How Māui Slowed the Sun

As part of our celebration of Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori (Māori Language Week), we read the Māori legend 'How Māui Slowed the Sun' by Peter Gossage. The tamariki then wrote a retell of the story and created some fabulous pieces of art of the sun, Te Ra. Here are some samples from Room 23:

In the beginning, the days were short. The village didn’t have time because the sun just kept on racing past. They didn’t have time to finish their jobs so Maui decided to make the sun go slower. They made a plan to make Te Ra go slower. In the middle of the story, they made some flax ropes to slow down Te Ra. Maui and his brothers went down to the sun and made a rock wall to protect themselves so they could capture Te Ra. At the end, they captured Te Ra. They pulled the ropes with all their might, then Maui used his Grandpa's magic jawbone to make him go slower. Now they have time to do all their jobs and the village lived happily ever after.

-By Marlowe Callander

In the beginning Te Ra, the sun was moving too fast. Maui gathered his four brothers and made a plan. They chopped flax and made magic flax ropes. In the middle of the story, they travelled at night. It was a long way to the sun's lair.  At the end, they built a wall around the sun's pit. When the sun rose Maui’s brothers released the ropes. Maui slapped his magic jawbone on the sun. Now the sun goes slowly.

-By Ethan Hussey

The days were too short and there was no time to do all their jobs so Maui decided to slow the sun. Maui gathered his brothers and they made a plan. They used flax to make ropes. They left at night so Te Ra did not notice that they were there. They made a wall to hide away from Te Ra and they threw their ropes on his fiery hair. Maui poked the sun with his Grandad's magic jawbone. They released the ropes and now the days are longer.

-By Theeran Navaratnam