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