Mahuika is a
Māori fire deity. Generally, Mahuika is female. In some versions, she is the younger sister of
Hine-nui-te-pō, goddess of death. It was from her that
Māui (in some versions he is her grandson) obtained the secret of making
fire. She married
Auahi-Turoa and together they had five children, named for the five fingers on the human hand, called collectively
Ngā Mānawa. The symbolism of this connection between fingers and fire is revealed in the stories where Māui obtains fire from Mahuika by tricking her into giving him her fingernails, one by one.
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[Polynesian] A Polynesian deity (sometimes male, sometimes female) of fire (ahi) and earthquakes. In the underworld she is charged with the task of keeping the fires burning. The hero Maui persuaded her to give him fire. It is also the name of the old Maori mother of the clans and man-eating ogress.
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