For centuries, humans have attempted to explain the Sun in terms of their own worldviews. All these versions of Hina and Maui are an interesting example of how Polynesian mythology evolved throughout the Pacific. The New Zealand legend says that when Maui and his brothers had finished making all the ropes required they took provisions and other things needed and journeyed toward the east to find the place where the sun should rise. Māui dreamed of the day that he could go fishing with his older brothers. Maui raises the sky According to legend, Maui lived in a time of darkness. Maui wanted to allow his mother to have more daylight to make bark cloth. Maui then made the Sun … Māui was annoyed with having to eat his food in the dark. The sun in the form of a man climbed up from Avaiki (Hawaiki). The Story of Maui and Tieke. He thought that if the Sun were moving slower across the sky, there would be more hours of light in one day. When the Sun awoke, Maui lassoed him, and beat him into submission. Māui and the giant fish. There is a legend that tells the origin of Haleakala’s spectacular sunrise. Maui was later persuaded by his grandmother to slow the sun down, so she could grow more food and dry her tapa cloth. Maui pulled the first noose, but it slipped down the rising sun until it caught and was pulled tight around his feet. The Legends of Maui are deeply rooted in New Zealand's history and culture. Maui snares and beats the sun to slow its transit through the sky. For them, there was never enough time to accomplish anything in only one day. One legend of Hina speaks of her as Maui’s elder sister who instructs him to braid a rope from strands of her hair, creating a magical rope to be used to capture the sun. This version is from Aotearoa New Zealand. According to Hawaiian legend, the goddess Hina complained to her son Maui that the sun moved across the sky too fast for her tapa cloth to dry. Maui agreed to help, so he stood on the summit of Mount Haleakala and lassoed the sun’s ray legs and broke them off one by one, threatening to kill him if he didn’t slow down. The legend goes that the trickster demigod Maui (after whom the island is named) once set out to capture the sun and convince it to slow down. Finally, the sun could take no more and promised Maui he would slow down and give the people and gods more hours of sunlight. appears in the legend: "How Maui Overcame Kuna Loa the Long Eel" in the book: Colum, Padraic, At the Gateways of the Day on pages: 32-37 HSL Call Number: H 398.2 C UHM Call Number: GR385 .C6 Subject: Haleakala appears in the legend: "How Maui Snared the Sun and Made Him Go More Slowly Across the Heavens" The legend of the Hervey group of islands says that Maui made six snares and placed them at intervals along the path over which the sun must pass. For Maui and his mother the days were too short. One evening, Māui and his brothers were making a hāngi for their evening meal. One such tale is that of Māui and how he tamed the sun… Maui was later persuaded by his grandmother to slow the sun down, so she could grow more food and dry her tapa cloth. He is considered one of the more important demigods in Hawaiian lore. Maui successfully caught La and tied him to a tree. Maui and the Sun - Ko Maui me te Ra How Maui tamed the sun, a legend that can be traced across the pacific islands. The story of Maui - The Demigod is a well-known legend among the Hawaiian people. Securing protective blessings of the gods, he went to Haleakala, “House of the Sun,” to capture La. They had just finished heating the stones when the sun went down and it quickly became too dark to see. The ancient Legend of Maui, A Demi-God of Polynesia. Amongst the cherished stories are myths and legends which give us an interesting and sometimes magical take on the origins of Aotearoa and the earth’s creation. Using magical lassoes made from his sister’s hair, Maui snares the sun’s rays, thought to be the sun’s arms, and threatens to beat him fiercely. Intimidated, the sun … Sensitive to his mother concerns, Maui set out to seize the sun god, “La.” Maui wove a long rope made from his sister’s red locks and secured his magical fish hook to the end. Ch. The Fish of Maui. "No you're much too young to come fishing with us. The Sun can be a god, a demon, a mischievous spirit, … But Māui's brothers would always make an excuse. Once upon a time, the early Māori in Aotearoa (New Zealand) had a superhero called Maui. Maui had a pet blackbird (Tieke) that always kept him company, sitting on his shoulder while he made the ropes from flax and the ti tree to make a net.