Māui traditions in contemporary Polynesian scholarship

Record summary

Māui is a major Polynesian culture hero whose stories include fishing up land, slowing the sun, acquiring fire and challenging death. Post-2010 scholarship and creative works have revisited how these narratives differ among Māori, Hawaiian, Tahitian, Cook Islands and other traditions, and how colonial collecting shaped their transmission. The figure is valuable for comparison because recurring motifs coexist with distinct genealogies, names and cultural meanings. There is no single canonical ‘Māui myth’; versions may be embedded in whakapapa, performance, children’s literature or popular media.