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Quiz about Nga Mahi a nga Tupuna M257ori Mythology 101
Quiz about Nga Mahi a nga Tupuna M257ori Mythology 101

Nga Mahi a nga Tupuna - Māori Mythology 101 Quiz

Haere mai and welcome to Aotearoa, the Land of the Long White Cloud! This quiz is an introduction to the creation myths and gods of the Māori of New Zealand.

A multiple-choice quiz by Flamis. Estimated time: 4 mins.
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Author
Flamis
Time
4 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
314,804
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
6 / 10
Plays
396
Question 1 of 10
1. In the beginning there were the Sky Father, and the Earth Mother, locked in a tight embrace. The Sky Father shares his name with the Maori word for sky, and his name is found in a number of place names, including that of the volcanic island that dominates Auckland's Waitemata Harbour. What is the name of the Sky Father? Hint


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Question 2 of 10
2. The Earth Mother shares her name with the Maori word for earth, and her name is found as part of a number of place names, including at least two Auckland suburbs. What is the name of the Earth Mother? Hint


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Question 3 of 10
3. The Sky Father and Earth Mother gave birth to many male children who lived in discomfort, confined in the darkness between them. One of them, Tumatauenga, proposed killing his parents. What did Tu become the god of? Hint


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Question 4 of 10
4. Tumatauenga's brother, Tane Mahuta, insisted on a less violent solution: that they attempt to push their parents apart. Together they worked and Tane pushed them apart with his strong legs. What is Tane most associated with? Hint


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Question 5 of 10
5. A third brother, Tawhirimatea, was deeply angered at his brothers for separating their parents. He followed his father up into the sky and gathered up his children, sending them after Tane and his other brothers. What were the children of Tawhiri? Hint


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Question 6 of 10
6. Next Tawhiri attacked his brother Tangaroa, making great waves and whirlpools rise. What is the realm of Tangaroa? Hint


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Question 7 of 10
7. The remaining two brothers, Rongo and Haumia-tiketike, hid in the body of the Earth Mother, who protected them from the wrath of Tāwhiri, until he stopped storming. What are Rongo and Haumia the gods of? Hint


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Question 8 of 10
8. Tane had a daughter, named Hine-ata-uira, "Maid of the Flashing Dawn", whom he took to wife, without telling her who he was. When she learned that he was her father, she fled to the Underworld, and became the goddess of night and death. What was her new name? Hint


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Question 9 of 10
9. In some traditions, when Tane placed the stars in the sky, he also added the Sun and the Moon. The Sun personified has what coincidental name in Maori? Hint


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Question 10 of 10
10. In some stories he was made by Tane, in others, he was made by Tu, but who was the first man, in Maori mythology? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. In the beginning there were the Sky Father, and the Earth Mother, locked in a tight embrace. The Sky Father shares his name with the Maori word for sky, and his name is found in a number of place names, including that of the volcanic island that dominates Auckland's Waitemata Harbour. What is the name of the Sky Father?

Answer: Rangi

 That island is called Rangitoto, which translates to "Bleeding Sky". Rangi is also a common personal name among the Māori people.
2. The Earth Mother shares her name with the Maori word for earth, and her name is found as part of a number of place names, including at least two Auckland suburbs. What is the name of the Earth Mother?

Answer: Papa

 Yes, that's right, the Earth Mother is called Papa. The Auckland suburbs including her name are called Papatoetoe ("land of the toitoi"), and Papakura ("earth red").
3. The Sky Father and Earth Mother gave birth to many male children who lived in discomfort, confined in the darkness between them. One of them, Tumatauenga, proposed killing his parents. What did Tu become the god of?

Answer: War

 Tūmatauenga means "Tū of the angry face". War parties were dedicated to him, and it is said by some that all of humankind are descended from him.
4. Tumatauenga's brother, Tane Mahuta, insisted on a less violent solution: that they attempt to push their parents apart. Together they worked and Tane pushed them apart with his strong legs. What is Tane most associated with?

Answer: Forests

 Although humans are in some tribal traditions the children of Tū, in others they are the children of Tāne. The Māori word for man is Tāne, and it is also a popular personal name for boys. (It is pronounced in two syllables: Taa nay). The children of Tāne are the birds, insects, and the trees and other plants of the forest, and he spread them across the body of Papa to make her beautiful. Then Tāne found the sun, moon and stars, and threw them into the sky to make his father Rangi handsome.
5. A third brother, Tawhirimatea, was deeply angered at his brothers for separating their parents. He followed his father up into the sky and gathered up his children, sending them after Tane and his other brothers. What were the children of Tawhiri?

Answer: Winds, clouds and storms

 Tāwhiri is the god of wind and storms. Raindrops are the tears of Rangi weeping for Papa, from whom he is forever separated. Tāwhiri stirred up a great rainstorm, and began by attacking the trees of Tāne, causing many of them to fall to the ground, food for insects, and decay.
6. Next Tawhiri attacked his brother Tangaroa, making great waves and whirlpools rise. What is the realm of Tangaroa?

Answer: The Seas

 Tangaroa's son, Punga, was the father of ugly things, and his children were Ikatere, the father of fishes, and Tu-te-wehiwehi, the father of reptiles. When Tāwhiri came to punish Tangaroa, the fish hid in the depths of the sea, but the reptiles hid in the forest, the realm of Tāne, and for that reason Tangaroa has been upset with Tāne ever since.
7. The remaining two brothers, Rongo and Haumia-tiketike, hid in the body of the Earth Mother, who protected them from the wrath of Tāwhiri, until he stopped storming. What are Rongo and Haumia the gods of?

Answer: Cultivated food and wild food

 Rongo, as the god of cultivated food, is god of the kūmara, or sweet potato, the major food crop of the pre-European Māori. How the sweet potato, originating in Central America, became a major food crop for the peoples of Polynesia, who migrated westward from South-east Asia, is a great mystery, but without the kūmara, the Māori may have faced starvation. Rongo means "peace", signifying how well agriculture and times of peace went together. Haumia-tiketike was the god of wild foods such as aruhe, the root of the bracken fern.
8. Tane had a daughter, named Hine-ata-uira, "Maid of the Flashing Dawn", whom he took to wife, without telling her who he was. When she learned that he was her father, she fled to the Underworld, and became the goddess of night and death. What was her new name?

Answer: Hine-nui-te-po

 Hine-nui-te-pō means "Great Woman of Night", and ever since she has ruled the Underworld. Tāne tried to follow her down into the spirit realm, but she stopped him, telling him to raise their children in the world above.
9. In some traditions, when Tane placed the stars in the sky, he also added the Sun and the Moon. The Sun personified has what coincidental name in Maori?

Answer: Ra

 Rā is also the Māori word for the "day". It is a curious coincidence that the Māori word for the Sun is the same as the name for the Sun God of ancient Egypt.
10. In some stories he was made by Tane, in others, he was made by Tu, but who was the first man, in Maori mythology?

Answer: Tiki

 Tiki is said to have found the first woman, Marikoriko, in a pond. Tiki is also the name for the carved wooden figures used to mark sacred places. The small figurines worn as neck pendants are actually called hei-tiki.
Source: Author Flamis

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Referenced Topics
World   People   Religion   Food & Drink   Vocabulary   Asian Geography   Wild Birds   Central America   Place Names   Fish   Names   Famous Women   Insects   New Zealand   World Religions   Moons   Traditions   Mark Bible   Numbers Bible  

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