The Legend of Ngāwhatu

It is a bloodthirsty and terrible story I have to tell you tamariki mā¹.  You know that our whare² at Stoke School is called ngāwhatu after the valley up the road where some of you live.  But do you know that Ngāwhatu means "the eyes" in Māori or how the valley got its name?  Well then, whakarongo mai³ and I will tell you my bloodthirsty and terrible story.

We have to go back 700 years in time, back when New Zealand was empty of any people.  We have to travel to the Pacific Island of Rangiiatea, near Tahiti and visit the great chief and sailor, Kupe.  Kupe and his people were having trouble with a giant wheke⁴ who was stealing his fishermen's bait and scaring away the fish from the village's fishing grounds.  The wheke was called Te Wheke o Muturangi⁵ a pet of the chief Muturangi who lived on the other side of the island.  Muturangi was jealous of Kupe and would not stop his pet.  "Then your pet will die," Kupe vowed, although he knew killing the very powerful wheke would not be easy.

It took many weeks but Kupe prepared his revenge carefully.  A large ocean waka⁶ was built and a crew handpicked for the dangerous mission.  Finally they set off to find Te Wheke o Muturangi.  When they caught up with the monster it was ready and a great sea battle began.  Kupe struck the first blow with his mere⁷, cutting into a tentacle.  His warriors quickly joined the attack and the wounded wheke was filled with murderous rage.  It erupted from the sea, towering above the waka.  Kupe chanted a spell to stop the wheke diving deep beneath the ocean to hide.  He and his warriors cut and slashed at their enemy and soon the sea was crimson with the blood of both the wheke and Kupe's injured and slain men.

The number of Kupe's men forced the wheke to change tactics.  It swam off across the surface of the ocean and Kupe gave chase.  For weeks they zig zagged across the expanse of the Pacific Ocean.  Two or three times a day Te Wheke o Muturangi would stop to attack and although it suffered awful wounds, including two or three severed tentacles, Kupe always lost two or three men in the attacks.  At last, a long white cloud⁸ was spotted in the distance, a sign that land was near.  The land underneath the cloud was New Zealand and Kupe chased the wheke down a seemingly endless coastline.  Once again Te Wheke o Muturangi had changed tactics and swam on without turning to fight.

Kupe sailed on until they rounded the end of the coastline and arrived at the biggest harbour they had ever seen, later called Te Whanganui-ā-Tara⁹.  Here the wheke doubled its speed and into a wind battered and terrifying stretch of water, Te Moana o Raukawa¹⁰.  Finally Muturangi's pet turned for the final battle.  The wheke's tentacles smahed at the waka, trying to tip the crew into the icy waters.  Kupe and his men gave as good as they got in the battle, roars of rage and pain came from the beast, but many men screamed their final cries as they died.  Slowly the wheke was getting the better of the tiring and dwindling number of Kupe's men.  In desperation, Kupe threw some water gourds overboard and the monster, believing they were people, turned to attack them.  Kupe jumped from the waka onto the back of the giant wheke and struck the killer blow to its head.

A wheke is not easily killed though tamariki mā, but Kupe knew this.  He took his mere and cut out the eyes of Te Wheke o Muturangi to make sure it was dead.  Then he chanted a spell and threw the eyes over his shoulder.  The eyes flew upwards at an incredible height towards the island on the other side of the strait.  On and on they flew until they landed in a quiet valley just up the road from our school.  That is why the valley is called Ngāwhatu, 'the eyes', and do you know what?  Ngāwhatu House is green like the colour of the valley and the members of Ngāwhatu House are strong and cunning like the wheke, but most of all, we are very difficult to defeat.

tamariki mā¹ = (all my) children

whare² = house
whakarongo mai³ = listen to me
wheke⁴ = octopus

Te Wheke o Muturangi⁵ = Muturangi's Octopus

waka⁶  = canoe (ocean waka were double hulled with sails and could transport 100-200 people)

mere⁷ = a short sharp edged club

long white cloud⁸ = Ao-tea-roa (the Maori name for New Zealand)

Te Whanganui-ā-Tara⁹ = the Maori name for Wellington (the capital of New Zealand)

Te Moana o Raukawa¹⁰ = the Maori name for Cook Strait



Artwork by Cliff Whiting
From The Encyclopaedia of New Zealand