Tahaki
Tuamotuan · demigod · mythic prehistoric · Recorded classification
DEMIGOD: a hero of the heroic-genealogy stratum, not a god. Entered male / immortal / mythic-prehistoric. SOLITARY: his named kin (father Hema, twin Karihi, grandmother Kuhi/Kui) are thinly-developed name-level figures not authored in this batch, so no in-batch kin edge is asserted. Cognate with Maori Tawhaki, Tahitian Tafa'i, Hawaiian Kaha'i (noted, not identity).
Domains
- the radiant hero
- the rescue quest and vengeance
Powers
- shines with red radiant skin (his recognition-mark)
- ensnares and slays the goblins of Matuauru with the great net
Sources
- Tahaki (Tafaki) is the radiant red-skinned demigod hero of the firmly-attested Tuamotuan cycle: son of Hema and twin of Karihi, recognized by his red shining skin, who quests to recover his father Hema from the goblins of Matuauru, ensnaring and slaying them with the great net Tukutuhuraho-nui, and whose red skin is stripped by the fish and restored.: Stimson, J. Frank. The Legends of Maui and Tahaki (Bernice P. Bishop Museum Bulletin 127, 1934) (secondary); Stimson, J. Frank. Tuamotuan Legends (Island of Anaa), Part I: The Demigods (Bernice P. Bishop Museum Bulletin 148, 1937) (secondary)