Māori — Whakapapa

The World As They See It

The Figures

Supreme Being / Creator

Māori tradition does not center a single creator-god (though later tradition speaks of Io, a supreme being); the cosmos unfolds through Te Kore, Te Pō, the primal parents, and the divine children.

Major Figures

• Ranginui (Rangi) — the Sky Father, and Papatūānuku (Papa) — the Earth Mother, the primal parents whose separation lets in the light.
• Tāne Mahuta — god of the forests and birds, who separated his parents and created the first woman; a central divine figure.
• Tangaroa (god of the sea), Tūmatauenga (god of war and humankind), Tāwhirimātea (god of winds and storms, who alone opposed the separation), Rongo (cultivated foods), Haumia (wild foods) — the divine children.
• Māui — the great culture-hero and trickster, who fished up the North Island, snared the sun, and sought immortality for humankind.

Trickster / Culture Figure

Māui — the incomparable Polynesian trickster-hero, demigod of cleverness and daring, who fished up land, slowed the sun, brought fire, and died attempting to win immortality for humanity. His deeds shape the world.

Ancestor Figures

The tūpuna — the ancestors, central to Māori identity, connected through whakapapa. The primal parents and divine children as the origin of the web. The great ancestral navigators of the waka. The named ancestors of each iwi and hapū, recited in whakapapa.

Sacred Elements

The Narrative Tradition

Their Stories

• The Separation of Ranginui and PapatūānukuMāori cosmogonic tradition — the parting of the Sky Father and Earth Mother by their children, letting in the world of light
• The Deeds of MāuiMāori (and wider Polynesian) tradition — Māui fishing up the land, snaring the sun, bringing fire, and seeking immortality
• Whakapapa — the Genealogical WebMāori tradition — the recitation of whakapapa connecting all things from the origins to the present

The Shape This Story World Shares

The Movements

1. Te Kore — The Void / The PotentialIn the beginning is Te Kore — the void, the nothingness that is also pure potential, the origin from which all whakapapa unfolds. Before form, before light, before the separation, there is the potential of Te Kore, holding within it everything that will come to be related. This is the origin of the web: not empty but pregnant with all the connections that will unfold.
2. Te Pō — The Long Night / The Web LatentFrom Te Kore comes Te Pō — the long night, the vast darkness, through which the potential moves toward form. In Te Pō the web is latent: the primal parents Ranginui and Papatūānuku lie locked together, their children crushed in the darkness between them, the connections present but not yet unfolded into light. This is the web in its latent, dark phase — relationship existing but not yet able to unfold, waiting in the long night.
3. The Separation — Rangi and Papa Parted / The Web Made PossibleTāne Mahuta forces the primal parents apart — pushing Ranginui the Sky up and Papatūānuku the Earth down — and Te Ao Mārama, the world of light, comes in. The separation is the pivotal act: it makes relationship possible by creating distinction, space, and light. Only by separating the too-close parents can the web of distinct, related things unfold. The separation is grievous (Rangi and Papa still mourn each other in rain and mist) but necessary.
4. Whakapapa — The Web of Connection EstablishedWith the light, the web of connection — whakapapa — is established and traced: all things related through descent, the divine children shaping their domains (Tāne the forests, Tangaroa the sea, and the rest), the genealogical web extending through all of existence. Everything now has whakapapa, everything is connected. This step is the establishing of the web proper: the tracing of the connections that relate all things.
5. The Deeds of Māui — The Web ExtendedThe culture-hero Māui extends the web through his deeds — fishing up the land (the North Island, Te Ika-a-Māui, 'the fish of Māui'), snaring and slowing the sun to lengthen the day, bringing fire to humankind. Māui's deeds shape and extend the world, adding to the web of connection, binding humanity more fully into the related whole. This step is the extension of the web through action: the culture-hero's deeds that shape the world and weave new connections into it.
6. Whenua — The Land and Belonging / Located in the WebWhenua — the land, and belonging to it — locates the subject within the web. In Māori tradition, whenua means both 'land' and 'placenta,' and Māori are connected to the land by whakapapa (Papatūānuku is the Earth Mother); to belong is to be located within the web through connection to ancestors, iwi, and the land — one's maunga (mountain), awa (river), waka (canoe of arrival). This step locates the story's subject within the whole web.
7. Mana — The Authority and Life Flowing Through the WebMana — spiritual authority, power, prestige, life-force — flows through the web, strengthened by the connections and by right action. Mana derives from whakapapa (from the ancestors and the origins) and from mana-enhancing deeds and relationships; it flows through the web and is maintained and strengthened by honoring the connections. This step is the culmination: the mana that flows through the whole web of relationship, the web fully traced and honored, alive with mana.