Ngahue

A Maori legend tells how Ngāhue had a disagreement with his wife, and went forth to seek a new home. The wife, however, caused a green fish named Poutini, a son of the sea god Tangaroa, to pursue her fleeting spouse. Ngahue reached the West Coast of the South Island in line with Aorangi (Mount Cook) with Poutini hot on his tail. Ngahue in his canoe journeyed up the coast, but when off the mouth of the Arahura River, darkness fell. The snow on Mount Tara o Tama mountain at the head of the Arahura River alone furnished brightness. Up the Arahura River sped Ngahue; Poutini followed after, failed to ascend the cascade, was injured, and fell into the deep pool, where the great fish was turned into a greenstone canoe.^[1]

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According to Maori mythology Ngahue (sometimes known as Ngake) was a contemporary of Kupe and one of the first Polynesian explorers to reach New Zealand. He was a native of the Hawaiki and voyaged to New Zealand in “Tāwhirirangi”, his waka (canoe). No time has been fixed for these voyages, but according to legend he discovered pounamu (Greenstone) and Ngahue killed a Moa (large flightless bird - now extinct)^[2][3] Pounamu was sometimes called Te Ika-o-Ngāhue (Ngāhue’s fish).^[4] and they took several boulders back to Hawaiki.^[5]

References

1. W. A. Taylor. "Te Waipounamu — Westland, the land of the greenstone". Lore and history of the South Island Maori. Christchurch: Bascands Limited. p. 186.
2. Elsdon Best (1934). "Voyage of Kupe and Ngahue from Eastern Polynesia to New Zealand". The Maori As He Was : A Brief Account of Maori Life as it was in Pre-European Days. Wellington: N.Z.Dominion Museum. p. 22.
3. "Canoe traditions". Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. March 2009.
4. Rāwiri Taonui (March 2009). "Ngā waewae tapu – Māori exploration - The South Island". Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.
5. Basil Keane (March 2009). "Pounamu – jade or greenstone - Implements and adornment". Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.