The Patupaiarehe of Aotearoa New Zealand

Record summary

Patupaiarehe are Māori otherworld beings associated in different traditions with forested or mountainous places, music, mist, nocturnal activity and encounters with humans. Modern interpretations sometimes describe them as ‘fairies’ or as a pre-Māori population, but Māori scholarship emphasizes variation in whakapapa, locality and narrative function. The tradition is valuable for comparison with European fairy lore because it raises questions about translation, colonization and the treatment of Indigenous beings as folklore creatures. A researcher should use iwi-specific material and distinguish traditional narratives from later racialized theories.