Maori History

The Maori Legend of Aoraki - Mount Cook

According to Maori legend, Aoraki and his three brothers were voyaging around Papatuanuku (the Earth Mother) when disaster struck and they became stranded on a reef. The brothers climbed up on top of their canoe and after some time, the freezing Southern winds froze them, turning them into stone. Their waka (canoe), became what we know today as the South Island, and was called Te Waka o Aoraki - the Canoe of Aoraki. The tallest of the three brothers is now seen as the majestic Aoraki Mount Cook, while his brothers and the other members of their crew became what we now regard as the Southern Alps.

Early Maori Discovery

The lake we now call Tekapo was first discovered by Rakaihautu, the founder of the Waitaha Tribe who established a whare on the East Coast, near Temuka. The people travelled through the valley where the town of Cave is now established, and on through the mountain passes to the Takapo (Tekapo) basin for the gathering of food - mainly roots of the cabbage tree - and birdlife, including the now extinct Moa, as well as smaller birds, fish and eels. Ancient Maori rock drawings can be viewed in limestone caves and overhangs near Cave, and depict people, fish, taniwha, dogs and Moa. Maori called the region Takapo, meaning "To leave in haste at night". Tekapo, as it is now known, is actually a longstanding misspelling of this original name.