Sidestep: Legends
There is a rock called Tokahaere situated just off Aoteroa Rd, 6km south of Wharepapa South in the Waikato. The whole area is popular with rock climbers. Strange thing is - these are the only two photos on the internet of this famous rock. I will have to go and take some myself now.
Maori say this rock was a human being; he was a man of this world and his home was at Titi-raupenga, that sharp-topped mountain which stands southward yonder, not far from the north-west side of Lake Taupo. (“A famous mountain that; it was a great place for birds—tui, korimako, kaka parrot, and koko or wood pigeon; all these we used to snare and spear there in great numbers and pot in their own fat, in totara-bark baskets.”) This man had a wife, and she was a most troublesome one. She had love affairs with the gallants of the tribe, she talked a great deal, and it was even said that she beat her husband. The husband, instead of silencing her with his stone club, as of course he should have done, decided to leave her. He set out to travel far away to the northward, to seek another home and a more pleasant wife. He travelled by night, and having supernatural means to aid him, he reached this Aotearoa country by dawn. But his wife's vengeance pursued him. She induced a powerful tohunga to bewitch her husband and the spell fell just when he reached this Manga-komua valley and he was turned to stone.
There is another story, that being a man of extraordinary powers he scooped out this deep gorge-like valley as he came. But daylight broke his magic powers, and then the mighty charms of the tohunga at Titi-raupenga prevailed, and he remained fixed here forever. Kua whakakohatutia—he was transformed to a rock.
So there stands Tokahaere to-day, his mountainous feet sunk in the Maori fern; a landmark and a wonder for ever to pakeha and Maori. And it is well that the pakeha should learn, before yet the old tales vanish, of the special mana tapu which invisibly blankets lonely Tokahaere. Though petrified, he has specific magic powers remaining. If you wish to avoid heavy rain or other obstruction or inconvenience on your day's journey, you must pay due respect to Tokahaere by pulling a handful of fern or manuka and laying it at his foot, reciting as you do so this ancient prayer to the spirit of the rock: Ana to kai na, Mau e kai te manawa o tauhou. (Behold thy food; Feed thou on the heart of the stranger.) That is the ceremony of uruuru-whenua, the propitiation of the abiding spirit of that toka-tipua, the enchanted rock.
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What is interesting is that Maori don't have just one story about this rock. My thinking is one is from the original inhabitants and the other was from Maori to fit their new religion. It's just a theory. If legends about men becoming rocks and canoes becoming mountain ranges are closely held beliefs, then there is reason to maybe question other things they hold as tradition. The issue that keeps appearing, though unspoken up to this point, is that if some beliefs are shown as debatable, then how much of native folklore and accepted tradition can be accepted as legitimate? That could include who was here first. Once again, don't attack me for asking the question, just consider the statement.
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