Makeatutara

Maori atua (deity) of the underworld; husband of Taranga; father of Māui-tikitiki-a-Taranga. Performs the baptismal tohi incantations over the newborn Māui after his return from the sea, but rushes through the ritual and forgets parts — an ill omen that condemns Māui (and through him all humanity) to mortality. Later predicts Māui's eventual failure against Hine-nui-te-pō: "My son, I know that you are a brave fellow and that you have done all things. Yet I am afraid that there is someone who will defeat you" (Tregear 1891). Identifies Hine-nui-te-pō as visible in the red flashes of sunset.

Children

• Māui-tikitiki-a-Taranga

Domains

• guardianship of underworld

Powers

• Recites the dedicatory baptismal incantation over Māui

Relations

• spouse: TarangaHusband of Taranga. Their union takes place in the underworld; Taranga descends each morning through a tunnel to be with him and returns at night to the surface.Maori oral tradition (primary)
• father of: Māui-tikitiki-a-TarangaMaori oral tradition; Te Ara — The Encyclopedia of New Zealand (primary)

Sources

• existence: Maori oral tradition; George Grey, Polynesian Mythology (1855); John White, The Ancient History of the Maori (1887-1890); Edward Tregear, Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary (1891); Te Ara — The Encyclopedia of New Zealand (primary)