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Legends of Aotearoa
LEGENDS OF AOTEAROA was a finalist in the Montana New Zealand Book Awards in 2002
It was a pristine world, green, natural, untainted. Aotearoa New Zealand was covered with gigantic trees and delicate ferns, a landscape teeming with wildlife, especially birds of impossible shapes and heavenly sounds. It was paradise. then people came. And as the centuries passed, a little more of the land was despoiled, a few more species of wildlife disappeared forever. But the original Maori settlers remembered the land as it was and recorded its life in elaborate and splendid stories that became the legends of Aotearoa. Now, in this breathtaking book, Chris Winitana re-tells fourteen of the favourite stories of the Maori people, accompanied by over one hundred colour photographs by Andy Reisinger that show the paradise that was - and is - New Zealand. the book includes many of the best-known stories - the legends of Maui, Kupe, the Arawa canoe, Rona and the moon - and some less well known, such as the legend of the walking mountains, the fires of the earth, the flight of the greenstone people and the story of Wakatipu. the legends cover tribal areas from all around New Zealand, reflecting the breadth of the photography, from isolated Northland beaches to lofty alpine heights. Legends of Aotearoa is a truly magnificent book that will impress and enchant visitors and New Zealanders alike. CHRIS WINItANA (Ngati tuwharetoa/tuhoe) is a freelance writer and author of numerous Maori-language books. After graduating with a Diploma of Journalism, Chris worked at the Waikato times, New Zealand Herald and Sunday News. He then returned home and spent seven intensive years learning different aspects of Maori culture from his father, and passing that knowledge on to the younger generation. the books, songs and stage shows that followed received accolades from all quarters. ANDY REISINGER was born in Germany but now resides in New Zealand. Hisphotographs have been widely published in magazines, books and calendars in New Zealand and overseas, and his work has been shown in a number of exhibitions.
It was a pristine world, green, natural, untainted. Aotearoa New Zealand was covered with gigantic trees and delicate ferns, a landscape teeming with wildlife, especially birds of impossible shapes and heavenly sounds. It was paradise. then people came. And as the centuries passed, a little more of the land was despoiled, a few more species of wildlife disappeared forever. But the original Maori settlers remembered the land as it was and recorded its life in elaborate and splendid stories that became the legends of Aotearoa. Now, in this breathtaking book, Chris Winitana re-tells fourteen of the favourite stories of the Maori people, accompanied by over one hundred colour photographs by Andy Reisinger that show the paradise that was - and is - New Zealand. the book includes many of the best-known stories - the legends of Maui, Kupe, the Arawa canoe, Rona and the moon - and some less well known, such as the legend of the walking mountains, the fires of the earth, the flight of the greenstone people and the story of Wakatipu. the legends cover tribal areas from all around New Zealand, reflecting the breadth of the photography, from isolated Northland beaches to lofty alpine heights. Legends of Aotearoa is a truly magnificent book that will impress and enchant visitors and New Zealanders alike. CHRIS WINItANA (Ngati tuwharetoa/tuhoe) is a freelance writer and author of numerous Maori-language books. After graduating with a Diploma of Journalism, Chris worked at the Waikato times, New Zealand Herald and Sunday News. He then returned home and spent seven intensive years learning different aspects of Maori culture from his father, and passing that knowledge on to the younger generation. the books, songs and stage shows that followed received accolades from all quarters. ANDY REISINGER was born in Germany but now resides in New Zealand. Hisphotographs have been widely published in magazines, books and calendars in New Zealand and overseas, and his work has been shown in a number of exhibitions.
160 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 12, 2022
I grew up in Europe so I’m familiar with the Greek and Roman legends of their Gods, and also Norse mythology. Māori legends are not well known but they are equally fascinating.
This book is a collection of stories and photos of the stunning land of the Long White Cloud.
This book is a collection of stories and photos of the stunning land of the Long White Cloud.
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April 20, 2021Although I've been picking at them for years, this is me officially finishing the books I got in New Zealand in 2009--this one and A. W. Reed's Maori Myths and Legendary Tales, which include some significant overlap in stories. In 2009 I probably thought I might become a folklorist or something, and I had a serious weakness for coffee table books (still do), so this book in particular was one I was delighted about--the expansive stories in combination with gorgeous photographs of their geography and some vaguely adventurous font design. This is still a book I'm happy to have around.
The thing about stories, though, even public-facing and non-religious "folk tales" and "legends", is that they have context. There is an occasion for the telling, a spark of being reminded, that is obliterated by gathering them together in a book, and I wonder about this constantly as I read. That's part of why I like the coffee table book format--seeing the landscape, plants, and animals creates a bit of context that's not there in, for example, Reed's version. And Reed's version, though it is beautifully written, has been decontextualized in all kinds of ways: the R-rated parts awkwardly excised, the stories bundled into an often ill-fitting English genre, and the whole thing aimed at a white audience with textbook "noble savage" and "vanishing Indigenous" tropes on display. I spent much of that book wondering what parts of the story I was missing.
But the upshot of all this is that it indirectly led me to Alice Te Punga Somerville's "Unpacking Our Libraries: Landlocked, Waterlogged, and Expansive Bookshelves" and then to "English Has Broken My Heart" (https://e-tangata.co.nz/comment-and-a...), and so with any luck will turn out to be an entry point to many other books.
The thing about stories, though, even public-facing and non-religious "folk tales" and "legends", is that they have context. There is an occasion for the telling, a spark of being reminded, that is obliterated by gathering them together in a book, and I wonder about this constantly as I read. That's part of why I like the coffee table book format--seeing the landscape, plants, and animals creates a bit of context that's not there in, for example, Reed's version. And Reed's version, though it is beautifully written, has been decontextualized in all kinds of ways: the R-rated parts awkwardly excised, the stories bundled into an often ill-fitting English genre, and the whole thing aimed at a white audience with textbook "noble savage" and "vanishing Indigenous" tropes on display. I spent much of that book wondering what parts of the story I was missing.
But the upshot of all this is that it indirectly led me to Alice Te Punga Somerville's "Unpacking Our Libraries: Landlocked, Waterlogged, and Expansive Bookshelves" and then to "English Has Broken My Heart" (https://e-tangata.co.nz/comment-and-a...), and so with any luck will turn out to be an entry point to many other books.
September 10, 2025
Stories used:
Māui-of-the-Topknot
Māui-of-the-Topknot
February 9, 2012
This is a beautiful book full of legends and photographs of New Zealand.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews