Hatupatu and Kurangaituku

After arriving from Hawaiki, the Arawa hero Hatupatu (depicted in the carving at left) settled on Mokoia Island in Lake Rotorua. The youngest of four sons, he was bullied by his elder siblings. His story is an epic one. He escaped from Kurangaituku, the fearsome bird-woman (right), by jumping over hot springs. Kurangaituku tried to wade through them, but was burnt to death. Hatupatu also avenged the destruction of the ancestral waka Te Arawa by dispatching the enemy chief Raumati, from Tauranga, during a battle. These figures were produced by the master carver Tene Waitere in 1904–5.

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Paul Tapsell

by Paul Tapsell

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Comments

C.K. Mohi
13 October 2015

The sliding panel of the door represents the figure of the witch Kura as having a more-or-less human body with a manaia head. Above her head is the bird Horireriri (said to be a grey warbler) which warned her that her home had been robbed and her pets slain. Her body is carved to represent feathers and her feet are adorned with claws. Below are her lizard pets. She faces towards the window where Hatupatu is portrayed. Volume 79 1970 > Volume 79, No. 1 > Historical notes on the carved house Nuku Te Apiapi, by W. J. Phillipps, p 71 - 85

M.Hoerara
22 January 2014

what is the name of the bird that Hatupatu didn't kill in the story the one that warned kurangaituku that Hatupatu had escaped?

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Story: Te Arawa