Sources

Polynesian Mythology and Ancient Traditional History of the New Zealand Race

Citation Formats

General Reference

Divinity Atlas. "Polynesian Mythology and Ancient Traditional History of the New Zealand Race." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://dev-divinity.interactiveatlas.org/sources/polynesian-mythology-and-ancient-traditional-history-of-the-new-zealand-race.

APA Style

Divinity Atlas. (n.d.). Polynesian Mythology and Ancient Traditional History of the New Zealand Race. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://dev-divinity.interactiveatlas.org/sources/polynesian-mythology-and-ancient-traditional-history-of-the-new-zealand-race

BibTeX

@misc{divinityatlas-polynesian-mythology-and-ancient-traditi,
  author = {Divinity Atlas},
  title = {Polynesian Mythology and Ancient Traditional History of the New Zealand Race},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://dev-divinity.interactiveatlas.org/sources/polynesian-mythology-and-ancient-traditional-history-of-the-new-zealand-race},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

George Grey's collection is a primary record of Maori oral narrative, gathered and published by a colonial governor rather than by the Maori tradition bearers themselves, an editorial relationship this record states honestly rather than presenting the text as an unmediated Maori voice. That mediated origin is exactly why this atlas holds it at the tier for a shaped primary source rather than the top tier: Grey's own selection, arrangement and translation choices stand between a reader and the narratives as originally told, a real and checkable limit on what the text can establish. It remains a principal documented source for the Maui and Tane cycles because so much of what survives in English does so through this collection. Use it for the content of these narratives as Grey recorded them; a claim about how faithfully a specific passage preserves the pre-colonial telling needs a source addressing Grey's own editorial method directly.

Facts

Assessment

Reliability Tier

George Grey's collection of Maori oral narrative, gathered and published by a colonial governor rather than the tradition bearers themselves; held at the tier for a shaped primary source because Grey's own selection and translation choices stand between a reader and the original telling.

Notes

Maori narratives collected and published by a colonial governor; a principal source for the Maui and Tane cycles, but shaped by its editor.

Citation

Author

George Grey

Publisher

John Murray

Publication Year

1855

URL

https://archive.org/details/polynesianmythol00grey_0

Source Type

primary-text

Claims Backed By This Source (248 claims)

This source backs 248 claims across the atlas. As facts: 155 well-attested, 1 scholarly debate. As cited relationships: 47 holds, 2 connected. Plus 43 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.

Disposition By Topic

Deities, 77 claims: 40 well-attested, 22 holds, 15 general references.
Figures, 66 claims: 50 well-attested, 8 holds, 8 general references.
Articles, 37 claims: 28 well-attested, 1 holds, 2 connected, 6 general references.
Constellations, 21 claims: 13 well-attested, 5 holds, 3 general references.
Myths & Sacred Narratives, 16 claims: 6 well-attested, 8 holds, 2 general references.
Realms, 8 claims: 5 well-attested, 1 scholarly debate, 2 general references.
Sources, 8 claims: 8 well-attested.
Mythical Creatures, 5 claims: 3 well-attested, 1 holds, 1 general references.
Subtle Energies, 4 claims: 2 well-attested, 1 holds, 1 general references.
Subcategories, 3 claims: 1 holds, 2 general references.
Cultures, 1 claims: 1 general references.
Regions, 1 claims: 1 general references.
Religions, 1 claims: 1 general references.