Tāwhirimātea

In Māori mythology, Tāwhirimātea (or Tāwhiri) is the god of weather, including thunder and lightning, wind, clouds and storms.

In his anger at his brothers for separating their parents, Tāwhirimātea destroyed the forests of Tāne (god of forests), drove Tangaroa (god of the sea) and his progeny into the sea, pursued Rongo and Haumia-tiketike till they had to take refuge in the bosom of their mother Papa, and only found in Tūmatauenga a worthy opponent and eternal enemy (Tregear 1891:499).

To fight his brothers, Tāwhirimātea gathered an army of his children, winds and clouds of different kinds – including Apū-hau ("fierce squall"), Apū-matangi, Ao-nui, Ao-roa, Ao-pōuri, Ao-pōtango, Ao-whētuma, Ao-whekere, Ao-kāhiwahiwa,[1] Ao-kānapanapa, Ao-pākinakina, Ao-pakarea, and Ao-tākawe (Grey 1971).

The names of the beings involved in this flooding include Ua-nui (terrible rain), Ua-roa (long-continued rain), Ua-whatu (fierce hailstorms), and Ua-nganga (sleet); after these, their children in turn took up the fight: Hau-maringi (mist), Hau-marotoroto (heavy dew), and Tōmairangi (light mist) (Grey 1956:10–11, Grey 1971:5).

The brothers individually tried to separate their parents, but Tāne put his head on the earth and feet in the sky and pushed them apart.

Tāwhirimātea pursued his brother, Rongo, and Haumea, the gods of cultivated and uncultivated food, but they were cleverly hidden by their mother, Papa, who still loved her children.

To punish his brothers for cowardice, Tumatuenga invented the arts of hunting, woodcutting, agriculture, cooking, and fishing, to subjugate their respective denizens as food for humans.