Hāpai

deity sky Māori single tradition · 1

Hāpai is a woman from the heavens who visits Tāwhaki each night and becomes his wife. She is the daughter of Whatitiri-matakamataka (or Whaitiri) and mother of Puanga. When offended by Tāwhaki's disgust at their newborn daughter's smell, she takes the child and returns to the sky realm by climbing onto the roof and disappearing into the heavens.

When

First attested
1850 CE
Attested period
1850 – 2020
Historical notes
Documented in 1850 version by Hohepa Paraone of the Arawa tribe.

Relationships

consort of
Tāwhaki
parent of
Puanga
syncretized with
Maikuku-makaka

Expand to full subgraph →

Sources

wikipedia (1)

Source passages

“Tāwhaki is a mortal man who is visited each night by Hāpai, a woman from the heavens. When Hāpai becomes pregnant, she tells Tāwhaki that if their child is female, he is to wash her.”

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