Ihungaru

An ancient god from Hawaiki who was brought by Māori settlers to New Zealand. Ihungaru's physical representation was a lock of human hair entwined in a sennit rope, kept in a house at Mokoia (Rotorua); this house was built with wood brought from Hawaiki. The god was apparently destroyed by the Ngapuhi tribe in their raid, in 1823.

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References

Sources

  • Shortland, Edward. (1856). Traditions and Superstitions of the New Zealanders. London: Longmans Green, p. 135.
  • Tregear, Edward. (1891). Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary. Wellington: Government Printer, p. 102.