Pātito

A warrior of ancient times, who, having died, came back from the underworld to test his son's expertness with the spear. The old man won, and returned to spirit-land, but people think that had the son been victorious, men would no longer have been under the necessity of dying.

Pātito had a niece, who followed her uncle to the place where spirits descend (Te Reinga). She called out to the old man, who, turning and looking back at her, metamorphosed her into stone.

References

Sources

  • Tregear, Edward. (1891). Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary. Wellington: Government Printer, p. 327.
  • White, John. (1885). "Maori Customs and Superstitions." In T. W. Gudgeon, History and Doings of the Maoris from 1820 to 1840. Auckland: Brett, pp. 97-225, p. 105.

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