Maero
 | This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (October 2016) |
 | The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's general notability guideline. (October 2016) |
In Māori tradition, the Maero (or Mohoao) are an iwi-atua or supernatural people from Aotearoa. They are characterised as wild, malevolent and often violent. Sometimes described as giants and covered with body hair.[1] They have long, bony fingers with sharp fingernails and long, dirty hair. They kill and eat humans and other animals with their hands. Similarly to the patupaiarehe they prefer raw food and dwell in forest and on mountaintops.
The Maero are said to harbour anger towards the Māori, who arrived from Hawaiki, displaced them and ruined the tapu (sacredness) of their homes.
In a story from the Whanganui area, Tukoio,[2] [3]a mortal man, once found a Maero and attacked it, cutting off its arms, legs and head. He brought the head back, but it was still alive and called for help. Tukoio did not want to fight a whole clan of maero, so he dropped it and came back later with reinforcements, but the Maero had put itself back together and returned to the forest.
See also
References
- ^ Cowan, James (1987). Legends of the Maori. New Zealand: Southern Reprints. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
- ^ Tukoio, A chief of the upper Whanganui. Journal of the Polynesian Society, Vol 15:43-44, 1906.
- ^ Bacon, Ronald (2004). Mohoao, the Fierce Fairy Person: a story from the forests of Whanganui. Auckland, New Zealand: Waiatarua Publishing.
 | This article relating to Māori mythology is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |