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Story: Kaitiakitanga – guardianship and conservation

Gods of the natural world

Gods of the natural world

Traditionally, Māori divided the natural world into realms ruled by various gods. These gods, the children of Ranginui (sky) and Papatūānuku (earth), were seen as the original kaitiaki (guardians) of their realms. Kaitiakitanga was based around these divisions.

Clockwise from top: Tāne Mahuta, god of the forest; Tūmatauenga, god of war and people; Tangaroa, god of the sea; Haumia-tiketike, god of uncultivated foods; Rūaumoko, god of earthquakes; Rongomātāne, god of cultivated foods; Tāwhirimātea, god of weather.

Using this item

Kia Ata Mai Educational Trust

by Adam Williams and Joshua Wātene

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How to cite this page

Te Ahukaramū Charles Royal, Kaitiakitanga – guardianship and conservation – Understanding kaitiakitanga, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/artwork/11542/gods-of-the-natural-world (accessed 11 June 2026).

Story by Te Ahukaramū Charles Royal, published 2 March 2009.

Comments

Paulette
05 November 2015
Holy holy holy wow! I am a canadienne looking for ways to engage my students. They are learning about the First People's of Canada. My son's lovely and intelligent girl friend (a New Zealander) mentioned this word to me, because when we visited I became obsessed with proper pronouncing ion of real place names. Anyway, my students are going to reap the benefits of all your dligence... They will draw parallels between our peoples and the Maoris, and they will be able to draw cartoons or make a short vid using the environment as the guiding power. Yippee! And thank you so much, Miigwetch from Canada.