I am afraid of the dark."
All was quiet, and not a bird spoke.
Tanehokahoka turned to Pukeko.
"Pukeko, will you come down from the forest roof?"
Pukeko looked up at the trees and saw the sun filtering through the leaves. Pukeko looked down at the forest floor and saw the cold, damp earth and shuddered.
"Kao, Tanehokahoka, for it is too damp and I do not want to get my feet wet."
All was quiet, and not a bird spoke.
Tanehokahoka turned to Pipiwharauroa.
"Pipiwharauroa, will you come down from the forest roof?"
Pipiwharauroa looked up at the trees and saw the sun filtering through the leaves. Pipiwharauroa looked around and saw his family.
"Kao, Tanehokahoka, for I am busy at the moment building my nest."
All was quiet, and not a bird spoke. And great was the sadness in the heart of Tanehokahoka, for he knew, that if one of his children did not come down from the forest roof, not only would his brother loose his children, but the birds would have no home.
Tanehokahoka turned to Kiwi.
"E kiwi, will you come down from the forest roof?"
Kiwi looked up at the trees and saw the sun filtering through the leaves. Kiwi looked around and saw his family. Kiwi looked at the cold damp earth. Looking around once more, he turned to Tanehokahoka and said,
"I will."
Great was the joy in the hearts of Tanehokahoka and Tanemahuta, for this little bird was giving them hope. But Tanemahuta felt that he should warn kiwi of what would happen.
"E kiwi, do you realise that if you do this, you will have to grow thick, strong legs so that you can rip apart the logs on the ground and you will loose your beautiful coloured feathers and wings so that you will never be able to return to the forest roof. You will never see the light on day again."
All was quiet, and not a bird spoke.
"E kiwi, will you come down from the forest roof?"
Kiwi took one last look at the sun filtering through the trees and said a silent goodbye. Kiwi took one last look at the other birds, their wings and their coloured feathers and said a silent goodbye. Looking around once more, he turned to Tanehokahoka and said,
"I will."
Then Tanehokahoka turned to the other birds and said,
"E Tui, because you were too scared to come down from the forest roof, from now on you will wear the two white feathers at your throat as the mark of a coward.
Pukeko, because you did not want to get your feet wet, you will live forever in the swamp.
Pipiwharauroa, because you were too busy building your nest, from now on you will never build another nest again, but lay your eggs in other birds nests.
But you kiwi, because of your great sacrifice, you will become the most well known and most loved bird of them all."
Full acknowledgement to maori.org.nz
One day, Tanemahuta was walking through the forest. He looked up at his children reaching for the sky and he noticed that they were starting to sicken, as bugs were eating them.
He talked to his brother, Tanehokahoka, who called all of his children, the birds of the air together.
Tanemahuta spoke to them.
"Something is eating my children, the trees. I need one of you to come down from the forest roof and live on the floor, so that my children can be saved, and your home can be saved. Who will come?"
All was quiet, and not a bird spoke.
Tanehokahoka turned to Tui.
"E Tui, will you come down from the forest roof?"
Tui looked up at the trees and saw the sun filtering through the leaves. Tui looked down at the forest floor and saw the cold, dark earth and shuddered.
"Kao, Tanehokahoka, for it is too dark and I am afraid of the dark."
All was quiet, and not a bird spoke.
Tanehokahoka turned to Pukeko.
"Pukeko, will you come down from the forest roof?"
Pukeko looked up at the trees and saw the sun filtering through the leaves. Pukeko looked down at the forest floor and saw the cold, damp earth and shuddered.
"Kao, Tanehokahoka, for it is too damp and I do not want to get my feet wet."
All was quiet, and not a bird spoke.
Tanehokahoka turned to Pipiwharauroa.
"Pipiwharauroa, will you come down from the forest roof?"
Pipiwharauroa looked up at the trees and saw the sun filtering through the leaves. Pipiwharauroa looked around and saw his family.
"Kao, Tanehokahoka, for I am busy at the moment building my nest."
All was quiet, and not a bird spoke. And great was the sadness in the heart of Tanehokahoka, for he knew, that if one of his children did not come down from the forest roof, not only would his brother loose his children, but the birds would have no home.
Tanehokahoka turned to Kiwi.
"E kiwi, will you come down from the forest roof?"
Kiwi looked up at the trees and saw the sun filtering through the leaves. Kiwi looked around and saw his family. Kiwi looked at the cold damp earth. Looking around once more, he turned to Tanehokahoka and said,
"I will."
Great was the joy in the hearts of Tanehokahoka and Tanemahuta, for this little bird was giving them hope. But Tanemahuta felt that he should warn kiwi of what would happen.
"E kiwi, do you realise that if you do this, you will have to grow thick, strong legs so that you can rip apart the logs on the ground and you will loose your beautiful coloured feathers and wings so that you will never be able to return to the forest roof. You will never see the light on day again."
All was quiet, and not a bird spoke.
"E kiwi, will you come down from the forest roof?"
Kiwi took one last look at the sun filtering through the trees and said a silent goodbye. Kiwi took one last look at the other birds, their wings and their coloured feathers and said a silent goodbye. Looking around once more, he turned to Tanehokahoka and said,
"I will."
Then Tanehokahoka turned to the other birds and said,
"E Tui, because you were too scared to come down from the forest roof, from now on you will wear the two white feathers at your throat as the mark of a coward.
Pukeko, because you did not want to get your feet wet, you will live forever in the swamp.
Pipiwharauroa, because you were too busy building your nest, from now on you will never build another nest again, but lay your eggs in other birds nests.
But you kiwi, because of your great sacrifice, you will become the most well known and most loved bird of them all."
posted by Mae at 4:19 PM
2 Comments:
I like to think that because Myths and Legends , have common threads that span across all races, that it is a shared history.
I was told once by a Brit, that Maoris were heathens that could only idolise trees and nature as God, also that we were stupid as our language did not have the correct phonetics for the way the words were pronounced. To cut a long story short I replied, firstly, yes the Maori's do cherish nature and all it's components but like all Myths and Legends thereis a sensible reason behind it, ...conservation of resources, remember when the Maori's arrived there was only birds and other humans to eat as a source of meat, yes they were cannibals. As for the fact of language, Maori was a verbal history, no written language, history was shared through carvings of figures, stories and songs, therefore, it was the white man who wrote how our words were to be spelt. This man proceeded to belittle me about Maoridom, so I also gave him English comparisons, pointed out that as far as I know, I have never seen a fat man in red, laden down with gifts, flying in the sky, or, bunny rabbits laden with chocolate, then promptly told him if he could not respect Maori Myths and Legends to pack his bags and catch the next plane back to Britain, so he could belittle his race as when Rome was an Empire the Brits were still running around naked with their bodies painted blue.
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