Editing Hine-nui-te-pō

{{short description|Māori goddess}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=February 2024}}

{{Infobox deity

| image        = Te Tohunga - p63.png 
| type         = Polynesian
| name         = Hine-nui-te-pō
| god_of       = Goddess of night and death 
| gender       = Female
| region       = [[New Zealand]] (Aotearoa)
| ethnic_group = [[Māori people|Māori]]
| cult_centre  = 
| symbol       = <!-- or | symbols = -->
| parents       = [[Tāne]], [[Hineahuone]]
| consort      =
| offspring    = 
| siblings     = [[Mahuika]] (In some versions)
| equivalent1_type = 
| equivalent1 =
| equivalent2_type =
| equivalent2 =
}}

[[File:Hamburg, the Ethnology Museum, Asia Pacific exhibition-10.jpg|thumb|Māui attempting to enter Hine-nui-te-pō. Carving by [[Tene Waitere]] in the meeting house Rauru (opened in 1900).<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Māui and Hine-nui-te-pō |first=Mark |last=Derby |url= https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/40387/maui-and-hine-nui-te-po |encyclopedia=[[Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand|Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand]] |date=5 September 2013 |access-date=6 November 2024}}</ref>]]
[[File:Interior of Hinenuitepo meeting house at Te Whaiti, 1930. ATLIB 298156.png|thumb|Hinenuitepo meeting house at [[Te Whaiti]] in 1930]]

'''Hine-nui-te-pō''' ("the great woman of the [[night]]") in Māori legends, is a [[goddess]] of night who receives the spirits of humans when they die. She is the daughter of [[Tāne|Tāne Mahuta / Tāne Tuturi]] and Hine-ahuone. It is believed among [[tangata whenua|Māori]] that the colour red in the sky comes from her. Hine-nui-te-pō shepherds the wairua/souls into the first level of [[Rarohenga]] to ready them for the next stage of their journey. Before she was Hine-nui-te-po her name was Hine-ti-tama.{{cn|date=September 2023}} Her father Tane Mahuta took her virginity; she then felt upset, hiding from her father in eternal darkness and became Hine-nui-te-po, goddess of the night.

== Background ==
Hine-nui-te-pō, also known as the "Great Woman of Night", is a giant goddess of death and the underworld.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G2sA0BUwuHgC|title=Legends of Maui: A Demi God of Polynesia and of his Mother Hina|last=Westervelt|first=William Drake|date=1913|publisher=Library of Alexandria|isbn=9781465527172|language=en}}</ref> 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. Her birth name, Tikikapakapa, was changed shortly thereafter to Hine-au-tauria.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/maoripolynesian01treggoog|title=The Maori-Polynesian comparative dictionary|last=Tregear|first=Edward|date=1891|publisher=Wellington, N.Z., Lyon and Blair|others=University of Michigan}}</ref>

Hine-au-tauria marries her father Tāne and bears his children. She realizes he is her father, becomes ashamed, and goes down to the underground world, known as [https://maoridictionary.co.nz/word/5689 Pō] ("darkness"). There, she becomes Hine-nui-te-pō, acquiring men's souls while her father Tāne tries to lead them to light.<ref name=":0" />

== Māui's encounter with Hine-nui-te-pō ==
The great hero [[Māui (mythology)|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 to enter himself into the goddess. The birds who were nearby, [[New Zealand fantail|fantails]], burst into laughter, alerting Hine-nui-te-po. Hine-nui-te-po reacted by crushing him with the [[obsidian]] teeth in her vagina; Māui was the first man to die. The problematic themes of rape in this legend are acknowledged and used as an educational tool in contemporary times.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LgC0wwEACAAJ&q=alpers+maori+myths|title=Maori Myths & [and] Tribal Legends: Retold|last=Alpers|first=Antony|date=1977|publisher=Longman Paul|language=en}}</ref>

==See also==

*[[Vagina dentata]]

== References ==
<references responsive="0" />

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hine-nui-te-po}}
[[Category:Māori goddesses]]
[[Category:Night goddesses]]
[[Category:Death goddesses]]
[[Category:Underworld goddesses]]
[[Category:Māori underworld]]
[[Category:Legendary Māori people]]