Kū-watawata

"Light seen through chinks." A supernatural being, by whom Mata-ora (the teacher of tattooing to men) was admitted to the underworld (Pō) when in search of his dead wife. On account of no offering having being made by Mata-ora to Kū-watawata, the guardian of the gates of Death, it was decreed that Mata-ora should be the last mortal allowed to visit the underworld and then return to the world.

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References

Sources

  • Best, Elsdon. (1924). The Maori. Wellington: Harry H. Tombs, p. 97.
  • Tregear, Edward. (1891). Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary. Wellington: Government Printer, p. 188.

This article incorporates text from Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary (1891) by Edward Tregear, which is in the public domain.