Te-Tini-O-Hakuturi
Origins
The
Te-Tini-O-Hakuturi are legendary creatures from the country of New
Zealand in the southwestern Pacific Ocean.
About the Te-Tini-O-Hakuturi
These
fairy like creatures have a variety of aliases including: “The offspring of
Tane” (Referring to Tane-mahuta, lord of the forests), “the host of Hakuturi”
and “the multitude of bow-legged ones”. As that last name implies, these forest
dwellers are thought to be bowlegged in their original form, but may take the
shape of insects or birds.
These
creatures are guardians of the forest. If you would take something of the
forest, such as chopping down a tree, you need to appease the spirit world
first or these little guys just may put the tree right back where it came from,
as happens in the legend of Rata.
In the World of Ekunbi
The Te-Tini-O-Hakuturi appears in my current work in progress as the
character “Whetu”, whose animal form is the kea parrot of the South Island of
New Zealand. Whetu is mentor to Tane Hapuku, a Maori boy in
the Aero Company.
References
- Grey, Sir George. (1855). Polynesian Mythology. Auckland: Brett, p. 57.
- MacKay, John. (1907). Mythical Denizens of the Forest. Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand. Wellington, N.Z: Government Printer, Vol 40. p. 197,198.
- Simpson, Abigail. (2015). The Magical Creatures of New Zealand. Poms Away! A British Immigrant's View of New Zealand. https://pomsawaydownunder.wordpress.com/tag/mythical-beings/
- Tregear, Edward. (1891). Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary. Wellington: Government Printer, p. 547.
- White, John. (1887). Ancient History of the Maori. 6 vols. Wellington: G. Didsbury, Government Printer, p. 1:78, 3:2.
Comments
Post a Comment