New Zealand Mythology

Ponaturi

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Tradition: Māori Mythology, New Zealand Mythology
Alternative Names: —
Category: Goblin

The Myth

The Ponaturi are hostile, goblin-like creatures who dwell beneath the sea during the day and return to shore each evening to sleep in their house, Manawa-Tāne. They dread daylight, which is fatal to them. This weakness plays a central role in the stories of the Māori heroes Tāwhaki and Rātā, whose families suffer at the hands of these dangerous beings.

In the story of Tāwhaki, the Ponaturi kill his father, Hemā, and carry away his body. They also capture his mother, Urutonga, forcing her to serve as the doorkeeper of Manawa-Tāne. Seeking revenge, Tāwhaki and Urutonga block every opening in the house, making the Ponaturi believe that night still surrounds them. They then suddenly allow the sunlight to enter. Deceived by the false darkness, the creatures are caught by the fatal rays of the sun and destroyed.

The Ponaturi also appear in the story of Rātā, who seeks to recover his father’s bones after the creatures carry them away. The Ponaturi use the bones to keep time while practising their magical arts. Rātā hides himself, learns their incantations, and masters a more powerful spell called Titikura. He then attacks the creatures, kills their priests, and recovers the bones. The surviving Ponaturi regroup and pursue him, but Rātā and his warriors use their strength and powerful incantations to defeat them, killing a thousand of their number.

In another version of the Tāwhaki story, the grey mullet, known as the kanae, accompanies the Ponaturi when they emerge from the sea and enter Manawa-Tāne. Tāwhaki and his companion Karihi kill the creatures to avenge Hemā, but the mullet escapes by repeatedly leaping until it reaches the sea again.

A related tale concerns Ruapupuke, whose young son is drowned and taken by Tangaroa, the sea deity, to the bottom of the ocean. There, the child is transformed into a carved figure placed above the doorway of Tangaroa’s house. Ruapupuke descends into the sea to find him and encounters Hinematikotai, who explains that the inhabitants return at sunset and that daylight will kill them. Ruapupuke waits for their return before allowing the light to enter, destroying the inhabitants and burning their house. He takes some of its carvings back to the human world to serve as models for human carvers. Although this account does not explicitly call the inhabitants Ponaturi, it presents a similar pattern of sea-dwelling beings destroyed by exposure to daylight.

Sources

“Ponaturi.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 17, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponaturi

Turehu

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Tradition: Māori Mythology, New Zealand Mythology
Alternative Names: Turehu, Patupaiarehe, Pakepakeha, Kiri-puwhero, Te Whanau O Rangi
Category: Forest Dweller

The Myth

The Turehu are supernatural beings who inhabit the forests, mountain peaks, and mist-covered hills of New Zealand. They are described as light-skinned people with fair or waist-length blond hair, thin noses, straight backs, and eyes ranging from pale blue to black. They are often portrayed wearing short skirts woven from dried seaweed, with clothing dyed red. Unlike the Māori, they do not wear tattoos. Some accounts describe them as small, delicate beings, while others portray them as towering giants. They are especially fond of playing the flute, and their homes are hidden among dense forests, fog-covered hills, and remote mountain strongholds.

The Turehu are masters of trees and grasses and are closely associated with the natural world. They can appear in human form, but they are also capable of taking the shapes of birds and insects. They usually emerge at dusk or during the night, when the fog is thick enough to conceal them from the sunlight. They are wary of strangers and protective of their territory, sometimes punishing those who take food or resources that belong to them. They are said to claim certain birds, white eels, and red flax as their own, and anyone who takes these without permission risks offending them. Although they can be dangerous, the Turehu also possess valuable knowledge and skills, including wood carving, tattooing, weaving, dancing, and playing musical instruments.

One tale tells of a warrior who cut down a tree to make a canoe. After spending the night in the forest, he returned to find the tree standing upright again. The Turehu had restored it through their supernatural powers. The warrior eventually repented, and the spirits spared him, later helping him obtain a better canoe so that he could return home swiftly. Another story describes a Turehu appearing at a house, where a man and his wife attempted to drive it away by rubbing red ochre on their bodies. The spirit forced its way inside, but the couple’s resistance eventually caused it to flee. The Turehu then leaped onto the roof and sang a farewell song before disappearing into the night.

The Turehu also appear in stories involving fishermen. In one tale, a fisherman encountered the spirits while they were collecting fish from a net. One of the Turehu helped him finish the work, but when sunlight appeared, the spirits vanished, and the boats shattered into pieces. Only a few reeds and flax stalks remained, revealing the supernatural nature of the encounter. Such stories portray the Turehu as mysterious beings who can be helpful or dangerous depending on how humans treat them. They are guardians of the forests and mountains, possessing powers that allow them to restore trees, vanish into mist, and move between the human world and their hidden supernatural realm.

Sources

“Turehu.” New Bestiary (Bestiary.us). Accessed October 11, 2026. https://www.bestiary.us/turehu

Khakaturi

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Tradition: Māori Mythology, New Zealand Mythology
Alternative Names: Hakaturi, Hākuturi, Tini-o-hakaturi, Te-Tini-O-Hakaturi
Category: Forest Dweller

The Myth

The Khakaturi are supernatural nature spirits who guard the forests of New Zealand. They are servants of Tāne, the great god of forests, birds, and the natural world. These spirits can take the form of birds and insects, but they are also capable of appearing in human-like shapes. Their appearance is often associated with bow-legged bodies, and they can remain hidden from human sight while watching over the woodland. The Khakaturi are protective of their forest home and can become aggressive when people disturb it or take its resources without permission.

One Māori tale tells of a warrior who cut down a tree to make a canoe. After spending the night in the forest, he returned the following morning to find the felled tree standing upright again, as though it had never been touched. The Khakaturi had restored the tree through their supernatural powers. The warrior realized that he had angered the forest spirits and that his actions had to be corrected. Only through repentance could he escape punishment for disturbing their domain.

The Khakaturi eventually spared the warrior, and over the following night they helped him by creating a better canoe, enabling him to return home faster than the wind. The tale demonstrates that the spirits can punish those who disrespect the forest, but they may also show mercy to those who acknowledge their wrongdoing. As guardians of the woodland, the Khakaturi protect the trees and creatures under Tāne’s care, reminding people that the natural world is not theirs to exploit without consequence.

Sources

“Khakaturi.” New Bestiary (Bestiary.us). Accessed October 11, 2026. https://www.bestiary.us/khakaturi

Amai-te-rangi

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Tradition: Cook Islands mythology, New Zealand Mythology
Alternative Names: Amai-te-rangi
Category: Demon

The Myth

Amai-te-rangi was a cannibalistic demon who attempted to entrap Ngaru.

Ngaru managed to escape and ascend, and with the assistance of his grandfather, Mokoroa, he defeated Amai-te-rangi.

Sources

“Amai-te-rangi.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed September 12, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amai-te-rangi

Kurangaituku

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Tradition / Region: Māori, New Zealand Mythology
Alternative names: Kurungaituku; Hine-ingoingo
Category: Bird

The Myth

Kurangaituku is a supernatural woman with the wings of a bird, claws instead of fingers, and a beak in place of a human mouth. She is the guardian of birds and other creatures, keeping them in her forest home. In some traditions she is feared as an ogress or witch, while in others she is remembered as a compassionate being who shelters injured animals and nurses the wounded back to health.

One day the young hunter Hatupatu entered her domain. In some versions she captured him after he hunted her birds, while in others she found him injured and cared for him until he recovered. Hatupatu lived with her for a time, but eventually betrayed her by destroying or imprisoning her beloved birds and reptiles and stealing her treasured feather cloaks before fleeing.

A single small bird escaped and warned Kurangaituku of the betrayal. She pursued Hatupatu through the forests with incredible speed. During the chase, Hatupatu called upon a great rock to open and hide him, escaping her grasp. When he reached the geothermal lands of Whakarewarewa, he dodged between the boiling mud pools, but Kurangaituku rushed after him and was consumed by the scalding mud, bringing the pursuit to its tragic end.

In some Māori traditions, however, Kurangaituku is remembered not as a monster but as the wronged guardian of the forest, whose kindness was repaid with betrayal. Her story remains one of the best-known legends of New Zealand, preserving both versions of her character in Māori oral tradition.

Sources

Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Kurangaituku. In Wikipedia. Retrieved June 29, 2026, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurangaituku

Patupaiarehe

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Tradition / Region: Māori Mythology, New Zealand Mythology
Alternate Names: Pakehakeha
Category: Fairy

The Myth

Patupaiarehe are mysterious, otherworldly beings said to live deep within the forests, mountains, and mist-covered hills of New Zealand. They are described as pale-skinned, often with light or reddish hair, and resemble humans in form—yet they are not human.

They belong to the hidden world.

Their homes are said to exist in remote, elevated places—mountain peaks, dense bush, and ridges shrouded in fog. Though they live in communities, their dwellings cannot be seen by ordinary people. They are most active in mist, darkness, or overcast conditions, avoiding sunlight, which is believed to weaken or even destroy them.

Their presence is rarely seen—but often heard.

On foggy days or in the quiet of the night, people may hear beautiful, haunting music drifting through the hills. The sound of flutes and soft singing is said to belong to the patupaiarehe, whose music is more enchanting than anything humans can create. This is often the only sign that they are near.

They are not friendly to intruders.

Those who wander into their territory risk encountering them—and such encounters can be dangerous. Patupaiarehe may lure people deeper into the forest, confuse them, or punish them for trespassing. In some stories, entire groups who disturbed their lands met sudden and violent ends.

One tale tells of hunters who took an object hanging in a forest—unaware it belonged to the patupaiarehe. Strange obstacles appeared, their food turned to nothing, and one by one they were taken and killed, dragged away by unseen forces.

Yet they are not purely hostile.

There are rare stories of interaction and even connection between patupaiarehe and humans. In one, a patupaiarehe woman lived among humans and shared knowledge—teaching weaving—but when tricked into staying beyond dawn, she fled back to the mountains, vanishing into mist.

In another story, a man encountered them at night while they were fishing. When they realized he was human, they fled immediately, unwilling to be seen.

They exist parallel to the human world—close, but separate.

They eat raw food, avoid fire and steam, and live according to their own rules. They can speak with humans, but only under certain conditions, and never fully belong to the same world.

To encounter them is to step outside ordinary reality—into a place governed by mist, silence, and unseen boundaries.

Sources

Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Patupaiarehe. In Wikipedia, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patupaiarehe

Irawaru

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Tradition / Region: Māori Mythology, New Zealand Mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Dog

The Myth

In the ancient stories of the Māori, Irawaru is remembered as the origin of the dog.

He was the husband of Hinauri, who was the sister of the trickster hero Māui. One day Māui and Irawaru went out together, and during their time together Māui became angered with his brother-in-law. Some say Māui envied Irawaru’s success in fishing. Others say he was offended by Irawaru’s greed, or angered when Irawaru refused him a cloak. Whatever the cause, Māui resolved to punish him.

When they returned home, Māui seized Irawaru and stretched out his body. He pulled his limbs until they changed shape, lengthening and bending them. In this way he transformed the man into the first dog.

Afterward, Hinauri searched for her husband and asked Māui where he had gone. Māui told her to stand and call out, “Moi! Moi!”

When she called, a dog came running toward her. Only then did she realize the truth — that the animal was her husband, changed by Māui’s hand.

Overcome with grief, Hinauri left the world of people. She cast herself into the sea, into the domain of Tangaroa, and was not seen again.

Other traditions tell that long after these events, when the voyager Kupe reached Aotearoa, three sacred dogs came with him from Hawaiki. These were not ordinary animals but spirit guardians. They were sent to the far northern headland to watch over the path of souls, guiding the dead as they departed for the afterlife. The people who settled there later became known as Ngāti Kurī, the people of the dogs.

From these stories it is remembered that dogs were not merely animals but sacred companions. They guarded homes, warned of danger, and stood watch against unseen spirits, bound to humankind since the first transformation of Irawaru.

Sources

Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Irawaru. In Wikipedia, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irawaru

Atua

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Tradition / Region: New Zealand Mythology, Hawaiian Mythology, Maori Mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Demon

The Myth

Atua are supernatural beings known in the traditional beliefs of the Polynesian world. Among Hawaiians, Māori, and other Polynesian peoples, atua are regarded as powerful entities that exist beyond the human realm.

They are described as deities or demons, feared and revered alike, whose presence influences the natural world and human life. Atua may dwell in specific places, manifest through natural forces, or act invisibly, shaping events according to their will.

Through tradition, atua are remembered as ever-present supernatural beings, forming a vital part of Polynesian cosmology and belief.