Marakihau is a spirit of Māori tradition.
A sea monster that swallows canoes with its tubular tongue.
The Marakihau is a sea monster of the Māori, a kind of sea taniwha with a tube-like tongue that sucks in fish and canoes.
The motif belongs to carving art; it is regarded as the guardian of a body of water and as a threat to canoe travellers.
Type: Sea taniwha with tubular tongue
Origin: oral Māori tradition
Texts: Orbell, carving art
Period: recorded in writing from the 19th century
Appearance: upper body, fish tail, tubular tongue
Oral Māori tradition, recorded in writing from the 19th century onward.
New Zealand, especially the Mataatua tribes of the Bay of Plenty and Urewera.
Good: Orbell and Best, along with the carving art.
Māori: In carving art, Marakihau denotes a type of sea Taniwha; characterised by the ngongo, the long, hollow tubular tongue.
Appearance
Stylised upper body, curled fish tail, similar to a mermaid; distinguished by the tubular tongue.
Effect
It capsizes canoes and sucks in fish through its tongue.
The key aspects at a glance.
A Māori carving motif that visually condenses belief in the Taniwha.
Canoeists and fishermen, whose boat and catch are taken by the tubular tongue.
Upper body, curled fish tail, tubular tongue with a cup-shaped mouth.
Characteristic is the ngongo, a hollow, cup-shaped tubular mouth, which often depicts a fish; in this way the Marakihau sucked in fish as well as canoes.
It is common among the Mataatua tribes, attested in the house at Te Kuiti; Ureia is regarded, in Marakihau style, as guardian at Hotunui.
The Marakihau is a prominent Māori carving motif, for instance in the Hotunui house with the guardian Ureia at the Auckland War Memorial Museum.
It is a special case: primarily an iconographic concept that condenses belief in the Taniwha.
The source material on protective rites against the Marakihau is sparse, and no defence is recorded. The general approach to Taniwha is common: respect and karakia. Amulet, protective circle and salt apply.
Is the Marakihau a Taniwha?
Yes, a sea subtype, tied to the carving motif.
What is the ngongo?
The hollow tubular tongue, with which it sucks in fish and canoes.
Recommended internal links:
More in the bibliography.
As a Marakihau Taniwha, this figure remains above all one thing: a Māori sea monster of carving art, whose tubular tongue engulfs fish and canoes alike.
Against its influence, cross-cultural tradition names these protective means:
Compare in the Protection Compass →Recommended protective means
The simplest protective means in this collection: 41 layers of fine gold 999, platinum, silver and silicon, manufactured in Ruhla, Thuringia. It requires no activation, is bound to no person, and is effective within a radius of around 50 meters, even without being worn.
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