According to

Māori mythology Māori mythology and Māori traditions are two major categories into which the remote oral history of New Zealand's Māori may be divided. Māori myths concern fantastic tales relating to the origins of what was the observable world for the pr ...

, Pūhaorangi is a celestial being who descended from the heavens to sleep with the beautiful maiden Te Kuraimonoa. From this union came the revered ancestor

Ohomairangi In Māori mythology, Ohomairangi is an important ancestor who lived in Hawaiki six generations before the migration to Aotearoa (New Zealand). He is considered the major ancestor of the people of both Te Arawa and Tainui waka. During his lifetime ...

.Paul Tapsell. 'Te Arawa', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 4-Apr-2008 URL: http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/NewZealanders/MaoriNewZealanders/TeArawa/en Pūhaorangi is a powerful celestial deity associated with the cosmic halo and was the protector of

Rangiātea Rangiātea in New Zealand Māori culture and tradition, is considered to be simultaneously a physical place as well as a metaphysical place. The physical Rangiātea is somewhere in the Pacific Islands, possibly Ra'iātea Island in the Society Islan ...

which is the name of the house of the Creator in the heavens. It is because of this celestial origin that Ohomairangi and his descendants are known as ''Te Heketanga a Rangi'' (Descent of Heaven) a title carried by the navigator and explorer Ngatoroirangi.

References

Māori gods {{deity-stub