Taniwha

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• Aotearoa New Zealand · Māori; individual taniwha belong to particular iwi and hapū

  Taniwha

  rua taniwha (a taniwha's lair)

  Spirits of place

  

  Taniwha are supernatural beings whose forms vary between tribal traditions: some reptilian or winged, others a shark, whale, octopus or log, living in lairs that could be deep pools, caves or dangerous waterways people avoided. Some were feared as man-eaters; others were kaitiaki, guardians of an iwi or hapū, and people passing their dens said a karakia and left an offering, often a green twig. The Waikato proverb "Waikato taniwha rau, he piko he taniwha" (Waikato of a hundred taniwha, every bend a taniwha) is read by some as the river's many taniwha and by others as the area's many chiefs.

  A living Māori tradition: Te Ara says taniwha continue to play an important role in the cultural identity of many tribal groups, and individual taniwha belong to particular iwi and hapū, so any one should be named with its people. In 2002 Ngāti Naho hapū objected to a Waikato highway that would destroy the lair of their taniwha Karutahi, and Transit New Zealand partly rerouted it. Te Ara records that such objections were controversial and that belief varies among Māori themselves; this card does not treat the case as a curiosity.

  Earliest written source not verified

  Basil Keane, "Taniwha", Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand (archived)

  Tradition · not evidence