Taniwha

In inland waters, they may still be of whale-like dimensions, but look more like a gecko or a tuatara, having a row of spines along the back.

Lake Waikaremoana in Te Urewera Ranges area of Wairoa District was also reputedly carved out by taniwha.

The taniwha Āraiteuru is said to have arrived in New Zealand with the early voyaging canoes and her eleven sons are credited with creating the various branches of the Hokianga Harbour (Orbell 1995:184–185).

Northern New Zealand presently appears to be just outside the temperature range where a population can sustain itself indefinitely, dying out during unusually cold winters.

The taniwha Ureia, depicted on this page, was associated as a guardian with the Māori people of the Hauraki district.

Because they lived in dangerous or dark and gloomy places, the people were careful to placate the taniwha with appropriate offerings if they needed to be in the vicinity or to pass by its lair.

[10] Witi Ihimaera, author of The Whale Rider, says that he has a female kaitiaki (guardian) taniwha named Hine Te Ariki who lives in the Waipāoa River.

Often these conflicts took place soon after the settlement of New Zealand, generally after a taniwha had attacked and eaten a person from a tribe that it had no connection with.

Many of these taniwha are described as beings of lizard-like form, and some of the stories say the huge beasts were cut up and eaten by the slayers.

The taniwha had swallowed all that his victims had been carrying, and his stomach also contained weapons of various kinds, darts, greenstone ornaments, shark's teeth, flax clothing, and an assortment of fur and feather cloaks of the highest quality.

In most versions of the story, the monster eats several villagers and captures a young woman whom he keeps in a cave by the sea.

"[4] Beliefs in the existence of taniwha have a potential for controversy but there has been a change in the way they are viewed; rather than being derided for holding up development and infrastructure projects they are becoming recognised as indicators of natural hazards.

[18] Some like the journalist Brian Rudman have criticised such deals in respect of 'secretive taniwha which rise up from swamps and river beds every now and again, demanding a tithe from Transit New Zealand'.

[19] In 2001 "another notable instance of taniwha featuring heavily within the public eye was that of a proposed Northland prison site at Ngawha which was eventually granted approval through the courts.

[24] The Power Rangers Dino Charge episode "Deep Down Under" mentions the Taniwha myth but identifies it with such cryptids as the Loch Ness Monster.

In the song "Dirty Creature", by New Zealand art rock group Split Enz, the Taniwha is described as rising from "the river of dread" and paralyzing its victims with "tentacles on the brain" that "bind and gag [their] wits."

In the movie Once Were Warriors, the character Grace Heke can be seen telling her siblings a story about Taniwha outside the family home.