In
Māori mythology, Kaitangata is either a mortal son of
Māui, or a son of
star-
god
In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...
Rehua
In Māori mythology, Rehua is a very sacred personage, who lives in Te Putahi-nui-o-Rehua in Rangi-tuarea, the tenth and highest of the heavens in some versions of Māori lore. Rehua is identified with certain stars. To the Tūhoe people of t ...
.
Kaitangata, the son of Māui, is an industrious man who married the female supernatural being
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 ...
. Due to his name, Kaitangata means
man
A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromo ...
-eater, Whaitiri believed him to be a
cannibal
Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, bo ...
as she was. However this proved to be incorrect and she eventually left him because he offended her. Before she returned to heaven as a
cloud
In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water or various other chemicals may ...
, she taught Kaitangata how to
fish
Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of ...
. With Whaitiri, he was the father of
Hemā.
References
* B.G. Biggs, 'Maori Myths and Traditions' in
A. H. McLintock (editor), ''
Encyclopaedia of New Zealand
''An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand'' is an official encyclopaedia about New Zealand, published in three volumes by the New Zealand Government in 1966. Edited by Alexander Hare McLintock, the parliamentary historian, assisted by two others, the e ...
'', 3 Volumes. (Government Printer: Wellington), 1966, II:447-454.
*
A.W. Reed, ''Treasury of Maori Folklore'' (
A.H. & A.W. Reed:Wellington), 1963.
Māori mythology
Legendary Māori people
{{Māori-myth-stub