In a Māori legend attributed by ethnographer John White to the

Ngāti Hau Ngāti Hau are the Māori people, Māori ''iwi'' (tribes) of the Whanganui River area in New Zealand. There are two stories of where the name ''Ngāti Hau'' comes from. One is that it comes from Haupipi, who arrived in New Zealand on the ''Aotea ...

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...

(tribe), Mārikoriko (Twilight) is the first woman, created by Ārohirohi (Shimmering heat) from the heat of the sun and the echoing cliff. She married

Tiki In Māori mythology, Tiki is the first man created by either Tūmatauenga or Tāne. He found the first woman, Marikoriko, in a pond; she seduced him and he became the father of Hine-kau-ataata. By extension, a tiki is a large or small woo ...

, the first man, and gave birth to

Hine-kau-ataata In the Māori mythology of the Ngāti Hau tribe, Hine-kau-ataata, translated as "maid swimming in the shadow," is the daughter of Tiki (mythology), Tiki (Man) and Mārikoriko (Twilight). When she is born, the first clouds appear in the sky. Ref ...

(woman floating in shadows).

References

Legendary Māori people Legendary progenitors Women in mythology Mythological first humans {{Maori-myth-stub