Peru." It was said that Maui named some of the islands of the
Hawaiian group, calling the island Maui "Maui-ui in remembrance of his
efforts in lifting up the heavens." Hawaii was named Vai-i, and Lanai
was called Ngangai--as if Maui had found the three most southerly
islands of the group.

The Maui legends possess remarkable antiquity. Of course, it is
impossible to give any definite historical date, but there can scarcely
be any question of their origin among the ancestors of the Polynesians
before they scattered over the Pacific ocean. They belong to the
prehistoric Polynesians. The New Zealanders claim Maui as an ancestor of
their most ancient tribes and sometimes class him among the most ancient
of their gods, calling him "creator of land" and "creator of man."
Tregear, in a paper before the New Zealand Institute, said that Maui was
sometimes thought to be "the sun himself," "the solar fire," "the sun
god," while his mother Hina was called "the moon goddess." The noted
greenstone god of the Maoris of New Zealand, Potiki, may well be
considered a representation of Maui-Tiki-Tiki, who was sometimes called
Maui-po-tiki.

Whether these legends came to the people in their sojourn in India
before they migrated to the Straits of Sunda is not certain; but it may
well be assumed that these stories had taken firm root in the memories
of the priests who transmitted the most important traditions from
generation to generation, and that this must have been done before they
were driven away from the Asiatic coasts by the Malays.

Several hints of Hindoo connection is found in the Maui legends. The
Polynesians not only ascribed human attributes to all animal life with
which they were acquainted, but also carried the idea of an alligator or
dragon with them, wherever they went, as in the mo-o of the story
Tuna-roa.

The Polynesians also had the idea of a double soul inhabiting the body.
This is carried out in the ghost legends more fully than in the Maui
stories, and yet "the spirit separate from the spirit which never
forsakes man" according to Polynesian ideas, was a part of the Maui
birth legends. This spirit, which can be separated or charmed away from
the body by incantations was called the "hau." When Maui's father
performed the religious ceremonies over him which would protect him and
cause him to be successful, he forgot a part of his incantation to the
"hau," therefore Maui lost his protection from death when he sought