Matakerepō, in a

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

story of the Arawa tribe of

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. It is sited on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authorities of New Zea ...

, is a female ancestor of the

hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such thin ...

Tāwhaki In Māori mythology, Tāwhaki is a semi-supernatural being associated with lightning and thunder. Genealogy The genealogy of Tāwhaki varies somewhat in different accounts. In general, Tāwhaki is a grandson of Whaitiri, a cannibalistic goddess ...

. She is an example of the 'female helper', a recurrent element in Polynesian

myth Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

and legend, who assists Tāwhaki to attain his quest of finding his wife and daughter, from whom he is estranged. Matakerepō is a somewhat threatening figure who must be placated. Soon after Tāwhaki and his slave set off on their journey, they come upon Matakerepō guarding the vines (or ropes) that form the pathway up into the heavens, where Tāwhaki's daughter Puanga and his wife Hāpai are living. Matakerepō is blind. As she counts out the ten

taro Taro (; ''Colocasia esculenta'') is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, stems and Petiole (botany), petioles. Taro corms are a ...

tubers that are heaped in front of her, Tāwhaki removes the tenth taro when Matakerepō has reached nine. She counts again, and this time Tāwhaki removes the ninth tuber. This continues until the old woman realises that someone is deceiving her. She begins to sniff the

air An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...

, and her stomach distends, ready to swallow the stranger. She sniffs towards the south, then towards the east, and towards all the winds. When she sniffs towards the west she catches Tāwhaki's scent. She calls out 'Are you come with the wind that blows on my skin?' Tāwhaki grunts, and Matakerepō says, 'Oh, it is my grandson Tāwhaki.' As she says this, her stomach begins to shrink again. If he had not been from the west wind, she would have swallowed him whole. Matakerepō then asks Tāwhaki where he is going. He tells her that he is searching for his daughter, who is with his wife; for his wife is a daughter of Whatitiri-matakamataka (or

Whaitiri Whaitiri is a female atua and personification of thunder in Māori mythology. She is the grandmother of Tāwhaki and Karihi. Whaitiri is the granddaughter of Te Kanapu, son of Te Uira, both of whom are personified forms of lightning (Reed 19 ...

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 ...

of thunder) and has returned to her home in the

heaven Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...

s. Matakerepō then shows him the pathway to the heavens, and advises him to wait until morning before he sets off. Tāwhaki's slave prepares a meal. Tāwhaki takes some of the cooked food, mixes it with his saliva, and rubs it on the

eyes An eye is a sensory organ that allows an organism to perceive visual information. It detects light and converts it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons (neurones). It is part of an organism's visual system. In higher organisms, the ey ...

of the old blind woman. This cures Matakerepō of her blindness. In the morning, the slave prepares a meal to make Tāwhaki strong for his journey. Tāwhaki presents his slave to Matakerepō, who gives him further advice on how to climb the vines, and makes an incantation to help him as climbs off into the sky. When he reaches the heavens, Tāwhaki disguises himself as an old slave and assists his brothers-in-law to build a canoe. Each night, the brothers-in-law return to their village, where Tāwhaki's wife and daughter are living. Tāwhaki pretends to be old and slow, and returns to finish the canoe, before going on to the village. This behaviour brings Tāwhaki to the attention of his wife, and before long, they are reconciled. Women similar to Matakerepō appear in many Māori stories. For instance, in a

Ngāti Porou Ngāti Porou is a Māori iwi traditionally located in the East Cape and Gisborne regions of the North Island of New Zealand. It has the second-largest affiliation of any iwi, behind Ngāpuhi, with an estimated 102,480 people according to the ...

legend of Tāwhaki, the guardian of Whaitiri's house is Te Ruahine-mata-morari, whose name means 'The old blind woman'. (Matakerepō has also been equated with

by Tregear and others; however in some stories they are definitely separate entities. Despite the fact that the source is plainly identified in the original manuscript as 'Hohepa Paraone, Te Ngae, Rotorua, March 7, 1850', White unaccountably attributes the story to the Ngāi Tahu tribe of the South Island; he also has 'Pihanga' instead of 'Puanga' for the name of Tāwhaki's daughter).

References

*R. D. Craig, ''Dictionary of Polynesian Mythology'' (Greenwood Press: New York, 1989), 161 (where the name is misspelled "Mataerepo"). *H. Paraone, Legend of Tawhaki. (GNZMMSS 64, manuscript in Grey collection, Auckland City Library, Auckland, 1850), 345–352. *A. Reedy, ''Ngā Kōrero a Mohi Ruatapu, tohunga rongonui o Ngāti Porou: The Writings of Mohi Ruatapu'' (Canterbury University Press: Christchurch, 1993), 127. * E. R. Tregear, ''Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary'' (Lyon and Blair: Lambton Quay, 1891), 223 * J. White, ''The Ancient History of the Maori'', Vol I (Government Printer: Wellington, 1887), 115-119 (English translation), 100-105 (Māori text). {{DEFAULTSORT:Matakerepo Legendary Māori people Women in mythology

See also

References