Polynesian Mythology and Ancient Traditional History of the New Zealand Race as Furnished by Their Priests and Chiefs is an 1855 collection of Māori mythology compiled and translated by Sir George Grey, then Governor-General of New Zealand, with significant assistance from Te Rangikāheke. The English edition is a translation of Ko ngā mahinga a ngā tūpuna Māori (The Deeds of the Ancestors), published in 1854, which was an expanded version of a manuscript entitled Ko ngā mōteatea, me ngā hakirara o ngā Māori (The Traditional Chants and Songs of the Māori) originally published in New Zealand in 1853.
Compilation from primary sources In a preface to the book, George Grey writes that he felt he was unable to effectively communicate with Māori leaders and petitioners without speaking Te Reo Māori and understanding the references and allusions made in writings. Grey writes that he felt that translators were not able to adequately explain the context of allusions in written communications and that the additional delays to speaking meant that conversation was inevitably condensed in a way that made it harder to connect with people. By 1849, a Māori tribal leader named Te Rangikāheke was working closely with him and teaching him Te Reo Māori. Te Rangikāheke compiled manuscripts about most aspects of Māori culture, including about myths and tribal history; these formed the basis for at least a quarter of Polynesian Mythology, though Grey introduced "alterations, combinations and omissions" and "did not acknowledge his debt." Some stories, such as the legend of Hatupatu, are considered to be the sole work of Te Rangikāheke; the legend of Hinemoa consists of Te Rangikāheke's work interwoven with portions of the version of that story that Grey obtained directly from the inhabitants of Mokoia Island. Additional manuscript pages, including the legend of Kae and part of the Māui story, came from Hēnare Mātene Te Whiwhi. Parts of the manuscript can be attributed to a wealth of other contributors, including tribal leaders and some missionaries. The way in which Grey compiled different versions of myths from different sources created a "patchwork which does not truly represent the traditions of any particular region." Nonetheless, the versions compiled can be considered reliable as "a wide range of tribal areas is represented" and "other things being equal, an informant who was born into the pre-contact culture, may be regarded as more reliable than one who knew the unaltered culture only by hearsay. Grey's informants or recorders were often people who had experienced life in a period relatively unaffected by European contact or who had access, in the persons of their fathers, or relatives of the father's generation, to informants who had lived in the pre-European situation."
Publication history About the time that Te Rangikāheke joined Grey's household in 1848, Grey's collection of manuscripts was destroyed by a fire; this was one factor that made him decide to put his Māori texts into print. Robert Stokes, then the proprietor of the New Zealand Spectator and a political ally of Grey, was involved in the initial typesetting of manuscript pages in early 1851. By September 1853, printing was complete of a 432-page Māori-language manuscript bearing the name Ko nga moteatea, me nga hakirara o nga Maori (a copy exists in the Auckland Public Library that includes a 96-page supplement, 18-page index, 2 pages of errata, and a preface), and Grey gave several copies to close associates before sailing to England at the end of 1853. In London, he had an expanded version of the Māori-language manuscript, including additional legends from Te Rangikāheke's manuscripts, printed and bound by Remnant and Edmonds under the name Ko Nga Mahinga a Nga Tupuna Maori. While Grey's earlier publications had been smaller, the English translation of Polynesian Mythology was a considerably larger publication and a commercial venture. Publisher John Murray was a well established firm and footed the production costs in exchange for half the profit. The book was aimed at a Victorian audience, with illustrations included and source material excised for reasons of length, repetitive theme, and so as not to offend that audience; modern scholarship of the legend of Hinemoa and Tutānekai look at the relationship between Tutānekai and his Takatāpui Tiki in a queer light.
Summary of myths
The Children of Heaven and Earth Originally, there was Rangi and Papa, the heavens and the earth, and they were tightly pressed together with their children in between them without light or space. Tūmatauenga, the god of war, suggested killing Rangi and Papa so that he and his brothers might have space, but Tānemahuta, the god of forests and birds and insects, suggested that instead they should separate the heavens from the earth. All of the brothers agreed to this except for Tāwhirimātea, the god of winds and storms, but the brothers were not able to do so until finally Tānemahuta placed his head in the earth and his feet against the sky and stood up. In revenge for these actions, Tāwhirimātea waged war against his brothers. Tangaroa, the god of the ocean, fled to the sea, but his children Tūtewehiwehi, the father of reptiles, and Ikatere, the father of fish, disagreed about where to go, and so the fish ended up in the sea and the reptiles ended up on land. Rongomātāne, the god of cultivated plants, and Haumia-tikitiki, the god of uncultivated food, took refuge hidden within Papa, so Tāwhirimātea could not find them. Finally, Tāwhirimātea fought against Tūmatauenga, but Tūmatauenga stood firm and resisted his brother. Tūmatauenga then turned against his brothers because they had not helped him, so he sought out the food from all of his brothers' domains. His children increased and were mankind.
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