tangi te wahine rā ko tana tangi anō, ko te waiata nei— ‘Tērā te komaru kia āta haramai Kia āta hangaia taku nei titiro He ao uru pea e tākiri atu rā He puia mānuka ki te hoko a Tirangi Maru tata rawa au te awa ki Nukupori Ki a Te Heu rāia e moea iho nei. Tomokia atu te whare i a Uenuku Kia tia taku rangi te rau o te amokura Tikapa o te hau o kotuku te rangi Heoi nei anō aku rangi ki konei He pakinga rā tahi ka whanatu ai au Ara ka puta nei.' Heoi anō, ko tōna pikinga ki te rangi. Ko te tamaiti a Uenuku rāua ko Tāiri-a-kohu ko Te Heu, arā, ko Heheurangi tōna roanga, a, e mau nei taua ingoa i tētahi wahine o Tūhoe. Nō tēnei ao, nō te ao maori a Uenuku. The mist comes down so slowly That I am exposed for all eyes to see. Perhaps it is the dark mist From the manuka shelters of my home at Tirangi Where soon I will return, Following the watery way to Nukupori. Only in dreams will I see you now, Te Heu' Enter then the house of Uenuku, That I may adorn my head with the plume of the amokura. The wind rises, the heavens descend. A last farewell before I leave— Now I go. After this she rose up to the sky. The child of Uenuku and Tairi-a-kohu was Te Heu, sometimes known as Heheurangi (the ‘Sky Clearer’). Heheurangi is a name still given to women in the Tuhoe district. Uenuku was not a supernatural being; he was a man of this world.

Another Version of the Story Here is another version of the story of Uenuku and the Mist Woman. In this story, told by Tamarau Waiari of Ngati Koura, the Mist Woman is referred to by her Tuhoe name of Hine-pukohurangi. (‘Kohu’ and ‘pukohu’ are, of course, two Maori words for ‘mist’.) The people of Tuhoe trace their descent from Hine-pukohurangi; hence the name, ‘The Children of the Mist’, by which they are sometimes known. No-one who has visited the mountainous Urewera district, and seen the white mist which lies in those dark mossy forests, can doubt the appropriateness of this expression. In the following version of the story of Uenuku and the Mist Woman no child is mentioned, for unlike Ngati Kahungunu the Tuhoe do not claim Uenuku as their father, but Te Maunga, ‘the Mountain’. However this second version includes some details not given in the first account. Hinewai, mentioned in this story, is the personification of the light misty rain which falls in the mountains.

Uenuku Raua Ko Hine-pukohurangi He kōrero tēnei mō Hinepūkohurangi rāua ko tōna teina, ko Hinewai. Ka heke iho ngā wāhine rā i te pō. Ka karanga atu a Hine-pūkohurangi ki a Hinewai, ‘E noho koe i konei, kia haere au ki a Uenuku.’ Na, ka whakaae te taina. Na, ka tapoko a Hine-pūkohurangi ki roto ki te whare o Uenuku, ka noho rāua, ka mōhio a Uenuku ehara i reira nei taua wahine. Ka pātai a Uenuku, ‘Nō hea koe?’ Ka mea mai te wahine rā, ‘Nō Rangiroa au, nō Rangimamao, tōku ingoa ko Hine-pūkohurangi.’ Na, ka moe rāua. Na, kua tae mai te hihi a te awatea ki a Hinewai, kātahi ia ka karanga, ‘Hine-pūkohurangi, e! Ka awatea.’ Ka puta a Hine-pūkohu, ka kake rāua ki te rangi, tō rāua ara he kohu. Oho rawa ake a Uenuku, kua ngaro. Na, ka noho i te pō, ka weto te ahi, ka tae iho. Ka Uenuku and The Mist Woman This story is about Hine-pukohurangi and her younger sister Hinewai. These women came down to earth at night time. Hine-pukohurangi said to Hinewai, ‘You stay here while I go to visit Uenuku’. Her younger sister agreed to this. Then Hine-pukohurangi went into Uenuku's house and she and Uenuku spent the night together. Uenuku knew that she did not belong to those parts, and he asked her, ‘From where do you come?’ His wife replied, ‘I am from Rangiroa, from Rangimamao [These are two names for Rangi, the sky father]; my name is Hine-pukohurangi.’ And so these two slept together. Now when Hinewai saw the first rays of dawn, she called out, ‘O Hine-pukohurangi! It is dawn!’ Then Hine-pukohurangi came out of the house, and the two of them went up to