tāniwha

The name for a water monster or goblin. The word was sometimes used for monsters of any kind; for mighty chiefs or persons having supernatural power of any kind: Ki te Tāniwha nui o te moana. To turn oneself into a sea god or supernatural being: I tāniwhatia tenei tangata, haere ana i raro i te whenua.

Some celebrated water monsters were Ārai-te-uru, Tā-minamina, Pekehauā, Hotu-puku, Kataore, Hine-hua-rau, Hine-ngutu, Waihou, Waima, Wairere, etc.

A kono-tāniwha ("goblin basket") is a very small food basket used when a party was engaged in catching and slaying a tāniwha: Te ingoa o awa, he kono-tāniwha. The trap or cage for catching water monsters is called whare-tāniwha. It was a house entirely woven (rangaranga), without any part being made of wood. It was baited with flesh, and was set in mid-stream.

Kawhia has the reputation of being the home of quite a tribe of tāniwha, no less than fifteen in number. They are called Ngai-te-heke-o-te-Rangi.

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