Talk:Auraka

	Oceania portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Polynesia, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Polynesia on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.PolynesiaWikipedia:WikiProject PolynesiaTemplate:WikiProject PolynesiaPolynesia articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.
	This article is supported by WikiProject Cook Islands (assessed as Low-importance).

Orginal text of this article

The original text of this article, as submitted by User:TUF-KAT on 30 September 2002, was: "In Polynesian mythology, Auraka ("all-devouring") is a god of death."

This derives from the Encyclopedia Mythica article (now deleted) Auraka, which ~~has~~ had the text A deity of death in Polynesian myth. Literally, 'the All-Devouring'.

However, a look at Gill 1876b pages 202 and 243 shows the following:

that Auraka is actually not a deity of death at all, but a cave that is the last resting-place of the dead
that 'all-devouring' is not a literal translation of Auraka at all, but Gill's own translation of a poetic description of the cave from a line in a song. The actual word in question is 'maumau' meaning 'to waste'; a burial cave 'wastes' or 'squanders' the bodies of those consigned to its depths, the sense that Gill attempts to convey with his 'all-devouring'.

Kahuroa 10:17, 19 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Update - Encyclopedia Mythica has now deleted its article on Auraka. Looks like they read Wikipedia!!Kahuroa 06:20, 6 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]