Irawaru
Ko Irawaru te kaitiaki o te kurī. Koia te taokete a te tipua a Māui. Nāwai ā, ka whakatakariri a Māui mō te māngere o Irawaru. E moe ana a Irawaru, e ngongoro ana tōna ihu, ka haere mai a Māui ka kumekume ōna taringa, tōna ihu, tōna tuarā kia rite ki te kuri. Nō muri ka haere mai ngā wāhine a Māui ka pātai kei hea tō rāua tungāne. Ka kī atu a Māui kia tīwaha rāua ‘Moi!’ – te reo o te kurī. Kātahi ka karanga atu ngā wāhine rā. Ehara! Ka oma mai a Irawaru.
Te taenga mai o te kurī
He nui ngā kōrero mō te kurī i Hawaiki me te taenga ki Aotearoa. He tohu te taenga o te kurī ki Aotearoa ki te rahi o te kai i runga i ngā waka, inarā mēnā kīhai he kai, kua kainga kē ngā kurī i te hekenga i Hawaiki.
Ngā riri i Hawaiki
Tērā te kōrero mō Houmaitawhiti me tana kurī mōkai a Pōtaka Tawhiti. Nā ngā rīriri i waenganui i a Houmaitawhiti me Uenuku, ka kainga e Uenuku a Pōtaka Tawhiti. Whāia, ka rongo a te tama a Hou, a Tamatekapua, i te wairua o te kurī rā e auau ana mai i te puku o Uenuku. Me kī, koia nei te takenga mai o ngā rīriri i heke ai a Tamatekapua me tōna iwi ki Aotearoa mā runga i a Te Arawa.
Ngā kurī i ngā waka heke
Nā Kupe te whenua o Aotearoa i tūhura. He kurī āna i ngā haerenga i te waka a Matawhaorua. E ai ki te kōrero, nana i whakarere he kurī ki Te Hokianga; nā te takaroa o Kupe, ka huri te kurī rā ki te kōhatu.
Ko Turi te rangatira i a Aotea. Nāna i koha he kahu kurī ki tana wahine. Hei utu ka homai e tōna hunaonga te waka. I te heke i Hawaiki ki Aotearoa, ka tū te waka ki Rangitāhua (Kermadecs) ka patu a Turi i ngā kurī e rua hei whakanui i te atua a Maru.
Ko Manaia te rangatira i a Tokomaru i heke i Hawaiki. Ka tata a Tokomaru ki Aotearoa ka peke te kurī ki roto wai. Otirā, nā te auau o te kurī rā te waka i ārahi ki uta i te pō.
Ko Pāoa te rangatira i a Horouta. Nāna i tapa te mātārae a Te Kurī-a-Pāoa mō tana kurī ngaro.
Kurī tipua
Ka kitea te wāhi nui o te kurī ki te Māori i ngā pūrākau mō ngā tipua kurī.
He uwha kurī, he atua a Moekahu. He rite ki te tangata, ina mate ana he kurī ka haere te wairua ki Te Rēinga i te hiku o te ika a Māui, heoi, he ara ki te tangata, he ara ki te kurī.
Tērā tētahi kurī ko Mohorangi, he kurī ka noho ki Whanga-o-keno i Te Tai Rāwhiti. Ka kite tētahi wahine – ko Pōnuiawahine – i a ia, ka hurihia hei toka, e tū tonu nei i waho atu o Whanga-o-keno.
E rua ngā kurī kēhua kei te moana o Taupō. Ki te haere mai he waka nō te rāwaho ka tīwaha ki aua kurī, ‘Moi! Moi!’ ka ara ake te āwhā ki te whakangaro i a rātou.
Kātahi te kurī māngere
Ko te nuinga o ngā kupu whakarite mō te kurī, he kupu tāunu. Kīia ai te tangata māngere i te taha o te ahi ‘he whiore tahutahu’. Ko tētahi kupu mō te tautauā ‘he whiore hume’. Ko te kōrero ‘he kurī e pōtete ana’, mō te tangata kei raro i te awe o tangata kē. Ka whakahuatia te kōrero ‘he ihu kurī, he tangata haere’ mō te tangata haereere i te mata o te whenua. He wā ka whiua tēnei kōrero hei whakaiti tangata, arā, he kurī hongihongi kai; he wā anō ka whakahuatia te kōrero nei e te tangata haere ki te tangata whenua ka tūtaki a ia, me kore ake ka whakamanuhirita.
He kurī kaitā
He tipua kaitā a Kōpūwai i Te Wai Pounamu. He rite te māhunga ki tō te kurī. Tekau ngā kurī iti ka whai i a Kōpūwai, e rua ngā māhunga o tēnā kurī, o tēnā kurī. Kei Waikaremoana tētahi kurī whakawehi, a Te Kurī-nui-a-Meko, ka patupatu i ngā tāngata ka haere ki te ngahere ki te mahi manu. Ka hopukina a Kōpūwai, ka mauherea, ka werohia, mate rawa.