Kupe Discovers Aotearoa

In the ancient homeland of Hawaiki, the great navigator Kupe found his people’s fishing lines empty. A giant octopus, Te Wheke-a-Muturangi, was stealing their catch and retreating into the deep. Determined to protect his people’s livelihood, Kupe vowed to slay the beast and set out in his great waka, Matahorua. The chase was relentless, spanning the vast, uncharted Pacific for many weeks. As the sun beat down and the stars guided them south, Kupe’s wife, Hine-te-aparangi, eventually sighted a long, white cloud on the horizon—a sure sign of land. They had reached a lush, green wilderness unlike any they had seen. In the turbulent waters of what is now the Cook Strait, Kupe finally cornered and defeated the great octopus in a fierce battle. Having explored the rugged coastlines of this new world, which they named Aotearoa, the Land of the Long White Cloud, Kupe returned to Hawaiki to share the navigation stars and stories of the magnificent discovery that would eventually become the home of the Māori people.