People often throw around words such as Myth or legend when describing heroes of a bygone age. However, I am here to tell you that I am no Myth, and I have evidence to prove this. Take Jesus, who is very popular on my Islands, Jesus's stories are limited to a small area of land, primarily Galilee and Judea, no more than a few thousand square miles. His life, his stories, the people who wrote about him are all confined to this small area. I on the other hand was famous in the Islands you now call New Zealand, Hawaii, Polynesia, Tongo, Tahiti (its a wonderful place), and Samoa. This covers an area of some 36 million Square miles, and is far larger than any other 'Hero' of antiquity. 

My people have told many mo’olelo about my exploits, most of which are immortalized in my tattoos, as a catchy little ditty I've been known to sing once said, 'the tapestry here on my skin, is the map of the victories I win...", but given that most of you are not my people, i thought I would recount some of my greatest exploits. Today's history lesson, "Maui defeats the sky."

There are many mo'olelo recounting the extraordinary details of my birth. Suffice it to say that i am the son of a mortal woman and a God, Makeatutara to be precise. I was born premature, and wasn't expected to live, so my mother, Taranga, wrapped me in a lock of her hair and cast me into the sea as a sacrifice. The sea spirits took pity on me, an innocent babe, and wrapped me in seaweed and jellyfish to protect me, and following a great storm, deposited me on a beach far away. There I was discovered by my Grandfather, Tama-nui-ki-te-Rangi, who raised me and taught me my whakapapa. When I reached adolescence, he carved me a great canoe, and sent me back to the land of my birth.

When I arrived home, I met my brother's and my mother for the first time. They were dubious, as far as my brothers were concerned they had no half brother. My Mother didn't recognise me either, and demanded to know who I was. I told her that I was her son, Maui, Maui of the top-knot of Taranga, or Māui-tikitiki-a-Taranga in the old tongue. Remembering how she had wrapped me in her hair as an infant and cast me into the sea my Mother fell to her knees and welcomed me home, hugging and kissing me profusely. My brothers were jealous of the affection my mother bestowed upon her prodigal son, but they soon came around.

Many days later, my mother was working away, tending her house and looking after my brothers. She like most of my people was bent almost double and couldn't stand upright with the weight of the sky, which in the old days almost touched the ground. Even the tallest trees had their leaves flattened by the weight of the Sky. My mother called to me to help her, for she was old and the Sky weighed heavily on her, "Maui, Maui, come help your makuahine." I went to her side and asked her what was the matter, and she explained that today the sky was particularly heavy and that she was struggling to do her work. I told her that I would fix that, as I was strong and brave. She told me to be careful and off I went to fix the sky.

First I went to see the a kahuna ‘ana’ana, he was very old, and very wise, and very powerful. He possessed a certain set of skills, skills he had acquired over a very long career. Skills that made him a nightmare for people like you... sorry, wrong mo'olelo, but he did possess a particular set of skills. He tattooed a magical symbol on my forearm which gave me great powers. Next I sought out my Grandmother, Murirangawhenua, and I drank from her gourd. This gave me the great strength I would need to lift the sky. So prepared for what I knew would be a great struggle, I set out to sort the sky. For days we wrestled, the earth shook and the heavens where wrought with many peals of Thunder and lightening, but finally I won. I dragged the sky to the top of Haleakalā and hurled it with all my strength. I hurled it so hard that it remains there to this day. Even now, some times dark storm clouds will try and creep down Haleakalā, but they stop before getting too far, lest I grab them and hurl them so far away that they can never return.

When I returned to our village, the people rejoiced and were happy that they no longer had to toil under the oppressive weight of the sky. My mother simply smiled, and I said, 'you're welcome'.

So that is the story of how I defeated the sky, and made all your lives more tolerable. Perhaps I shall return again and tell you the story of how I defeated the sun... stick that in your pipe and smoke it Hercules!