In the Māori story of Māui fishing up the North Island, he made his hook from the jawbone of his grandmother, Muri-ranga-whenua. A Hawaiian account gives the hook a different origin: Māui’s father gives him the sacred fishhook Manaiakalani. These are distinct traditions, not one shared explanation.
The Māori story: a hook made from his grandmother’s jawbone
Te Ara recounts a version written by Ngāti Porou tohunga Mohi Ruatapu. Māui fetches the jawbone of his grandmother, Muri-ranga-whenua, and uses it as a fishhook. He goes fishing with his older brothers, who are reluctant to take him along.
In this telling, Māui uses blood from his nose as bait. When a great fish takes the hook, he hauls it up and it becomes land. The North Island is associated with the name Te Ika-a-Māui, meaning “the fish of Māui.” Te Ara identifies Mohi Ruatapu’s writings, edited and translated by Anaru Reedy and published by Canterbury University Press in 1993, as the source for its account. Te Ara’s account of Māui describes the narrative; its separate entry on Māui’s fish hook gives the grandmother’s name as Murirangawhenua and connects the curve of Cape Kidnappers, Te Kauwae-a-Māui, with the hook, also called Te Matau-a-Māui.
The Hawaiian account: Manaiakalani, given by his father
A Hawaiian telling presented by Bishop Museum’s Hawaiʻi Alive describes Māui fishing with his older brothers after their mother asks them not to return without food. Māui boasts that he will catch the giant ulua Pīmoe and uses Manaiakalani, a sacred hook his father gave him. In this version, the brothers look back while helping paddle, the line snaps, and the fish breaks into pieces that become islands.
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The museum describes the Manaiakalani in its collection as made of wood and bone, with the bone tip attached using olonā. That is an artifact description associated with the museum-held hook, not evidence that the object is the same hook as the jawbone in the Māori story. Bishop Museum’s Manaiakalani account presents this Hawaiian telling. The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Library and Hawaiʻi State Library’s Hawaiian Legends Index catalogs several works featuring Manaiikalani, including “How Maui Fished up the Great Island,” “Maui the Fisherman,” and “The Oahu Legends of Maui.” The catalog reflects multiple recorded tellings rather than a single version for all Hawaiian accounts.
How the two hook origins differ
| Tradition and source | Hook’s stated origin | Fishing-story outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Māori account associated with Mohi Ruatapu, as recounted by Te Ara | Māui uses his grandmother Muri-ranga-whenua’s jawbone as a hook. | The caught fish becomes land; the North Island is associated with Te Ika-a-Māui. |
| Hawaiian version presented by Bishop Museum’s Hawaiʻi Alive | Māui’s father gives him the sacred hook Manaiakalani. | The fish breaks into pieces that become islands. |
The sources describe different cultural traditions and do not establish one shared object or a single origin for Māui’s hook across Polynesia. The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa also discusses the hook of Māui in the context of Māori tradition.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Was Māui’s hook made from his grandmother’s jawbone?
Yes, in the Māori fish-up-the-North-Island story recounted by Te Ara. It is not the origin given in the Hawaiian account described by Bishop Museum.
Is Manaiakalani the same hook as the jawbone hook?
The cited sources present different traditions and do not establish that they are one object. In the Māori account the hook is his grandmother’s jawbone; in Bishop Museum’s Hawaiian telling Manaiakalani is given to Māui by his father.
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