Not the island, the demigod.
I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE MOANA!!!!
OK, I’m fine now…
Doing some research so I might have a wee bit of a clue about Polynesian culture and stuff before I get steeped in the Disney version, I looked for some depictions of Maui other than the Disney one.
Maui is familiar to most of us as one of the Hawaiian islands. He’s also a culture hero with a huge backstory. Disney references a few major themes in moments in the trailer: slowing down the sun, pulling islands out of the sea, fighting monsters (lava monosters one, Maui zero, at least in the trailer)…
The Disney version of the character follows the design of Sotick the Vast in How to Train Your Dragon, and King Fergus of “Brave”, fatherly yet powerful chieftain figures, built like a wall.
Other versions of Maui differ…
http://fineartamerica.com/featured/maui-the-hawaiian-demigod-thomas-christian-wolfe.html (this one is fabulous!)
And this…
A discussion of cats, crepuscular things, and Maui…
So why are shafts of sunlight (crepuscular rays) called Ropes of Māui? Well, before Māui used the jawbone (which belonged to his ancestor) to fish up New Zealand, he used it to beat the sun into submission. See? Again, according to Māori legends, the sun was whipping through the sky so fast in ancient times that there weren’t enough hours in the day to get anything done. We’ve all felt that way, of course, but Māui went out and did something with it. On a hunt, he (with the help of his jealous brothers) lassooed the sun and beat it with the jawbone until it agreed to slow the hell down and let them have a nice, long day. Thus, in addition to pulling islands out of the sea, Māui is also the reason why you have to work at least 8 hours every day. Thanks Māui! So crepuscular rays, shafts of sunlight, are called the Ropes of Māui because they resemble the ropes he used to lasso the sun.
https://dmwordoftheweek.wordpress.com/2014/08/07/crepuscular/
A Kiwi blogger (Maui’s legend spans the Pacific) has this to say… he also compares Maui to other Great Heroes of Myth like Hercules and Beowulf.
http://www.mauistudios.co.nz/perspective/2015/8/26/heroic-escapades
Clearly the less than PG escapades of this hero have been, ah, left out for Disney’s film…
In Hawaiian mythology, the Kupua are a group of demigods: heroic tricksters.
(wiki)
A Maui Island kayak touring company has this…
http://mauikayakadventures.com/maui/legends-of-maui/
(Maui pulling up the islands of Hawaii)
Snaring the sun to slow it down… one writer observed that this legend may be a memory of a distant time when the people lived in a latitude where winter caused short days.
Lifting the sky. Many cultures, including some Native American ones, have this story.
Maui born artist Matt Holton did this… with a preliminary study, and a neat explanation of how and why he changed the final art, along with a telling of the myth of pulling up the islands.
http://holtongallery.blogspot.com/2012/01/maui.html
Then there’s this refreshing Disney poster…
did you catch the little swirl on the ocean floor below Moana?
It’s the “logo” swirl that appears as the “o” in her name…
swordwhale 
I am doing a school project and would like to ask if I can use the image on this page. This is for educational purposes only and just my teacher will see my site.
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Hi! Good luck with your school project!
These are not my images, rather from various websites I found.
Maui is an important character in the mythologies of Polynesian islands from Hawaii to New Zealand (Maori name: Aotearoa).
If you google Maui you’ll be able to find lots of images from many stories, as well as the stories told about him in many places.
In New Zealand, one of the islands is Maui’s hook, and the other is his canoe (I forget which). In most Polynesian cultures there is the legend that he pulled islands up out of the sea with his fishook. this is possibly inspired by the way islands seem to rise out of the sea as you sail toward them: you “raise” Hawaii out of the sea’s horizon.
Best of luck!
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