Te Wheke

This week, we read about a legendary character called Kupe who found his fishing lines were empty because Te Wheke had been eating all of his bait.

Main characters in the story are Kupe, his wife Hine-Te-Aparangi and Muturangi the owner of Te Wheke, the giant octopus

Kupe said he would kill Muturangi’s pet, Te Wheke. After that, the following things happened: Kupe, Hine-Te-Aparangi and their children loaded up the waka with food and lots of drinking water. They sailed out into the sea and dropped their fishing lines to tempt Te Wheke to come closer. Te Wheke knew what was happening and he grabbed the boat and tried to sink it. Kupe hit the tentacles with a mere, and then Kupe chanted an incantation to stop Te Wheke from diving. They chased Te Wheke for weeks, Kupe saw a long white cloud so it must be land. Everyone was tired but Te Wheke escaped out of his cave during the night. Even though the octopus was on the run for weeks, he was still strong and quick. Te Wheke grabbed the waka but Kupe smashed Te Wheke with his mere.

In the end, two major things happened. Hine-Te-Aparangi saw something unusual. It was a long white cloud AND Te Wheke was killed.