Maui in Gill’s Mangaian Fire and Sky Narratives

Overview

Gill’s Mangaian sequence makes Maui the son of Ru, supporter of the heavens, and Buataranga, guardian of the road to Avaiki. Initially a guardian of the upper world, he eats raw food until he discovers cooked provisions in his visiting mother’s basket. Following her secretly, he learns how she passes through a dividing rock and borrows Tane’s red pigeon Akaotu. One telling places Maui inside the bird; another makes him a dragonfly riding its back. He resumes human form after reaching his mother’s dwelling below.

Buataranga directs him to Mauike, keeper of fire. Maui repeatedly extinguishes the firebrands he receives, seeking the means of making new fire rather than a temporary flame. He enlarges his originally small body and makes himself light enough to survive the fire god’s throws. After overcoming Mauike, he learns the fire-stick method, but then burns his adversary’s home and causes a spreading conflagration. He restores Akaotu’s damaged tail, returns safely with the sticks and eventually shares the secret with the inhabitants above. Gill also records the devastation and the kings’ struggle to stop the flames, rather than presenting the exploit as harmless generosity.

In the sky account Maui quarrels with Ru, who has already propped the low stone sky high enough for people to stand. Thrown upward by his father, he takes bird form to land unharmed, then becomes gigantic and throws Ru together with the sky. This raises the heavens permanently but leaves Ru trapped among the stars to die. The sun episode supplies a different objective: days end too quickly for work or cooking. Maui’s six cords progressively catch the human-shaped Sun, Ra, until the final one holds his neck. Ra agrees to move more slowly and survives, still wearing the ropes that the account associates with visible rays. Gill closes this Mangaian sequence by reporting Maui’s expulsion by Rangi for setting the rocks alight; the subsequent Manihiki childhood and fire adventures are not automatically his biography.

Origins & earliest records

William Wyatt Gill’s Myths and Songs from the South Pacific was published by Henry S. King in London in 1876. Its introductory remarks identify Tereavai and Sadaraka as major contributors, without assigning either every individual narrative.

Records & interpretation

Chapter IV, pp. 51–63, preserves this Mangaian account. Gill’s translation and missionary commentary mediate the witness; the following Manihiki narrative is a separately framed regional version.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

1. 01

   Myths and Songs from the South Pacific, IV: The Exploits of Maui

   William Wyatt Gill, missionary collector and translator · 1876

   pp. 51–63. Complete selected Mangaian fire, sky and sun sequence read; original-language expressions retained as printed where used.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

1. Historical primary collected witnessGill’s 1876 collected Mangaian narrativeResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.