Kupe


Kupe is a legendary figure that features prominently in the mythology and oral history of some Māori iwi. Various legends and histories describe Kupe as being involved with the Polynesian discovery of Aotearoa, around 1300 CE; however, the details differ from iwi to iwi.

Contention

There is contention concerning the status of Kupe. The contention turns on the authenticity of later versions of the legends, the so-called 'orthodox' versions closely associated with S. Percy Smith and Hoani Te Whatahoro Jury. Unlike the attested tribal traditions about Kupe recorded before Smith and Jury, the orthodox version is precise in terms of dates and in offering place names in Polynesia where Kupe is supposed to have lived or departed from. The orthodox version also places Kupe hundreds of years before the arrival of the other founding canoes, whereas in the earlier traditions, Kupe is most definitely contemporary with those canoes. In addition, according to legends of the Whanganui and Taranaki regions Kupe was a contemporary of Turi of the Aotea canoe. In other traditions, Kupe arrived around the year 1400 on other canoes, including Tainui and Tākitimu.

The orthodox version

In the "orthodox" version, Kupe was a great chief of Hawaiki who arrived in New Zealand in 925 AD. He left his cousin Hoturapa to drown during a fishing expedition and kidnapped his wife, Kuramarotini, with whom he fled in her great canoe Matawhourua. During their subsequent journeys, they overcame numerous monsters and sea demons, including the great octopus named as Te Wheke-a-Muturangi, and discovered New Zealand. Returning to Hawaiki, Kupe told of his adventures and convinced others to migrate with him.
David Simmons said "A search for the sources of what I now call 'The Great New Zealand Myth' of Kupe, Toi and the Fleet, had surprising results. In this form they did not exist in the old manuscripts nor in the whaikorero of learned men. Bits and pieces there were. Kupe was and is known, in the traditions of the Hokianga, Waikato, East Coast and South Island: but the genealogies given did not tally with those given by S. Percy Smith. The stories given by Smith were a mixture of differing tribal tradition. In other words the whole tradition as given by Smith was pakeha, not Maori. Similarly, the story of Toi and Whatonga and the canoe race leading to settlement in New Zealand could not be authenticated except from the one man who gave it to Percy Smith. Learned men of the same tribe make no mention of this story and there are no waiata celebrating their deeds. Tribal origin canoes are well known to the tribes belonging to them: but none of them talk as Smith did of six large sea-going canoes setting out together from Raiatea. The Great New Zealand Myth was just that"..

Attested local traditions

Traditions about Kupe appear among the peoples of the following areas: Northland, Ngāti Kahungunu, Tainui, Whanganui-Taranaki, Rangitāne, and the South Island.

Northland

In the Northland traditions, Kupe is a discoverer and contemporary with, but older than, Nukutawhiti, the ancestor of the Ngā Puhi people. Kupe arrives, lives at Hokianga, and returns to Wawauatea, his homeland, leaving certain signs and marks of his visit.
Early accounts from the Ngāti Kahungunu area consistently place Kupe on board the Tākitimu canoe or name as his companions people who are strongly associated with the Tākitimu. No other canoes are mentioned in connection with him. They also contain no references to the octopus of Muturangi, nor of the chase from Hawaiki.
He then traveled south to reach Mahia.

Tainui

Tainui traditions about Kupe can be summarised as: Kupe stole Hoturapa's wife or wives; came to New Zealand and cut up the land; raised rough seas; and went away again. The sources in detail:
Whanganui-Taranaki traditions can be summarised as: Kupe came looking for his wife who had been abducted by oturapa. His canoe was named Matahorua; Kupe was associated with Turi as his contemporary. Kupe cut up the land, and he was a brother of Ngake. Kupe encountered rough seas on his journey. The octopus story is known, but the creature is not named. Except in later versions which are somewhat suspect as to their authenticity, the accounts do not include the episode in which Kupe chases the octopus from Hawaiki. Here are some of the accounts from this area:
The few references to Kupe in South Island sources indicate that the traditions are substantially the same as those of Ngāti Kahungunu, with whom Ngāi Tahu, the main tribe of the South Island, had strong genealogical and trading links.
"When Kupe, the first discoverer of New Zealand, first came in sight of the land, his wife cried, 'He ao! He ao!". Great Barrier Island was therefore named Aotea, and the long mainland Aotearoa. When Kupe finally returned to his homeland his people asked him why he did not call the newly discovered country after his fatherland. He replied, 'I preferred the warm breast to the cold one, the new land to the old land long forsaken'."

Modern depictions

Statue

produced the statuary for the New Zealand Centennial Exhibition that was held in 1939/40 in Rongotai, Wellington. A frieze depicted the progress of New Zealand, groupings of pioneers, lions in Art Deco style, a large fountain and a figure of Kupe standing on the prow of his canoe were produced for the centennial exhibition. Of all these works, only the Kupe Statue remains. After having spent many decades at Wellington railway station, then the Wellington Show and Sports Centre and finally at Te Papa, the Kupe Group Trust successfully fundraised to have the plaster statue cast in bronze. Since 2000, the bronze statue has been installed at the Wellington Waterfront.

Video games

, the second expansion pack to Sid Meier's Civilization VI, features Kupe as the leader of the Māori civilization. Kupe provides a unique style of gameplay where the player, rather than beginning their civilization on land, begins in the ocean and must find a coast on which to settle.