Paoro is a mythical entity that appears in early

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 ...

creation myths. The name ''Paoro'' (meaning ''echo'') appears in John White's English translation of a

story attributed by him to the

Ngāti Hau Ngāti Hau are the Māori people, Māori ''iwi'' (tribes) of the Whanganui River area in New Zealand. There are two stories of where the name ''Ngāti Hau'' comes from. One is that it comes from Haupipi, who arrived in New Zealand on the ''Aotea ...

tribe, as a personal name meaning 'Echo'. However, in the Māori language original which White also supplies, the name Paoro does not appear – instead the word used is 'pari-kārangaranga', "echoing cliff". In the Māori story,

Mārikoriko In a Māori legend attributed by ethnographer John White to the Ngāti Hau iwi (tribe), Mārikoriko (Twilight) is the first woman, created by Ārohirohi (Shimmering heat) from the heat of the sun and the echoing cliff. She married Tiki, the fi ...

(Twilight) is the first woman, created by

Ārohirohi In Māori mythology, Ārohirohi is the goddess of mirages and shimmering heat, and is the wife of Tama-nui-te-rā (the Sun). She created Mārikoriko In a Māori legend attributed by ethnographer John White to the Ngāti Hau iwi (tribe), Mā ...

(Shimmering heat) from the heat of the sun (Kau-ata-ata) and the echoing cliff (Paoro). She married

Tiki In Māori mythology, Tiki is the first man created by either Tūmatauenga or Tāne. He found the first woman, Marikoriko, in a pond; she seduced him and he became the father of Hine-kau-ataata. By extension, a tiki is a large or small woo ...

, the first man, and gave birth to

Hine-kau-ataata In the Māori mythology of the Ngāti Hau tribe, Hine-kau-ataata, translated as "maid swimming in the shadow," is the daughter of Tiki (mythology), Tiki (Man) and Mārikoriko (Twilight). When she is born, the first clouds appear in the sky. Ref ...

(Woman floating in shadows).

References

Legendary Māori people {{Māori-myth-stub