In Māori mythology

Maori mythology

Māori mythology and Māori traditions are the two major categories into which the legends of the Māori of New Zealand may usefully be divided...

, Apakura is the wife of Tūhuruhuru, the son of Tinirau

Tinirau and Kae

In Māori mythology, Tinirau is a guardian of fishes. He is a son of Tangaroa, the god of the sea. His home at Motutapu is surrounded with pools for breeding fish. He also has several pet whales....

. She had several children, among whom are Tūwhakararo

Tuwhakararo

In Māori mythology, Tūwhakararo is a chief in Hawaiki. Tūwhakararo went on a visit to the Āti Hāpai people, whose chief, Poporokewa, had married Tūwhakararo's sister Mairatea. In a wrestling match he was treated unfairly, and was killed in a treacherous manner...

, Mairatea, Reimatua, and Whakatau

Whakatau

In Māori mythology, Whakatau is a son of Tūwhakararo and Apakura. One day Apakura throws her apron into the sea, and a sea deity named Rongotakawhiu takes it and works it into human form, and Whakatau is born. The sea deity teaches him the arts of enchantment. As the child grows older, people see...

. In another legend, Apakura is said to be the wife of Tūwhakararo, who was the son of Rātā

Rata (Maori mythology)

In Māori mythology, accounts vary somewhat as to the ancestry of Rātā. Usually he is a grandson of Tāwhaki and son of Wahieroa. Wahieroa is treacherously killed by Matuku-tangotango, an ogre...

and father of Whakatau. Whakatau was born in a miraculous manner, from the girdle or apron which Apakura threw into the ocean which was made into a child by a sea deity (Tregear 1891:15).