HINEAHUONE: Woman shaped from the land

Hineahuone is known as the garden of mortal man. Her auspicious life began, literally, as a hand full of dirt. In fact it was Tane-Mahuta, son of Ranginui and Papatuanuku, who wanted to find a female h...uman to take as a wife. He had other wives like Mumuwhango who had Rata, Rerenoa who had Kawau (shags) and Punga who had Ngangara (insects). Tane could not find a female human and decided to create one… from the soil. This is the basis of the concept of whakapapa. The word literally means to become soil.

When Tane asked to use the soil of Kurawaka to create a female body… Papatuanuku agreed… on one condition. She made Tane promise that if the ‘life’ ever left that body, it would be returned to Papa… to become soil again. Tane agreed… He performed powerful karakia before taking a hand full of soil. He started shaping the soil… adding arms and legs, a head, hands and feet. Finally Tane shaped her sexual organs. When he was happy he began to breathe life into her. He took a deep breath and pressed his nostrils to hers. He began to blow a life giving force into her nostrils. This is the origins of the hongi (breath of life) an important part of Maori culture. After a while she began to breath and opened her eyes. Life seeped into every inch of her body. Within minutes Hineahuone was able to raise herself and stand on her own 2 feet. It was Tane who named her Hineahuone (woman shaped from soil) and then he took Hineahuone as a wife. They had a daughter named Hinetitama.

Tane Mahuta had many families and Hinetitama grew up without knowing her father. One day Tane the great lord of the forests visited Hinetitama’s village. He was so taken by her beauty that asked to marry her. Hinetitama blissfully accepted. She was honoured but not long after their union was confirmed with children, Hinetitama’s relatives told her about Tane. She was consumed by shame and ran off to hide from the world. Tane ran after her and caught her at the entrance to the great underground. He pleaded with her to return with him to the world of light… but Hinetitama could not. She told him to care for their children in his world of knowledge and life. She would take care of them in the darkness then Hinetitama entered the caves of long night and vowed never to return. Soon after that… she changed her name to Hinenuitepo the great Goddess of the Night. Mean while her mother Hineahuone was also annoyed by Tane’s behavior and decided to leave. Eventually Hineahuone married Tane’s younger brother and the god of war and man... ko Tumatauenga. Together Hineahuone and Tu had a son called Tiki (hei tiki mo tatou nei te iwi)… and he is the first mortal male. Hineahuone is the seed of mortal woman (ira-wahine)... and the seed of mortal man (ira-tane). MAURI TU... MAURIORA...