Tēnā koutou - hello everyone.

How are you going in your te reo journey? It’s great to hear people giving te reo a go with me.

Last week we looked at our national anthem and discovered it has a Central Otago connection.

As Monday is a public holiday, I thought it would be good to talk about something recreational. For me, it’s all about hī ika or fishing.

According to Māori creation stories, the god of the sea and the originator of fish is Tangaroa.

Ranginui is the sky father and Papatūānuku is the earth mother. Tangaroa is one of their children.

Legend has it that Tūmatauenga, the god of war and Tangaroa battled. Their ongoing animosity towards each other is the reason human beings, who are the descendants of Tūmatauenga, go fishing - where we continue the battle against Tangaroa’s offspring, the fish.

Almost ironically, Māori have many traditional protocols around how many fish they could take. They also look to Tangaroa to ensure safety on a fishing trip and a good catch.

An example of one of these protocols is known as the ‘ati’. This is the custom of returning the first fish you catch back to the water. it’s all about showing respect to Tangaroa, and in return his reward to you will be a safe fishing expedition.

Fishing was an important activity for traditional Māori. For many tribes it is still just as important today, and Māori have a lot of fishing stories and legends. Perhaps the best-known fishing story is that of Maui, the ancient Māori superhero who hooked the North Island of New Zealand - known as Te Ika a Māui, or Maui’s great fish. In fact, the North Island is shaped like a big stingray.

There is another cool story about Kupe, who used the stars as a map, long before Google maps.

Kupe was fishing in his homeland, Hawaiki, when he was distracted by a giant octopus. He was very excited, and didn’t want to let such a big catch get away, so of course he chased it. And chased it. And chased it!

Eventually Kupe caught the huge octopus in Cook Strait, in between the North and South Islands of Aotearoa New Zealand. He then sailed around the North Island before returning home to Hawaiki. He took with him knowledge about the star path to follow, to journey from Hawaiki to Aotearoa.

Some words for this week:

Moana - sea

Roto - lake

Awa - river

Waka moana - boat

Kahu kautere - life jacket

Tautara - fishing rod

Māori were traditionally very adept fishermen, and still are today. Moon phases, weather conditions and movements of the sun and tides were all considered when deciding when it would be best to go fishing. Today, we can view this information on Māori fishing calendars, which identify the most favourable days to go fishing.

Kia renarena te aho (keep the lines tight) e hoa mā!

Kia pai te rā. Have a great day, whether you’re out fishing, or whatever you choose to do today..

For more, check out te wiki o te reo Māori here