Tū-te-wehiwehi

Tū-te-wehiwehi
	Atua of reptiles
Other names	Tū-te-wanawana
Gender	Male
Region	New Zealand
Ethnic group	Māori
Personal information
Parents	Punga
Siblings	Ikatere
Consort	Mairangi
Offspring	Uenuku

Tū-te-wehiwehi (also Tū-te-wanawana) is the father of all reptiles in Māori mythology.

A young adult male tuatara, a native New Zealand reptile, one of the children of Tū-te-wehiwehi

Family

He is a son of Punga and brother of Ikatere.[1][2] Punga's father was Tangaroa, atua of the sea.

When Tāwhirimātea made war against his brothers for separating Rangi and Papa, Ikatere and Tū-te-wehiwehi had to flee, and Ikatere fled to the sea and became an ancestor of fishes, while Tū-te-wehiwehi took refuge in the forest and fathered lizards. Before Tū-te-wehiwehi and Ikatere fled, they disputed together as to what they should do to escape from the storms.

One of Tu-te-wanwana's offspring was Uenuku, a lesser reptile atua. His mother was Mairangi, who was the daughter of Kauika, son of Wareware, son of Murirangawhenua and Mahuika.[3] This Uenuku should not be confused with Uenuku, a more prominent atua.

References

Grey 1971:1–5
Ika-tere
Tregear, Edward (1891). The Maori-Polynesian comparative dictionary. p. 572. Retrieved 7 May 2020.

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[1] Grey 1971:1–5

[2] Ika-tere

[Tregear-3] Tregear, Edward (1891). The Maori-Polynesian comparative dictionary. p. 572. Retrieved 7 May 2020.