Hine-piripiri

The wife of the Māori hero Tāwhaki. He went one day with his brothers-in-law on a fishing trip, but on their return, they attempted to murder him, and thinking they had slain him, buried him. When they returned to the village without Tāwhaki, Hine suspected that they had killed her husband, and ran off at once to search for him. She found where he had been buried, and on examining him ascertained that he had only be unconscious, and was not quite dead. Then, with great difficulty, she got him upon her back and carried him home to their house, where she dressed his wounds. As soon as he was recovered, he went away, taking all his own warriors and their families with him, and built a fortified village on top of a mountain, where he could easily protect himself.

Hine-piripiri was also the mother of Wahieroa, the famous chieftain.

References

Sources

  • Grey, Sir George. (1855). Polynesian Mythology. Auckland: Brett, p. 36 ff.
  • Grey, Sir George. (1970). Polynesian Mythology. New York: Taplinger Press, p. 46.
  • Tregear, Edward. (1891). Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary. Wellington: Government Printer, p. 72.