Hine-raukatauri

Say it: HEE-neh row-kah-TAU-ree

The woman who loved her flute so completely she became it. Hine-raukatauri is the atua of every sound made by breath moving through a hollow thing, and of music kept close rather than performed.

Te Kāwai (Line of descent)

Te Kore → Te Pō → Papatūānuku → Tāwhirimātea → Hine-raukatauri

Te Kōrero (the story)

Hine-raukatauri loved her kōauau so dearly that she went to live inside it, and would not be persuaded out. From then on she was the flute itself, and the music of taonga pūoro — the breath instruments carved from bone, wood and stone — carried her spirit with every note. The case moth that hangs wrapped in its own woven bag from a forest branch bears her name for the same reason: a small creature that built itself a home out of the very thing it makes. She asks nothing grand of anyone. Play something, even badly, and she is there in the breath moving through it. Her gift was never about audience — it was about the company a sound can be when everything else is quiet.

Te Whakapapa (the genealogy)

Of Tāwhirimātea's wider descent, carrying the wind's breath into taonga pūoro and the small case moth that shares her name.

Ngā Mana (domains and influence)

Taonga pūoro — traditional breath instrumentsBreath and the sound it makesMusic as quiet companyThe pepetuna, the case moth

Kei Kōnei Rātou (they are present here)

Wind whistling thin through a gap in a window frame.
A piece of music that makes an empty room feel less empty.
A pūtōrino or kōauau being played somewhere nearby.
A case moth's woven bag hanging still on a branch.

Ngā Huarahi Hono (ways to connect)

Feeling low or restless with nothing to do

Put on one piece of music with no other task running alongside it, and actually listen.

You come across a case moth's bag on a branch

Leave it exactly where it is and say her name quietly as you pass.

Learning or playing a taonga pūoro

Breathe into it slowly before you try for a tune. The breath is hers before the note is yours.

A Common Misunderstanding

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

Ngā Uara (values)

Devoted

A quality carried in the kōrero of Hine-raukatauri.

Gentle

A quality carried in the kōrero of Hine-raukatauri.

Private

A quality carried in the kōrero of Hine-raukatauri.

Comforting

A quality carried in the kōrero of Hine-raukatauri.

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 kōhanga kōauau — the nest inside the flute

Why Hine-raukatauri chose to live inside her own instrument rather than simply play it.

About 4 min read

Te pūrerehua whare — the moth who wears her name

Why the case moth, wrapped in the little woven bag it builds for itself, is named for Hine-raukatauri.

About 4 min read

Te hā o te pūtōrino — the breath that changes a person

How the pūtōrino carries two voices, and what Hine-raukatauri's music is said to do to whoever hears it.

About 4 min read

Te waiata tangi me te koa — the song that carries grief and joy

Why the same breath instruments used in mourning are also used in celebration, and what that says about Hine-raukatauri's reach.

About 4 min read