Eels and Maori Culture by Lukas

The New Zealand long-fin eel is an endemic, freshwater species of eel and has significance for the Maori people. There is another species of eel called the short-fin eel and the two species can be distinguished by the length of their dorsal fins. The long-fin eel’s dorsal fin extends much further past the anal fin than the short-fin eel’s dorsal fin. The Maori word tuna means eel and some other eel-like fish. In one Maori tradition, a giant eel named Tuna threatened the demigod Maui’s wives, so Maui cut the eel in half. One half of the eel turned into a marine eel and the other half turned into a freshwater eel. In another tradition tuna (eels) came from Puna-kauariki, a spring in the heavens. The spring dried up and the eels made their way down to Papatuanuku, also known as Earth. The Maori used these eel as a main part of their diet to survive on the islands. 

They used a few different types of methods of catching the eels which included nets and traps.
The long-fin eels migrate into the ocean to breed, and the Maori used this opportunity to catch a lot of the eel. Some lakes that the eels migrate through would be set up with plenty of nets and traps so the Maori could catch very large amounts of eel at one time. 

The Maori also used different methods of preparing the eel to be eaten. The kope method would wrap the eel in leaves of green flax and roast them. In the tapora method, they would pack the eels in a small basket with leaves of puha and of mauku and cook them. Since eels were important nutrition for the Maori, they would also dry the eels to preserve them for longer periods of time. To eat the preserved eel, which they called tuna pawhara or tuna maroke, they would soften the meat by steaming in a hangi (earth oven). The Maori also kept eels in cages along rivers for quick access to food and fed their eels potatoes. The long-fin eels are still common, but they are declining because of loss of habitat and fishing.

This week, we had the opportunity to see these eels up close at the Willowbank Wildlife Reserve, some of us even getting close enough to touch them!

One of our students touching an eel!

Eels at the Willowbank Wildlife Reserve