Living With the Land
Instead of fearing the forces still shaping the land, from the beginning, it seems the people of New Zealand have embraced them. Maori accepted them as the work of the god Ruamoko, in whose domain all geothermal activity belonged.
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| 1907 illustration of Maui fishing up the North Island |
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In Maori mythology, far from being a threat, Ruapehu is a great mountain sent to quell the turbulence of the great 'fish' hauled from the sea by Maui to form the North Island.
In another legend, the high priest, Ngatoroirangi (Nga-toro-i-rangi) was caught in a blizzard while climbing Mount Ngauruhoe. He prayed to his sisters in Hawaiki to send him fire to save him from freezing. The flames they sent south emerged first at White Island, then Rotorua and Taupo before finally bursting at Ngatoroirangi’s feet. Thus Ngatoroirangi is credited with bringing volcanic activity to Aotearoa New Zealand - not as a curse upon the land, but as a blessing.
Such ancient myths place the volcano at the very centre of life in these islands. Across the broad centre of the North Island in particular, that notion is borne out by the way people live.
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