Rarohenga
Additional occupants include guardians, gods, goddesses, holy chiefs and nobles (rangatira), and the tūrehu, who are described as celestial, fairy-like people.
[5] Contemporary texts suggest that traditional records and accounts of Māori mythological sites, like Rarohenga, experienced substantial modification to accommodate the dominant missionary scriptures that were introduced during 19th century colonisation of New Zealand.
[4] It is argued that these alterations occurred during translation by non-Māori authors, resulting in variations of Māori mythology to be extremely common.
[6] In ‘The Lore of the Warewananga’ (1913), the translated teachings of two distinguished Tohunga, state how the generous offerings of celestial wisdom represent the tender connection of the Māori to this spiritual world.
[7] This is represented in the myth of Mataora, as the story emphasises the importance of the underworld's Gods and spirits (atua) to modern Māori culture.
The cloak itself was developed primarily as a replacement and “consummation of Mataora’s acceptance of tattoo from the underworld” to substitute the now obsolete artform of the painted ‘tā moko’ in the human world.
[15] Ornamental patterns and finger-twinning were also acquired from Mataora's time in Rarohenga, and would too circulate heavily into Māori culture, art, and design.
[17] Variations, such as Rarohenga, came to be after this traditional mythology dispersed across the numerous islands of the central and southern Pacific Ocean, whereupon it was adapted and redeveloped into new settings.
[4] Unlike the biblical systems of heaven and hell, the underworld and its key spiritual figures were not characterised as evil and malevolent beings.
Who regularly conducted humanitarian acts of sharing knowledge and wisdom, as the realm and its inhabitants did not seek to punish or disturb the dead.
[4] Traditional accounts of Rarohenga characterise its two realms (Upper or Lower) as both being restful places of peace and light, where the ultimate destination and residence of each spirit is entirely up to them.
[4] Each individual spirit is said to retain the executive agency to decide to make their home in Rarohenga or The Sky World (also known as The Summit of the Heavens or Toi-o-ngā-rangi).
[20] Herbert Williams commented on this action, in reference to the famous Māori translator John White, as an academic act of “unpardonable recklessness”.
[23] Critics such as Jahnke argue this as an example of cultural accommodation and assimilation to the Eurocentric belief of the afterlife that divides souls as good or evil.
This includes: The Māori hold a deep connection to the land (whenua), which is evident in the continued, spiritual significance of real-world locations because of their role in the soul's journey to Rarohenga.
Explorer, Māori scholar and interpreter, Edward Shortland describes this location as a place where the spirit arrives at two hills after travelling northward.
[18] Shortland states, “there are two long straight roots, the lower extremities of which are concealed in the sea, while the upper ends cling to a pohutukawa tree.
