Cultural ties to whales

Whales in Māori Tradition
Māori have a long association with whales. While whales provided food and utensils, they also feature in tribal traditions and were sometimes guardians on the ancestors’ canoe journeys to Aotearoa. Oral histories recall interactions between people and whales in tribal stories, carvings, specialised language and place names. There is also a wealth of tribal knowledge about whales.

Whales and Māori voyaging
Whales as kaitiaki (guides)
Many traditions mention that whales accompanied or guided the canoes on their journeys to Aotearoa (New Zealand). Waitaha followed his sister Hāhuru to New Zealand from Hawaiki, guided by the whale Tūtarakauika. They eventually landed at O-tara-muturangi, near Matatā.

Whales and Māori society
Whale place names and imagery
The whale has often been commemorated in place names. These include:

• Moutohorā (captured whale), an island off the coast at Whakatāne
• Te Ara-a-Kewa (the path of the right whale), the name for Foveaux Strait
• Te Ara-a-Paikea (the path of Paikea), a whale-shaped hill on the Māhia Peninsula
• Whangaparāoa (bay of sperm whales) in Auckland and the East Cape
• Te Waiū-o-Te-Tohorā (the breast milk of the whale) is the name of a spring of white water associated with hills around Welcome Bay and Pāpāmoa in the Tauranga area. The hills represent a family of whales (mother, father and baby) that lost their way. After drinking from a magical spring at Karikari, they were all transformed into the ranges in this region.

Rangatira (chiefs) and whales
Many sayings about whales allude to the aristocracy. 'Te kāhui parāoa’ – a gathering of sperm whales – indicates a group of chiefs. ‘He paenga pakake’ (beached whales) refers to fallen chiefs on a battlefield.

From Whaling to tourism
With the advent of whaling in Aotearoa (New Zealand) in the later 18th century, many Māori became involved in the industry.

Whaling In New Zealand

Ship-based whaling
For the first 40 years of the 19th century whaling was the most significant economic activity for Europeans in New Zealand – with the hunt first for sperm whales from visiting ships and then for right whales by shore-based whalers. The pursuit had major consequences for Māori society. Some of New Zealand’s most important early European settlers were whalers.

Shore-based whaling
Exactly when whaling from shore began in New Zealand is a matter of debate. Ex-convict and sea captain John (Jacky) Guard claimed that he began whaling (for bone, not oil) in 1827 at Te Awaiti in Tory Channel. The date is disputed and it appears that Peter Williams established a whaling station at Preservation Inlet in 1828.

Pursuit and capture
Shore and ship whalers shared much in their pursuit of whales. The chase began with the famous call, ‘There she blows!’ At sea it would be shouted from the masthead; on land from a lookout point. Then the boats were launched.

Māori and whaling
Whales have an important place in Māori tradition. Several tribes tell of the arrival of their ancestor, Paikea, on the back of a whale.

Modern whaling and whale watching
By the end of the 19th century right whales had almost disappeared in New Zealand waters, and sperm whales were rare. New techniques now allowed the catching of humpback whales, which were more aggressive and tended to sink after being killed.