Religion+And+Legends

Religion and Legends __ Religion __ In the old Maori nature religion were the ancestors very important. Ancestors had great influence even when they were dead. This indicates that Maori believed that the ancestors would help them. But in 1813 were Christianity introduced.

__ The Legend of Aoraki __ New Zealand’s highest mountain is called Mt. Cook, but the Maoris called it “Aoraki”.

One of the Maori legends explains how the mountain got its name. It is about Aoraki and his three brothers were sons of “Rakinui”, the sky father.

According to the legend, Aoraki and his brothers were on a canoe trip around “Papatuanuku”, the Earth Mother, when they suddenly hit a reef in the ocean and stranded. Aoraki and his brothers climbed on top of their canoe, and then the cold south wind hit them and turned them into stone.

You may wonder what happened to the canoe, well, the legend tells us it became New Zealand's South Island, but then it was called “Te Waka o Aoraki”. Aoraki was the tallest of the brothers, so he was the one that gave his name to the highest peak. His brothers and the members of the crew Aoraki had became the mountains of the Southern Alps. Vis romanisering

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