Tongahiti is one of
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 ...
's enemies in a
Māori tradition which White (1887–1891) attributes to the Ngāti Hau
iwi
Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English.
...
. In this tale, Tāwhaki blocks up all the chinks in the house of his enemies, a house of which his grandmother
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 ...
is the doorkeeper. Before sunset, the enemies – who are like small birds – flock into the house in great numbers. Tongahiti is among them. When morning comes, the enemies sleep on, because no light can enter the house. Tongahiti makes a remark about the length of the night, and suggests that Whaitiri may be deceiving them. Tāwhaki now lets the light in, and then kills all the creatures except Tongahiti, who manages to escape through a small hole he pierces through the base of one of the posts at the back of the house.
Tongahiti is called 'god of headaches' by White (1887–1891) in his English translation of the story. The reference to headaches does not appear in the Māori text. (Tongahiti is also mentioned by Tregear as 'the god of Headache', giving White I:101 as his source).
References
*R. D. Craig, ''Dictionary of Polynesian Mythology'' (Greenwood Press: New York, 1989), 288.
*E. R. Tregear, ''Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary'' (Lyon and Blair: Lambton Quay), 1891, 531.
*
J. White, ''The Ancient History of the Maori'', 7 Volumes (Government Printer: Wellington), 1887–1891, I, English pp. 101–102, Māori pp. 89–90.
Legendary Māori people
{{Māori-myth-stub