After Ranginui (Sky Father) and Papatūānuku (Earth Mother) were separated, the oceans were sparse and empty, void of marine life. Tangaroa, as god of the sea, and being a god of creation, then created the waves which crashed upon the shores, bubbling up in froth and foam (‘hukahuka’). It was from this foam that Tangaroa then moulded the many creatures of the sea -  the sea animals (ika), the shellfish (mataitai) and the beautiful coral species.

The first prototype of a whare (carved house) was at the bottom of the ocean, created by Tangaroa. It was a gathering place for all of the fish species. The house was named Hui-te-ana-nui. All of the poupou (carved figures) on the inside of the whare could speak and sing. Those on the outside could not.

Tangaroa had been offended by the actions of a demigod, Ruatepupuke and his son Te Manuhauturuki (or Manuruhi). He pulled Manuruhi down to the bottom of the ocean and transformed into a birdlike tekoteko (carved figure) which he placed on the roof of Hui-te-ana-nui.

Ruatepupuke set out to rescue him. He dived down to the depths of the ocean where he set the whare alight. The fish darted out to escape the flames. First was Kanae (mullet), then came Maroro (flying fish), and then came Kōkiri (trigger fish).  Most of Tangaroa’s children were destroyed in the blaze, and those that survived were scarred in some way – which is why all species of fish have different colours and patterns.

Ruatepupuke stood at the entrance of the whare and struck at some of the fish as they fled, leaving them disfigured and reshaped as stingray, flounder, hammerhead shark and octopus. Ruatepupuke then took some carvings from the outside walls of the whare, and carried them and his son Manuruhi back to the surface. 

This reflects the origins of the first Māori carvings, and is why our carved images of the present time do not have the power of speech. Today Māori carvings instead tell their stories in the adornment of surface design and tribal styles, allowing man to communicate whakapapa (genealogy) as well as issues of morality, values, sacredness and wisdom.