Sources and Further Reading

Primary Sources and Canonical Documents:

• Sir George Grey, Polynesian Mythology and Ancient Traditional History of the New Zealanders (1855; reprinted multiple editions)
• Elsdon Best, Maori Religion and Mythology (Dominion Museum Bulletin No. 10, 1924)
• Elsdon Best, The Maori (Polynesian Society Memoirs, 1924)
• Treaty of Waitangi (1840) — foundational document interpreting Māori cosmological rights and land relationships
• Te Reo Māori Act (1987) — legislated revitalization of Māori language and cultural transmission
• Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Act (2017) — legal personhood of Whanganui River as Māori ancestor

Modern Scholarship:

• Margaret Orbell, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Māori Myth and Legend (Canterbury University Press, 1995)
• Hirini Moko Mead, Tikanga Māori: Living by Māori Values (Huia Publishers, 2003)
• Cleve Barlow, Tikanga Whakaaro: Key Concepts in Māori Culture (Oxford University Press, 1991)
• Anne Salmond, Two Worlds: First Meetings Between Maori and Europeans 1642-1772 (University of Hawaii Press, 1991)
• Te Ahukaramū Charles Royal, Te Ao Mārama: A Research Compilation on Māori Cosmology and Creation Beliefs (Mauriora Press, 1992)
• Te Ahukaramū Charles Royal, various entries in Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand (teara.govt.nz)

Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand (teara.govt.nz):

• The authoritative, government-supported online encyclopedia with extensive, peer-reviewed entries on all Māori cosmological figures, written by Māori scholars
• Entries consulted: “Ranginui,” “Papatūānuku,” “Tāne,” “Tūmatauenga,” “Tāwhirimātea,” “Hine-nui-te-pō,” “Kupe,” “Whakapapa”

A note on the relationship to Polynesian.md: This file expands on the specifically Māori expressions of Polynesian cosmology. The Polynesian overview covers the shared Pan-Polynesian tradition — the cognate gods (Tane/Kane, Tangaroa/Kanaloa, Tu/Ku), the voyaging heroes, the mana-tapu system. This file goes deeper into the Māori-specific narratives: the emotional weight of the Rangi-Papa separation, the Hine cycle (creation-incest-discovery-choice-death), the whakapapa system, the Kupe discovery narrative, and the entities (Whiro, Te Wheke-a-Muturangi, Uenuku) that belong specifically to the Māori tradition rather than the broader Polynesian family.