Hinemoana

Say it: HEE-neh-MO-ah-nah

The sea as a woman — the moving skin of the ocean, the one who dresses the shoreline in shell, sand and stone.

Te Kāwai (Line of descent)

Te Kore → Te Pō → Papatūānuku → Tangaroa → Hinemoana

Te Kōrero (the story)

Hinemoana is the ocean's own body, distinct from Tangaroa's depths. Her children are the shellfish, the seaweed, the sand and the boulders of the beach — the things that make a shoreline. Where Tangaroa is tide and depth, she is surface, edge and encounter.

Te Whakapapa (the genealogy)

Partner in the ocean world of Kiwa; mother of Rakahore (rock), Hinetuakirikiri (sand and shingle) and the shellfish peoples; kin to Tangaroa.

Ngā Mana (domains and influence)

The shoreline, sand and shingleShellfish, seaweed and the intertidal zoneWaves as they meet the land

Kei Kōnei Rātou (they are present here)

The back of a wave throwing spray off in the wind.
Salt on your skin hours after swimming.
Shells underfoot; the sound of a wave dragging shingle back.

Ngā Huarahi Hono (ways to connect)

Arriving at a beach

Touch the water with your hand before you do anything else, and greet her.

Leaving the beach

Take nothing living, and take one piece of rubbish that isn't yours.

A Common Misunderstanding

This profile holds one telling of Hinemoana. Pūrākau and whakapapa can differ between iwi and whānau, so it should not be read as the only account.

Ngā Uara (values)

Restless

A quality carried in the kōrero of Hinemoana.

Generous

A quality carried in the kōrero of Hinemoana.

Unsentimental

A quality carried in the kōrero of Hinemoana.

Always arriving

A quality carried in the kōrero of Hinemoana.

Ngā Pūrākau (the traditional stories)

Told in full, the way they would be shared out loud. Versions differ between iwi (tribe), hapū (sub-tribe) and whānau (family).

Te kiri o te moana — the skin of the ocean

Hinemoana is the sea's own body meeting the land — and her children are what you find at your feet on the beach.

About 5 min read

Te whakaaetanga o ngā tai — the tide's agreement with the land

How Hinemoana and the land came to an understanding, and what the twice-daily tide still marks between them.

About 4 min read