Kiwa is one of several male divine guardians of the

ocean The ocean is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of Earth. The ocean is conventionally divided into large bodies of water, which are also referred to as ''oceans'' (the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Indian, Southern Ocean ...

in the

traditions A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common exa ...

of some Māori iwi tribes of the East Coast of the

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

of New Zealand. A poetic name for the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

is ''Te moana nui a Kiwa'' (The great ocean of Kiwa). Kiwa's first wife, in some of these traditions, was Parawhenuamea, ancestor of

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...

s that flow from the land to the sea and of fresh water generally. Kiwa's second wife was Hinemoana (Ocean woman), a personification of the sea. Kiwa and Hinemoana had a number of children.

Children

The names and numbers of their children vary in different accounts. One version names ten children and for most of these, gives details about the creatures they gave rise to: #Pipihura, ancestor of the cockle. #Te Uru-kahikahika, source of eels, lampreys and frostfish. #Wharerimu, ancestor of

seaweed Seaweed, or macroalgae, refers to thousands of species of macroscopic, multicellular, marine algae. The term includes some types of ''Rhodophyta'' (red), '' Phaeophyta'' (brown) and ''Chlorophyta'' (green) macroalgae. Seaweed species such as ...

. #Hine-tapiritia, ancestor of certain

mollusc Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...

s and oysters. #Te Raengawha, origin of

sea urchin Sea urchins or urchins () are echinoderms in the class (biology), class Echinoidea. About 950 species live on the seabed, inhabiting all oceans and depth zones from the intertidal zone to deep seas of . They typically have a globular body cove ...

s, as well as various fishes. #Te Kiri-pakapaka, origin of the snapper and the gurnard. #Whatu-maomao, whose offspring include the grouper, the kingfish, and the kahawai. #Te Kohurangi #Kapuwai #Kaiwahawera, ancestor of the

octopus An octopus (: octopuses or octopodes) is a soft-bodied, eight-limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefish, and nautiloids. Like oth ...

. Others say that Kiwa is the brother of Hinemoana, or her guardian. Some Māori tribes have stories in which Hinemoana is married to Rangi, the

god In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

of the

sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the planetary surface, surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from ...

. This causes jealousy on the part of Papa, the earth mother, another of Rangi's wives. The enmity between Hinemoana and Papa is shown in the way the sea is constantly attacking and eroding the land. In other areas of New Zealand, traditions about the guardians of the sea and the origin of its creatures were very different. For instance in the Mataatua canoe area, (the eastern

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty () is a large bight (geography), bight along the northern coast of New Zealand's North Island. It stretches from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runaway in the east. Called ''Te Moana-a-Toitehuatahi'' (the Ocean ...

) it appears that Hinemoana was unknown; their traditions concern a female deity named Wainui (Great Water) instead.Best 1982:252-257, Reed 1963:397

Shellfish family Kiwaidae

The shellfish family Kiwaidae are named after 'Kiwa, the

goddess A goddess is a female deity. In some faiths, a sacred female figure holds a central place in religious prayer and worship. For example, Shaktism (one of the three major Hinduism, Hindu sects), holds that the ultimate deity, the source of all re ...

shellfish Shellfish, in colloquial and fisheries usage, are exoskeleton-bearing Aquatic animal, aquatic invertebrates used as Human food, food, including various species of Mollusca, molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish ...

Polynesia Polynesia ( , ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of more than 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are called Polynesians. They have many things in ...

n Mythology'. This description of Kiwa is inaccurate, given that Māori sources all agree that Kiwa is a male guardian of the sea.{{cite book , last =Tregear , first =Edward , year =1891 , title =The Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary , url =https://archive.org/details/cu31924026916480 , publisher =Lyon and Blair p. 151

Notes

References

* Best, Elsdon, 1982. ''Maori Religion and Mythology'', Part 2. Dominion Museum Bulletin No.11. Museum of New Zealand: Wellington. * Reed, A. W, 1963. ''Treasury of Maori Folklore''. Reed: Wellington. * Orbell, Margaret, 1998. ''A Concise Encyclopedia of Māori Myth and Legend''. Christchurch: Canterbury University Press. * White, John, 1887-1891. ''The Ancient History of the Maori, His Mythology and Traditions''. 7 volumes. Wellington: Government Printer. Māori mythology Māori gods