13/04/2026
Tupuna Tuesday
Te Pūrākau o Hineahuone rāua ko Tāne Mahuta
In the time of beginnings, before the world we know had taken shape, there was only darkness. Ranginui the sky father and Papatūānuku the earth mother lay locked together, their embrace holding their many children in shadow.
Among those children was Tāne Mahuta, the one who would separate his parents and bring forth Te Ao Mārama, the world of light. When light finally entered the world, Tāne looked upon the beauty of his mother, now revealed in her fullness, clothed in forests, rivers, and life.
Yet something was missing.
There was no one to walk gently upon her.
No one to carry her breath.
No one to continue the line of life.
So Tāne began his search for the uha, the female essence. He journeyed across the realms, seeking the sacred element that would complete the world. At last, he was guided to Kurawaka, the red earth and p***c region of Papatūānuku herself.
There, Tāne knelt.
With his hands, he shaped the earth.
He formed the head, the limbs, the body.
Carefully, deliberately, with intention and karakia, assisted by others.
From the sacred soil, he created her.
Her name was Hineahuone, the woman formed from earth.
But she was still.
She had form, but no breath.
So Tāne leaned forward.
He pressed his nose to hers.
He breathed into her.
And in that moment
She inhaled.
She sneezed.
Tihei mauri ora
For Tāne had first received the breath of life, the mauri, the sacred life force, from Io Matua Kore, and it was this divine essence that he passed into Hineahuone.
The first breath of life.
The first human connection.
The mauri of the world awakening through her.
Hineahuone opened her eyes to Te Ao Mārama, and through her, the pathway of life was established. From her would come generations, whakapapa unfolding through time.
Together, Tāne Mahuta and Hineahuone brought forth Hinetītama, the dawn maiden, who would later become Hine-nui-te-pō, guardian of the night and of those who return to the embrace of Papatūānuku.
This pūrākau is more than a story of creation.
It reminds us
That we come from the whenua, we are shaped from Papatūānuku herself
That breath is sacred, the hongi carries the mauri of life
That wāhine are the doorway of existence, the first vessel of humanity
That whakapapa connects us not just to people, but to the land, the atua, and all living things
Hineahuone is not just the first woman.
She is the embodiment of whenua, of creation, of sacred beginnings.
And every time we take a breath, press our noses in hongi, or place our feet upon the earth
We remember her
