Hema- Polynesian HeroHero"Father of Tawhaki"
Titles & Epithets
Description
The Ponaturi, fish-like beings who perished in sunlight, dragged Hema to their underwater realm and held his bones beneath the sea. It fell to his son Tawhaki to seal the creatures in their dwelling and wait for dawn, when the light killed every one of them.
Mythology & Lore
Son of Thunder
Whaitiri, the thunder goddess, descended from the sky to marry the warrior Kaitangata. She had heard he was a man-eater, and this pleased her. When she discovered he was not, she lost interest and returned to the heavens. Hema was the child she left behind.
In George Grey's account, Hema grew up the son of thunder and a mortal father, raised on earth while his mother watched from the sky. That mixed blood would not protect him from what came next.
Capture by the Ponaturi
The Ponaturi were creatures of the sea, fish-like and numerous, who could walk on land only at night. Sunlight killed them. In Grey's telling, these beings seized Hema and dragged him to their underwater dwelling. They killed him there and kept his bones.
His family searched but could not find where the Ponaturi had taken him. The sea hid its dead well.
The Dawn that Killed the Ponaturi
Hema's son Tawhaki tracked the Ponaturi to their house on land, the place where they sheltered before dawn. While the creatures slept, Tawhaki and his companion blocked every crack and opening in the walls, every gap where light could enter. Then they waited.
When the sun rose, Tawhaki threw the doors open. Light flooded the house. The Ponaturi, trapped inside with no darkness to flee to, died where they stood. Hema's bones were recovered and given proper burial.