Tūwhakararo

In Māori mythology, Tūwhakararo is a chief in Hawaiki. Tūwhakararo went on a visit to the Āti Hāpai (or Raeroa) people, whose chief, Poporokewa, had married Tūwhakararo's sister Mairatea. In a wrestling match he was treated unfairly, and was killed in a treacherous manner. In revenge for this murder, the murdered man's brother, Whakatau, sets out with an army, and burns Te Uru o Manono, the tribal meeting house of the Ati Hapai (Tregear 1891:568).

Accounts differ as to his genealogy. In some versions, Tūwhakararo is the son of Rātā and Tonga-rau-tawhiri, and Tūwhakararo and his wife Apakura have a son named Whakatau. In other versions he is a son of Tūhuruhuru and Apakura, and a grandson of Hina and great-nephew of Maui. In North Island versions, Maurea is a young sister of Poporokewa; her rejection of a lover in favour of Tūwhakararo leads to the latter's death at the hands of the discarded suitor. In a South Island account, Tūwhakararo's wife is named Hakiri-maurea (Tregear 1891:569).

References

• E.R. Tregear, Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary (Lyon and Blair: Lambton Quay), 1891.