Sources do not provide a mythological creation narrative for Taranaki (Tuturu); instead the iwi are presented as a genealogical and historical people of the Taranaki rohe with a long‑standing Māori presence in the region. Historical material records continuity of occupation in the Taranaki area across centuries and documents the iwi's involvement in notable 19th‑century events such as the First and Second Taranaki Wars; contemporary sources record the iwi's participation in Treaty settlement processes and collective redress concerning Taranaki Maunga.
As a human iwi, Taranaki (Tuturu) does not have a supernatural physical form. Documentary sources describe demographic and institutional facts: the iwi is listed among recognised iwi (Māori Fisheries Act) with registered membership figures (Te Kāhui Māngai records population and registered members), is centred in the Taranaki region around Mount Taranaki, and participates in marae‑based and iwi political activities (for example events at Owae marae, Waitara).
Not framed as supernatural powers; the iwi's recorded capacities are historical, political and social actions: armed resistance and defence during the First and Second Taranaki Wars (including documented casualties at the defence of Waireka on 28 March 1860), collective political negotiation and Treaty settlement activity (including signing the Taranaki Maunga collective redress deed with the Crown), and participation in statutory recognition frameworks such as registration under the Māori Fisheries Act.
Weaknesses
- conditionhistorical dispossession and conflict (land loss, colonial warfare, political marginalisation)
Wards
None recorded.
Tanuki
The raccoon-dog spirit of Japanese folklore — a cheerful trickster and master of shape-shifting, less dangerous than the kitsune but far more mischievous. Famous for leaves transformed into money.
Taotao Mo'na
Taotao Mo'na (also taotaomona, taotaomo'na) are ancestral spirits in Chamorro belief on the Mariana Islands, regarded as the "people before" who inhabit and protect wild places and mountains. They function as landscape guardians whose favor or displeasure affects living people and whose presence is negotiated through cultural protocols and specialist healers.
Taphians
A mytho-historical island people of the Ionian Sea in Homeric and later Greek tradition, the Taphians are portrayed as seafaring, piratical islanders who engage in raiding, slave-trading, and metal commerce and who appear in heroic-age genealogies and episodic narratives (not as supernatural beings).
Tapio
Tapio is attested in the supplied sources as the name of "a god or spirit in Eastern Finnish mythology" and is also widely used as a modern Finnish personal name and in toponymy and cultural references. The provided materials contain no further folkloric detail about Tapio's appearance, duties, or rituals.
Tapio
Tapio is a Finnish forest spirit and personification of the woods who functions as the owner/ruler of forests and a recipient of hunters' prayers and offerings. He appears both as an individualized forest-being with household members (wife Mielikki, children such as Tellervo and Nyyrikki) and, in runic song usage, as a synonym for the forest itself.
Tarakamaya War
Conflict sparked by the elopement of Tara, consort of Brihaspati, in Hindu mythology. (Note: 1. Power tier: Primordial seems excessive; given that it's an "ancient conflict" (Source 1), a more fitting power tier would be Ancient. 2. Abilities: Although no specific powers or abilities are attr)
Tarand
The tarand (also tarandos, tarandus, parandrus/parandros) is a wondrous large ungulate attested in classical and later European literature, described as ox-sized with branched horns, long bear-like hair, a very tough hide, and a remarkable capacity to change its external colour (and in some accounts hair) to match its surroundings.
Taranga
Taranga is a maternal figure in Māori whakapapa best known as the mother of the culture-hero Māui (Māui-tikitiki-a-Taranga). In the accounts supplied she appears in the origin episode of Māui’s birth and abandonment at the sea and functions primarily as a genealogical progenitor rather than an independently characterised supernatural being.
Taranis
Taranis is a deity of the ancient Celtic (principally Gallic) religious sphere attested in Roman-era literary commentary and in inscriptions; the figure is principally associated by etymology and interpretatio with thunder and sky-power and is named alongside other native gods in classical sources.
Tariaksuq
Tariaksuq are Inuit 'shadow-people'—humanoid beings associated with shadows, invisibility, and a separate realm. They are described as socially parallel to humans (houses, families, tools) yet are not seen when looked at directly, instead disappearing into their own world or appearing only as shadows; they reportedly become visible if killed, said to appear as half-man, half-caribou.
Tarqeq
Tarqeq is presented in two overlapping registers in the provided sources: (A) the modern astronomical name for a small prograde satellite of Saturn (Saturn LII), and (B) the Inuit moon spirit / personification of the Moon, a named lunar figure in Inuit lexical and mythic material. Modern astronomical naming explicitly draws from the Inuit lunar figure.
Tarqiup Inua
Tarqiup Inua (also Tatqim Iñua) is the lunar spirit or 'Master of the Moon' in Inuit thought, described as a man — a mighty hunter — who dwells in the skies and is associated with fertility, moral authority, and (for Alaskan Inuit) the animals.
Community Record
- [1]Taranaki (iwi). Wikipedia: Taranaki (iwi) — details on iwi identity, participation in the First and Second Taranaki Wars and casualties at Waireka (28 March 1860).wiki
- [2]TKM | Iwi | Taranaki Iwi | Te Kahui Mangai. Te Kāhui Māngai (TKM) entry for Taranaki Iwi — lists recognised iwi status, population and registered members.other
- [3]Ngā Iwi o Taranaki and the Crown sign Taranaki Maunga collective redress deed. Beehive.govt.nz press release, 1 September 2023 — records signing of Te Ruruku Pūtakerongo at Owae marae, Waitara.other
- [4]Taranaki. Wikipedia: Taranaki region — notes long Māori presence in the region and lists local iwi including Taranaki, Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Maru, Ngāti Ruanui, Te Āti Awa, Ngā Rauru, Ngāruahinerangi and Ngāti Tama.wiki
- [5]Hui gives Crown the message. Converge article documenting a hui in Waitara where Taranaki Māori rejected government seabed proposals — example of political mobilisation through hui.other
- [6]Green Party congratulates Taranaki iwi on settlements. Green Party statement acknowledging settlement activity involving Taranaki iwi.other