Mahuika

For the underwater geological feature, see Mahuika crater.

Mahuika is a Māori fire deity. Generally, Mahuika is female and wife of the god Auahitūroa.

Mahuika
Goddess of fire
Gender	Female(generally)
Region	New Zealand
Ethnic group	Māori
Genealogy
Siblings	Hine-nui-te-pō (In some versions)
Consort	Auahitūroa
Offspring	Ngā Mānawa,Maui(In some version)
Equivalents
Samoan	Mafuiʻe
other parts of Polynesia	Mafuike, Mahui'e or Mahuike.

Myths

In some versions, she is the younger sister of Hine-nui-te-pō, goddess of death. It was from her that Māui (in some versions he is her grandson) obtained the secret of making fire.

She married Auahitūroa and together they had five children, named for the five fingers on the human hand, called collectively Ngā Mānawa. The symbolism of this connection between toropuku (fingers) and fire is revealed in the stories where Māui obtains fire from Mahuika by tricking her into giving him her fingernails one by one.

Māui stole fire from fingernails of Mahuika

She is also said to have played a role in the formation of Rangitoto Island, asking Rūaumoko, god of earthquakes and eruptions, to destroy a couple that had cursed her.

In some parts of New Zealand, Mahuika is a male deity. This is also the case in some parts of tropical Polynesia; for instance, in the Tuamotu archipelago and the Marquesas, Mahu-ika is the fire god who lives in the underworld in addition to being the grandfather of Maui. Maui wrestled him in order to win the secret of making fire.

In other parts of Polynesia, similar deities are known as Mafuiʻe, Mafuike, Mahui'e or Mahuike.

Modern appearances

• Mahuika crater was a hypothesized impact crater named after her.
• She was depicted on coins issued in New Zealand in 2019.

See also

• How Māui Found the Secret of Fire

References

• E. Best, Maori Religion and Mythology, Part 2 (Dominion Museum Bulletin No.11. Museum of New Zealand: Wellington, 1982), 244–245.
• R.D. Craig, Dictionary of Polynesian Mythology (Greenwood Press: New York, 1989), 148.
• J.F. Stimson, Legends of Maui and Tahaki (Honolulu: Bernice P. Bishop Museum Press, 1934), 17–23.