Pūrākau

Pūrākau are powerful. They inspire and affirm us. Māori ancestors left us rich pūrākau to help us understand our origins. The Māori creation pūrākau does just that; it provides us with information about who we are, where we come from, what our purpose is. It also provides us with guidelines to help us achieve oranga (well-being) during life, and in death. Tribal variations of the creation pūrākau may have their own names for the atua/deities, or attribute different actions to different atua. We have chosen to focus on some universal elements to inform and guide how we share what we have learned from the whānau who participated in the Pae Herenga study.

"Stories (pūrākau) are powerful. They inspire and affirm us. Māori ancestors left us rich pūrākau to help us understand our origins."

Māori creation pūrākau speak about our heartfelt connections with others and how we naturally respond with deep grief when we lose someone we love. The transformations and transitions that take place are an important part of the living and dying journey. There are several important pūrākau sitting within the creation pūrākau; collectively, we reflected on these to frame the themes within the koha (gifts) of story given by whānau manaaki who participated in the Pae Herenga study. Māori creation pūrākau speak about love, loss, grief, empowerment, leadership, and the ability to navigate life’s transitions and embrace the spiritual changes and transformations that take us beyond the veil of death. All of these are part of the natural cycle of life and death that have been handed down, tūpuna to tūpuna (ancestors to ancestors), until they eventually made their way to us.

The first pūrākau belongs to Ranginui (Sky Father) and Papatūānuku (Earth Mother). The couple were entwined in such a close and intimate embrace that their love smothered their children. It was a time of intense darkness, known as Te Kore. Many of their children, but not all, wanted to bring light to their world. For example, Tāwhiri-mātea (God of weather patterns) did his best to try and stop Tāne Mahuta from achieving his goal of locating and retrieving knowledge.

Despite numerous attempts by different siblings, Tāne finally separated their parents (he is known by many names including Tāne Mahuta, God of the Forest). Upside down, Tāne Mahuta placed his hands on his mother’s body and his legs against his father and used his strength to push his parents, Ranginui and Papatūānuku apart. Te Kore (the intensely darkest night) was slowly transformed, shade by shade, into Te Pō (the night) and Te Pō was slowly transformed, shade-by-shade, into Te Ao Mārama (daylight).

Not only is this pūrākau the first love story recorded, it is also the first story of heartbreak and loss. Torn from the arms of Papatūānuku (Earth Mother), Ranginui now looked down upon his beloved from the skies. Their love was unending, and their loss brought great mamae (emotional pain) creating never-ending tears. There are many references made within speeches and songs about this great love connection and the pair’s deep grief for each other.

Over time, the Earth became populated with many creatures, animals, insects, sea life, plants and birds. Before long, Tāne began searching for a human female companion. His mother Papatūānuku revealed Kurawaka, the place where she kept her sacred earth. Kurawaka would provide the red clay to form a wāhine her for son. Tāne took the red clay and sculptured the first woman from his mother’s earth - he breathed the breath of life into her and she became Hine-A-Huone (earth-formed woman).