Editing Taniwha (section)

==As notorious monsters==
In their role as guardians, taniwha were vigilant to ensure that the people respected the restrictions imposed by [[Tapu (Polynesian culture)|tapu]]. They made certain that any violations of tapu were punished. Taniwha were especially dangerous to people from other tribes. There are many legends of battles with taniwha, both on land and at sea. Often these conflicts took place soon after the settlement of New Zealand, generally after a taniwha had attacked and eaten a person from a tribe that it had no connection with. Always, the humans manage to outwit and defeat the taniwha.  Many of these taniwha are described as beings of lizard-like form, and some of the stories say the huge beasts were cut up and eaten by the slayers.<ref>[https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-BesMaor-c3-9.html The Maori As He Was : A Brief Account of Maori Life as it was in Pre-European Days Folk-lore P.49]</ref> When Hotu-puku, a taniwha of the [[Rotorua]] district, was killed, his stomach was cut open to reveal a number of bodies of men, women, and children, whole and still undigested, as well as various body parts. The taniwha had swallowed all that his victims had been carrying, and his stomach also contained weapons of various kinds, darts, [[jade|greenstone]] ornaments, shark's teeth, [[New Zealand flax|flax]] clothing, and an assortment of fur and feather cloaks of the highest quality.<ref>Orbell 1998:149–150, Reed 1963:299. Reed makes the comment that Hotu-puku's stomach contents constituted a fairly standard list that was repeated in many other taniwha stories.</ref>

Many taniwha were killers but in this particular instance the taniwha Kaiwhare was eventually tamed by Tāmure.  Tāmure lived at Hauraki and was understood to have a magical [[mere (weapon)|mere]]/[[pounamu]] with powers to defeat taniwha.  The Manukau people then called for Tāmure to help kill the taniwha.  Tāmure and Kaiwhare wrestled and Tāmure clubbed the taniwha over the head. Although he was unable to kill it, his actions tamed the taniwha.  Kaiwhare still lives in the waters but now lives on kōura ([[crayfish]]) and wheke ([[octopus]]).<ref>Reed A,W.,`Reed book of Māori mythology`(2004), pp.288-289</ref>

Ngārara Huarau is a taniwha known from the myths of several groups of Māori in the northern South Island. In most versions of the story, the monster eats several villagers and captures a young woman whom he keeps in a cave by the sea. Ngārara Huarau is eventually enticed to come to the local village for a feast, where he is ambushed and killed by the villagers. In each version of the story, upon his death the monster's tail detaches itself and is thrown far away into a body of water. In the version of Wainui Bay, and the [[Tākaka]] Māori, the tail lands in the pool at the base of [[Wainui Falls]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Mitchell |first1=Hilary |author-link=Hilary Mitchell |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mFb8fALKJuIC |title=History of Māori of Nelson and Marlborough |last2=Mitchell |first2=John |author-link2=John Mitchell (historian) |publisher=Huia Publishers |year=2004 |isbn=1869690877 |location=Wellington New Zealand |pages=23–25}}</ref>