Manu-kura was a famous warrior in the
Tuamotuan version of the
Rata cycle of
Polynesian mythology
The Polynesian narrative or Polynesian mythology encompasses the oral traditions of the people of Polynesia (a grouping of Central and South Pacific Ocean island archipelagos in the Polynesian Triangle) together with those of the scattered cul ...
. His home was in the
ocean
The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the wo ...
.
He married
Pupura-to-te-tai, the daughter of
Puna, king of the
Underworld
The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underwor ...
. When Rata met him, they had a contest of
magic
Magic or Magick most commonly refers to:
* Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces
* Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic
* Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...
girdles that Rata won, claiming Pupura as his prize. He took her to his home, where she stayed while he continued his quest to avenge his father.
References
*R.D. Craig, ''Dictionary of Polynesian Mythology'' (Greenwood Press: New York, 1989), 156;
*J.F. Stimson, ''Tuamotuan Legends: Island of Anaa'' (Honolulu: Bernice P. Bishop Museum Press, 1937), 126–129.
Tuamotu mythology
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