For the mountain in Cameroon, see Mount Kupe. For the NZ oil and gas field, see Kupe field.
Kupe was a legendary[1]Polynesian explorer who, according to Māori oral history, was the first person to discover New Zealand.[2] It is likely that Kupe existed historically, but this is difficult to confirm. He is generally held to have been born to a father from Rarotonga and a mother from Raiatea, and probably spoke a Māoriproto-language similar to Cook Islands Māori or Tahitian. His voyage to New Zealand ensured that the land was known to the Polynesians, and he would therefore be responsible for the genesis of the Māori people.
Kupe was born in the geographically uncertain Māori homeland of Hawaiki, to a father from Rarotonga and a mother from Raiatea, between 40 and 23 generations ago.[2][3] The more specific reasons for Kupe's semi-legendary journey, and the migration of Māori in general, have been contested. Māori oral history recounts that Hawaiki and other Polynesian islands were experiencing considerable internal conflict during his time, which is thought to have possibly caused an exodus.
Kupe features prominently in the mythology and oral history of some Māoriiwi (tribes), but the details of his life differ between iwi. Various legends and histories describe Kupe's extensive involvement in the settlement of New Zealand, around 1000–1300 CE, with many talking of his achievements, such as the hunting and destruction of the great octopus, Te Wheke-a-Muturangi.[4]
Voyage to New Zealand
The historical Kupe is thought to have been born in the uncertain Māori homeland of
Kuramārōtini, the great warrior Ngahue, and a relatively large crew, boarded Kuramārotini's canoe Matawhourua (or in some dialects Matawhaorua). According to the Waitangi Tribunal's Wai 262 report, Matawhaorua was a classical Polynesian open-ocean catamaran, capable of carrying a complement of 25 people under sail or paddle, fully provisioned. it is said that at first Kupe had some difficulty filling the waka, with only a few members from Hawaiki-rangi with him. The report states he eventually found the remaining crew at Pikopikoiwhiti, a nearby village "renowned for its ready supply of adventurers". Seven more were added from there. Some oral histories say he travelled with a second catamaran, Tawhirirangi, under the stewardship of the navigator Te Ngake.[3][5]
Matawhaorua set sail for lands further to the south in pursuit of the great octopus of his rival, Muturangi.[6]Matawhaorua is thought to have journeyed towards Te Tai Tokerau. As the waka neared land for the first time, Kuramārōtini saw a thick layer of cloud on the horizon. She is then believed to have exclaimed “He ao! He ao! He ao tea roa!” meaning, ‘A cloud! A cloud! A long white cloud!’. Recognising a large cloud as a symbol of land, Kupe led the waka towards the land, where it is believed his party made their first landing at the Hokianga Harbour.[7] From here, Kupe and Kuramārōtini continued his voyage around the country. He sailed down the coast of the Wairarapa and landed in Wellington Harbour, staying there for some time and naming the islands of Matiu (Somes Island) and Mākaro (Ward Island) after his daughters. A legend says that Kupe then continued his pursuit of Muturangi's octopus, eventually destroying it with a blow to its head after a fierce battle in the Cook Strait. In some versions of the story he travelled as far south as Arahura on the South Island's West Coast, and also to the Coromandel Peninsula.[6]
The Waitangi Tribunal claims that Kupe and his crew remained in New Zealand for as many as 20 years before deciding to return home. Kupe sailed back via Hokianga Harbour, where he sacrified his son Tuputupu-whenua, drowning him in the spring of Te Puna-o-te-ao-Mārama to guard the land from under the water while he was gone.[7] According to oral history, Kupe believed sacrificing his son would ensure the mauri (life essence) of his whakapapa (descent line) would remain in Aotearoa permanently, even though he would be gone.[8] He then said a karakia, vowing never to return before leaving for Hawaiki. The full name of the harbour is Te Hokianga-nui-a-Kupe; "the place of Kupe's great return".[6]
Hei konei rā, e Te Puna-o-te-ao-mārama, ka hokianga nui ake nei tēnei, e kore anō e hokianga nui mai.
Kupe, Te Puna-o-te-ao-mārama, Te Tai Tokerau, c.1000 CE
Roughly thirty years later, Matawhaorua was thoroughly renovated and refitted under the leadership of Nukutawhiti, Kupe's grandson. The canoe was renamed Ngātokimatawhaorua, which translates literally to "the re-adzed Matawhaorua". Nukutawhiti had memorised his grandfather's navigational instructions for reaching Aotearoa, knowing off by heart the star path to follow to get there. Under his stewardship, the journey was no longer burdened with undue risk and ignorance of the geography of lands further south. This time Nukutawhiti travelled for the express purpose of settling Aotearoa, so he thoroughly extended Ngātokimatawhaorua to take more passengers.[8]
Kupe also gave the names to Arapāoa, Mana, Kohukohu, Pouahi, Maungataniwha. These names have been preserved by generations of Māori people settling the regions. While some of the names from other ancestors have fallen out of use, those associated with Kupe seem to have endured.[6]
Time of arrival
Estimates of when Kupe discovered New Zealand vary.
Attacked by Simmons (1976) as "the great New Zealand myth".[8] Tom Brooking (2005) says that this date "seems too early" and says that historians by 2005 favour 1180 CE.
A 2014 study concluded that no permanent settlement took place in New Zealand prior to the Kaharoa eruption of Mount Tarawera (1314 ±6 CE), but stated that "A brief period of pre-settlement activity that represents discovery of New Zealand by Polynesians and a reconnaissance of the main islands is allowed in this model".
There is contention concerning the status of Kupe. The contention turns on the authenticity of later versions of the legends, the so-called 'orthodox' versions closely associated with S. Percy Smith and Hoani Te Whatahoro Jury. Unlike the attested tribal traditions about Kupe recorded before Smith and Jury, the orthodox version is precise in terms of dates and in offering place names in Polynesia where Kupe is supposed to have lived or departed from. The orthodox version also places Kupe hundreds of years before the arrival of the other founding canoes, whereas in the earlier traditions, Kupe is most definitely contemporary with those canoes.[13] In addition, according to legends of the Whanganui and Taranaki regions Kupe was a contemporary of Turi of the Aotea canoe. In other traditions, Kupe arrived around the year 1400 on other canoes, including Tainui and Tākitimu[14].
In the "orthodox" version, Kupe was a great chief of
Matawhourua. During their subsequent journeys, they overcame numerous monsters and sea demons, including the great octopus named as Te Wheke-a-Muturangi
, and discovered New Zealand. Returning to Hawaiki, Kupe told of his adventures and persuaded others to migrate with him (Craig 1989:127; see also External links below).
David Simmons said "A search for the sources of what I now call 'The Great New Zealand Myth' of Kupe, Toi and the Fleet, had surprising results. In this form they did not exist in the old manuscripts nor in the whaikorero[16] of learned men. Bits and pieces there were. Kupe was and is known, in the traditions of the Hokianga, Waikato, East Coast and South Island: but the genealogies given did not tally with those given by S. Percy Smith. The stories given by Smith were a mixture of differing tribal tradition. In other words the whole tradition as given by Smith was pakeha, not Maori. Similarly, the story of Toi and Whatonga and the canoe race leading to settlement in New Zealand could not be authenticated except from the one man who gave it to Percy Smith. Learned men of the same tribe make no mention of this story and there are no waiata[17] celebrating their deeds. Tribal origin canoes are well known to the tribes belonging to them: but none of them talk as Smith did of six large sea-going canoes setting out together from Raiatea. The Great New Zealand Myth was just that". (Simmons 1977).
Attested local traditions
Traditions about Kupe appear among the peoples of the following areas: Northland, Ngāti Kahungunu, Tainui, Whanganui-Taranaki, Rangitāne, and the South Island.