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...

, the hākuturi are guardians of the forest. They are responsible for guarding the forest, and to avenge any desecration of its sacredness. When 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...

 cut down a tree without first making the proper incantations and rituals, the hākuturi rebuked him by re-erecting the tree. When he showed remorse, they felled the tree again and made it into a canoe for him in a single night. The hākuturi seem to have been regarded as birds or birdlike: one source calls them the children of Tāne

Tane

In Māori mythology, Tāne is the god of forests and of birds, and the son of Ranginui and Papatuanuku, the sky father and the earth mother, who lie in a tight embrace...

, god of the forest and ancestor of birds (Orbell 1998:23-24). A Ngati Kahungunu version (White 1887-1891, III:2) refers to 'the host of Haku-tiri, of Roro-tini, and of Pona-ua'. This last word would seem to imply some relationship to the Ponaturi

Ponaturi

In Māori mythology, the Ponaturi are a group of hostile creatures who live in a land beneath the sea by day, returning to shore each evening to sleep. They dread daylight, which is fatal to them. They appear in a number of stories, including:...

(Tregear 1891:43).