Maui

This is a hawaiian myth about the demigod maui, possibally of Polynesian origin.

The Myth
Maui is one of the many demigods or half gods of Hawaii. Hawaiians and their Polynesian cousins tell many different stories of the demigod Maui.

Maui had 3 brothers. Their names also started with Maui, Maui-mua (Maui the first), Maui-waena (Maui the middle one) and Maui-iki-iki (Maui the Little one). Maui's full name was Maui-akamai (Maui the clever one).

Maui's mother, Hina, mysteriously got pregnant by putting on a man's loincloth. She found out that the man's loincloth belonged to her husband Akalana. When Akalana heard this he said, "This child will be our Ali'i!" And soon Maui-akamai was born.

Maui was not an easy child. He would always disobey his parents and played tricks on his brothers. Hina and Akalana, didn't know what to do with him.

Finally Hina got so mad that she cut some of her hair off and wrapped Maui in it. She then set him adrift in the ocean. Maui floated out to sea.

As Maui floated in the sea he drifted far away to the sacred lands of Kuaihelani where the great Akua, the gods Kane and Kanaloa, lived. Maui stayed there for some time, living with the gods and learning their ways.

Maui then returned home.

Maui had received a sacred fishhook named Manai-a-Kalani or "fishhook from the Heavens" from his father Akalana. Maui then set off in a canoe with his brothers paddling into the deep ocean.

Maui was hoping that he could catch the giant ulua fish named Pimoe. Maui reminded his brothers not to look at the giant Pimoe or it will die and turn into hard land.

Maui dropped his fishhook into the ocean and Pimoe grabbed a hold of it. Struggling to keep a

hold of the line, Maui's brothers turned around and the line snapped. Pimoe died and turned into solid land. That is how Maui brought land from the bottom of the sea and that is why the islands were never united.

Maui pulled the great hook out from the land and threw it up into the sky, where it became the constellation known as Maui's fishhook. It still hangs there today, known to some as Scorpio.