Kurangaituku

Kurangaituku appears in oral narratives of Te Arawa and Raukawa connected to the youth Hatupatu. In several tellings Hatupatu encounters Kurangaituku while hunting in the forest; versions differ on their relationship—some present Kurangaituku as a captor who imprisons Hatupatu in her cave with pet birds and lizards, others as a woman who shelters or nurses him and lives with him as wife or keeper. The tale is used to explain and sacralize local places such as Mokoia Island, Te Kōhatu o Hatapatu (a rock bearing alleged clawmarks) and Whakarewarewa (where a chase ends amid geothermal pools). In Elsdon Best’s collected account she is identified with the name Hine-ingoingo and described as a turehu (a class of other-than-human supernatural beings).

Recorded descriptions in several tellings portray Kurangaituku as a hybrid human–avian figure: wings on her arms, claws instead of fingers, and a beak-like mouth. Descriptive emphases vary across versions and retellings—some label her with English terms like 'ogress' or 'witch', while other accounts stress her nurturing, creative role as guardian of birds.

Narrative actions attributed to Kurangaituku include capturing or imprisoning Hatupatu (keeping him among birds and lizards), caring for and sheltering birds and other creatures in her home, hunting in the forest, and pursuing Hatupatu through varied terrain during a chase. In variants of the tale elements involving a hiding rock appear: the rock that shelters Hatupatu is associated with openings and closings in the story (some accounts emphasize Hatupatu calling the rock open, while some versions attribute such acts within the chase to Kurangaituku). The collected sources do not offer an extended catalogue of magical powers beyond these story-specific actions.