Hine-nui-te-pō
Goddess of night and death
Hine-nui-te-pō killing Māui by Wilhelm Dittmer
Gender Female
Region New Zealand (Aotearoa)
Ethnic group Māori
Genealogy
Parents Tāne, Hineahuone
Siblings Mahuika (In some versions)
Māui attempting to enter Hine-nui-te-pō. Carving by Tene Waitere in the meeting house Rauru (opened in 1900).[1]
Hinenuitepo meeting house at Te Whaiti in 1930

Hine-nui-te-pō ("the great woman of the night") in Māori mythology, is a goddess of night and death who receives the spirits of humans when they die. She is the daughter of Tāne Mahuta / Tāne Tuturi and Hine-ahuone. Hine-nui-te-pō shepherds the wairua (souls) into the first level of Rarohenga preparing for the next stage of their journey. Before becoming Hine-nui-te-pō, she was known as Hine-tītama. Unaware of their true relationship, Hine-tītama married her father, Tāne Mahuta. Upon discovering that her husband was in fact her father, she left the world of the living and descended into the underworld. There she became Hine-nui-te-pō, the goddess of night and death and the guardian of the spirits of the deceased.[2]

Background

Hine-nui-te-pō, also known as the "Great Woman of Night", is the goddess of death and the underworld.[3] Her father is Tāne, the god of forests and land mammals. Her mother Hine-ahu-one is a human, made from earth. Hine-nui-te-pō is the second child of Tāne and Hine-ahu-one.

Without her knowing their connection to each other, Tāne pursued then married his daughter Hinetītama, and they went on to conceive and give birth to their daughter, Hinerauwhārangi. 

Hinetītama ultimately became Hine-nui-te-pō, atua of the night and guardian of Rarohenga, after discovering that her husband, Tāne, had knowingly betrayed her, and was also her father. [4] This trauma led her to the underworld, becoming Hine-nui-te-pō god of the night and guardian and mother of the spirits.

Māui's encounter with Hine-nui-te-pō

The great hero Māui is tricked by his father into thinking he has a chance to achieve immortality. In order to obtain this, Māui is told to enter into the goddess through her vagina. While Hine-nui-te-pō is asleep, Māui undresses himself ready and turns into a lizard to enter himself into the goddess. The birds who were nearby, fantails, burst into laughter, alerting Hine-nui-te-po. Hine-nui-te-po reacted to being molested by crushing him with the obsidian teeth in her vagina; Māui was the first man to die.[3][5]

See also

  • Vagina dentata

References

  1. ^ Derby, Mark (5 September 2013). "Māui and Hine-nui-te-pō". Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 6 November 2024.
  2. ^ Higgins, Rawinia (14 May 2013). "Rawinia Higgins, Tangihanga – death customs – Mythological origins". Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
  3. ^ a b Westervelt, William Drake (2007) [1913]. Legends of Maui: A Demi God of Polynesia and of his Mother Hina. Library of Alexandria. ISBN 9781465527172.
  4. ^ "Story: Te mana o te wāhine – Māori women". teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  5. ^ Alpers, Antony (1977). Maori Myths & [and] Tribal Legends: Retold. Longman Paul.