Hine-te-iwaiwa is called on at childbirth, in weaving and through the phases of the moon. Her best-known story is a journey. Some tellings know the woman at its centre as Hinauri, Māui's sister. Others keep the name Hine-te-iwaiwa. Tellings differ between iwi, hapū and whānau, and both names are honoured here.
She had heard of Tinirau, a chief who lived on an island named Motutapu and kept tame fish in pools beside his home. She made up her mind to go to him. There was no waka (canoe) to take her, so the sea itself carried her. In many tellings she floated for a long time on the open water, until she was washed up on the shore near his home.
The people who found her cared for her, and Tinirau took her as his wife. She was not welcomed by everyone. Tinirau already had two wives, and they treated the newcomer with contempt. Hine-te-iwaiwa did not answer them with an argument. She answered with karakia, and the two women fell. From then on her place beside Tinirau was secure.
In time she was carrying his child, and the birth is the part of her story that has lasted longest. It was a hard labour. Karakia were said over her to ease it, and those same words, or ones descended from them, are still said for women giving birth. Her son was named Tūhuruhuru. That is why expectant mothers and the people who help them call on her name. She is the one who went through it first and came out the other side.
What follows belongs to Tūhuruhuru's tohunga (expert / priest), Kae, and to Tutunui, the whale Kae was carried home on and then killed. When Kae would not admit what he had done, Hine-te-iwaiwa went with a party of women to find him. They entertained his household with haka (ceremonial dance) and games until Kae laughed. His teeth showed, and they knew him.
So hers is not a gentle story only. She crossed the sea alone, held her ground, went through birth, and then went out again to see justice done.
Hei whakaaro (reflect / thought): whatever you are bringing into the world just now, a child, a piece of work or a new start, the hard middle is not a sign you have gone wrong. She went through it too.
Hei whakaaro · something to sit with
I whakawhiti a Hine-te-iwaiwa i te moana, ā, i puta ia i te mamae o te whānautanga.
The hard middle of bringing something new into the world is not a sign you have gone wrong.
What are you bringing into the world right now?