Key Info

- Cannibalistic thunder goddess who falls in love with a mortal

- Their marriage ends when he becomes horrified with her and she returns to the sky

Brief Bio

Whaitiri is a fearsome figure, fond of cannibalism. When she hears of a mortal named Kaitangata (man-eater), she is certain he will make a fine husband for her. She comes down to earth and marries him, but is disappointed to learn that he is a gentle person, nothing like his name suggests. Whaitiri kills her favourite slave, Anonokia, takes out her heart and liver, and offers them to Kaitangata as a sign of her affection. He is horrified at the grisly offering.

One day, Whaitiri overhears her husband describe her to two strangers. She is offended when she hears him say that his wife's skin is like the wind, and her heart is as cold as snow. On another occasion, she is ashamed when Kaitangata complains that their children are dirty. She explains to her husband that she is unable to wash her children because she is a sacred being from the heavens, and she tells him for the first time that her name is thunder. She prepares to return to her true home in the heavens, and foretells that her children will follow her one day. She departs in a cloud, leaving her children, one of whom is Hemā.