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One of the most well known of our pūrākau, Māui is a legend loved across the pacific. This piece was inspired from my favourite version of the kōrero, Maui - The Legend of the demi-god Maui-Tikitiki-a-Taranga, written by Hana Hiraina Erlbeck. This book tells a much darker, but with more emotional, version of our favourite demigod. And it is an emotional beat she includes during his quest to fish up Aotearoa that inspired me to illustrate this art piece.
Tangaroa, angry at Māui for declining his offer to live with him in his domain, is tormenting the brothers, tossing them about with his hand. Māui-Tikitiki-a-Taranga was angry and began to chant. Māui chanted Tangaroas song. Tangaroa sent his monsters from the deep to stop the chant, but Māui kept chanting. The monsters from the deep reared their heads and terror filled the hearts and minds of the brothers, and they cried out “Aue!, Aue!, We are going to die!” But the monsters from the deep fled in fear when they heard the chant. Tangaroa paused in his anger, and listened to the chant. Mauiui (Māuis name given to him by Tangaroa) was singing to him, Māui was asking him for life. Then the song changed, and Mauiui sang to Tangaroa about the love between a human child, and a powerful god. Tangaroa noded his head sadly as he heard the song, so Tangaroa sent Mauiuis old playmates to sing with him, and then he withdrew from the fishing ground.
