atua
1. (noun) ancestor with continuing influence, god, demon, supernatural being, deity, ghost, object of superstitious regard, strange being - although often translated as 'god' and now also used for the Christian God, this is a misconception of the real meaning. Many Māori trace their ancestry from atua in their whakapapa and they are regarded as ancestors with influence over particular domains. These atua also were a way of rationalising and perceiving the world. Normally invisible, atua may have visible representations.
Ko te atua o te pakanga, ko Tū-mata-uenga. He maha ōna ingoa: Tū-kā-riri, Tū-te-ngaehe, Tū-mata-uenga, Tū-tawake, Tū-whakamoana-ariki, Tū-kai-taua, Tū-kai-tangata (M 2006:122). / The atua of war, Tū-mata-uenga. He has several names: Tū-kā-riri (Tū-the angry-one), Tū-te-ngaehe (Tū-who-tears-apart), Tū-mata-uenga (Tū-who-incites), Tū-tawake (Tū-who-hastens), Tū-whakamoana-ariki (Tū-who-enriches-the-sea), Tū-kai-taua (Tū-who-destroys-war-parties), Tū-kai-tangata (Tū-who-destroys-mankind) (M 2006:123).
2. (noun) God.
E tino maumahara ana au ki taua pō e inoi ana tō mātau koroua ki Te Atua kia tohungia mātau (HP 1991:14). / I well remember that night when our grandfather was praying to God that we be spared.
waiū atua
1. (noun) shore spurge, Euphorbia glauca - a native groundcover plant with milky sap. Generally forms clumps but has a creeping rhizome from which red stems bear narrow oblong blue-green leaves.
See also waiū o Kahukura
Synonyms: waiū o Kahukura
2. (noun) New Zealand gloxinia, Rhabdothamnus solandri - a small tangled native shrub with hairy leaves with rounded teeth and dark main veins. Found in shady lowland areas of the North Island. The bell-like flowers are yellow to orange with red stripes and occur throughout the year.
See also taurepo
Synonyms: mātātā, taurepo, kaikaiatua
tūtae atua
1. (noun) puffball, Lycoperdon perlatum - ball-shaped fungi which, though solid when young, are full of dust-like spores when mature. Found mostly in pastures and along the edge of native bush in summer and autumn.
See also tūtae
2. (noun) moon thirty days after the full moon.
Kua wātea atu ngā mahi tumatuma, tūātea a ngā kaitiaki o te maramataka mai i Ariroa ki te Atua Whakahaehae (WT 2013:71). / The quarrelsome and blustery activities of the sentinels of the maramataka from Ariroa to Atua Whakahaehae have finished.
awa o te atua
1. (noun) menstrual cycle.
Synonyms: mate wahine, mate marama
Tāne-mahuta
1. (personal name) atua of the forests and birds and one of the children of Rangi-nui and Papa-tū-ā-nuku.
Ko te māoritanga o ngā ingoa o ēnei tamariki a Rangi rāua ko Papa: Ko Tangaroa, he ika; ko Rongo-mā-tāne, ko te kūmara; ko Haumia-tiketike, ko te aruhe; ko Tāne-mahuta, ko te rākau, ko te manu; ko Tāwhiri-mātea, ko te hau; ko Tū-matau-enga, ko te tangata (KO 16/9/1886:6). / The explanation of the names of these children of Rangi and Papa is: Tangaroa is fish; Rongo-mā-tāne is kūmara; Haumia-tiketike is fernroot; Tāne-mahuta is trees and birds; Tāwhiri-mātea is wind; Tū-matau-enga is humans.
See also atua
Tāwhiri-mātea
1. (personal name) atua of the winds, clouds, rain, hail, snow and storms, he was also known as Tāwhiri-rangi and Tāwhiri-mate-a-Rangi and was one of the offspring of Rangi-nui and Papa-tū-ā-nuku who did not want his parents separated.
(Te Māhuri Study Guide (Ed. 1): 40-42;)
Ko te māoritanga o ngā ingoa o ēnei tamariki a Rangi rāua ko Papa: Ko Tangaroa, he ika; ko Rongo-mā-tāne, ko te kūmara; ko Haumia-tiketike, ko te aruhe; ko Tāne-mahuta, ko te rākau, ko te manu; ko Tāwhiri-mātea, ko te hau; ko Tū-mata-uenga, ko te tangata (KO 16/9/1886:6). / The explanation of the names of these children of Rangi and Papa is: Tangaroa is fish; Rongo-mā-tāne is kūmara; Haumia-tiketike is fernroot; Tāne-mahuta is trees and birds; Tāwhiri-mātea is wind; Tū-mata-uenga is humans.
See also atua, Tāwhiri-rangi
Tangaroa
1. (personal name) atua of the sea and fish, he was one of the offspring of Rangi-nui and Papa-tū-ā-nuku and fled to the sea when his parents were separated. Sometimes known as Tangaroa-whaiariki.
(Te Māhuri Study Guide (Ed. 1): 40-42;)
Ko te māoritanga o ngā ingoa o ēnei tamariki a Rangi rāua ko Papa: Ko Tangaroa, he ika; ko Rongo-mā-tāne, ko te kūmara; ko Haumia-tiketike, ko te aruhe; ko Tāne-mahuta, ko te rākau, ko te manu; ko Tāwhiri-mātea, ko te hau; ko Tū-mata-uenga, ko te tangata (KO 16/9/1886:6). / The explanation of the names of these children of Rangi and Papa is: Tangaroa is fish; Rongo-mā-tāne is kūmara; Haumia-tiketike is fernroot; Tāne-mahuta is trees and birds; Tāwhiri-mātea is wind; Tū-mata-uenga is humans.
See also atua
2. (noun) general name for the seven nights of the lunar month from the eighth to the fourteenth nights after the full moon - these are generally good days for planting fishing and eeling.
Ko te kōrero whakamutunga anō mō te tino āhua o ngā Tangaroa nei, tae noa ki te Ōmutu, ko tēnei te wā mōmona o te maramataka, e whitu rā te roa (WT 2013:32). / The final statement about the real nature of these Tangaroa nights, right until Ōmutu (the fourteenth night after the full moon), is that this is the productive time of the lunar calendar, and it is seven days long.
Rongo-mā-Tāne
1. (personal name) atua of the kūmara and cultivated food and one of the offspring of Rangi-nui and Papa-tū-ā-nuku, he is also known as Rongo-hīrea and Rongo-marae-roa-a-Rangi.
(Te Māhuri Study Guide (Ed. 1): 40-42;)
Ko te māoritanga o ngā ingoa o ēnei tamariki a Rangi rāua ko Papa: Ko Tangaroa, he ika; ko Rongo-mā-tāne, ko te kūmara; ko Haumia-tiketike, ko te aruhe; ko Tāne-mahuta, ko te rākau, ko te manu; ko Tāwhiri-mātea, ko te hau; ko Tū-mata-uenga, ko te tangata (KO 16/9/1886:6). / The explanation of the names of these children of Rangi and Papa is: Tangaroa is fish; Rongo-mā-tāne is kūmara; Haumia-tiketike is fernroot; Tāne-mahuta is trees and birds; Tāwhiri-mātea is wind; Tū-mata-uenga is humans.
See also atua, Rongo-marae-roa
ariā
1. (noun) likeness, resemblance, notion, idea, concept, theory, feeling, theme - sometimes pronounced āria.
(Te Kōhure Textbook (Ed. 2): 225;)
E rua ngā whakamāramatanga o tēnei kupu: Tuatahi, ko te ariā ko te āhua tērā, ko te ritenga rānei ki tētahi mea, ahakoa he aha taua mea, he ritenga te ariā nō taua mea rā. Tuarua, ko tētahi atu whakamāramatanga ko te whakatinanatanga tēnei o tētahi atua, he rākau pea, he kōhatu pea, he kararehe pea, he manu, he aha kē atu rānei o ngā mea e kitea ana e te kanohi o te tangata (Wh4 2004:225). / There are two explanations of this word: Firstly, the 'ariā' is a form or the likeness of something, regardless of what that is, the 'ariā' is a representation of that thing. Secondly, another explanations is that this is the physical representation of an atua, perhaps a stick, a stone, an animal, a bird or something else that can be seen by the human eye.
Ka tukuna mai e ia ana karere ki te tango i te ariā o Māui, arā i tētahi wāhi o ōna toto, hei mākutu māna M 2006:206). / She sent her messengers to take away the ariā of Māui, that is, some of his blood, for her to perform mākutu on.
Synonyms: tairitenga, ōrite, oho, āhua, taurite, rite, whakaritenga, āhuatanga, ritenga
2. (noun) genie.
3. (noun) physical representation of an atua, visible material emblem of an atua.
He atua a Moekahu, he kurī tōna ariā (W 1971:15). / Moekahu is an atua and his physical representation is a dog.
Whiro
1. (personal name) atua of things associated with evil, darkness and death and a son of Rangi-nui and Papa-tū-ā-nuku. Whiro-te-tipua is the full name.
Te Pae-rangi: Ko te pakanga nui tēnei a nga tamariki a Rangi rāua ko Papa, arā a ngā atua Māori, ki a rātau anō; nā Whiro-te-tipua i whakatipu. Nā ka hinga a Whiro rātau ko tana ope; ko te take tēnā i heke ai a Whiro ki Rarohenga, ki te Muriwai-hou, arā ki Te Rēinga (M 2006:14). / Te Pae-rangi: This was the great battle of the children of Rangi and Papa, that is of the Māori atua, amongst themselves; it was Whiro-te-tipua who instigated it. Whiro and his forces were defeated; and that was the reason that Whiro fled to Rarohenga, to Muriwai-hou, that is to Te Rēinga.
See also atua
2. (personal noun) moon on the first night of the lunar month - for some tribes (e.g. Te Whānau-ā-Apanui) this is the sixteenth night of the lunar month - unsuitable day for planting and fishing, but good for eeling.
Whiro: Ka kōhiti te marama, he rā kino (TTT 1/7/1923:16). / New moon: The moon rises and its a bad day.
Aituā
1. (personal name) atua of disaster and death, fate - according to some narratives, he was the second son of Rangi-nui and Papa-tū-ā-nuku who joined Ioio-whenua when his father banished him to Whiti-ānaunau.
(Te Māhuri Study Guide (Ed. 1): 40-42;)
Ki ngā iwi, ki ngā hapū, me ngā mana e pupuri mai nei i te mana Māori, i ngā marae o Aotearoa me Te Waipounamu, tēnā rā koutou, ngā mōrehu a Aituā, tūāhuatanga o ēnā o ō tātou rangatira ka riro rā ki Paerau, ki te huinga o te kahurangi, ki te takotoranga tē taea te whakakorikori (TP 8/1912:7). / To the tribes, subtribes and the people of standing retaining Māori status on the marae of the North and South Islands, greetings to you all, who are the survivors of misfortune and stand in place of our leaders who have departed to the meeting place of the dead, to the gathering of the illustrious, to the resting place from which you are not able to move.
See also atua
