Lake Taupo
Timata te korero mai te Ika a Maui.
Our knowledge from the time of Maui and his great fish and how it relates to our holistic world view.
The North Island of Aotearoa is referred to as Te Ika a Maui, the great fish of Maui. The fish’s tale is to the far north, his fins to the west encompass the Taranaki coastline and to the east the East Cape and its mouth located at Whanganui-a-tara (Wellington).
Rivers and streams are the life giving arteries of the land to Te puku o Te Ika (the belly of the fish). The sacred waters that these streams carry are from Ranginui (the skyfather above). The rain that falls upon the mountain peaks of the Central North Island known as Te Pito O Te Motu (The umbilical cord to the land of the great fish of Maui).
These waters are controlled by two arteries flowing from Te Pito o Te Motu, the Whanganui River flowing west and then turning south to feed the extremities of the fish’s body, the Waikato River flows in opposite directions, initially flowing east and then flowing north. All waterways take their natural path undisturbed providing the scared sustenance required for life. Only the gods could design such body parts to sustain the land.
The Waikato River flows into Te Manawa o Te Ika a Maui (the Heart of the great fish of Maui) known by Ngati Tuwharetoa as Te Kopua Kanapanapa o Tauponui a Tia. Other rivers and streams flowing into Manawa o Te Ika a Maui provide further sustenance to the scared waters which leave the only departure point at Te Hikuwai o Te Manawa o Te Ika a Maui to flow as Te Awa o Waikato to feed the extremities of the fishes body to the areas of the north and the east.
The blood to the land in each stream and river had a whakapapa (genealogoy). The waterways are all related and each had its own purpose, its own mauri or unique life force. Undisturbed each creek capillary, stream vein, river artery, work in unison. Each waterway provided for different life forces such as the insect life (ngarara), ika (fish), manu (birds) and Ngati Tuwharetoa. From the time of Ngatoroirangi all are linked to these sources by the development of ritual after the claiming of all rights to the resources and surroundings.
