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...

, Haumia-tiketike (or simply Haumia) is the god of wild or uncultivated foods. Haumia was a son of Rangi and Papa

Rangi and Papa

In Māori mythology the primal couple Rangi and Papa appear in a creation myth explaining the origin of the world. In some South Island dialects, Rangi is called Raki or Rakinui.-Union and separation:...

, and agreed to the forced separation of his parents. Because of this he was subjected to the fury of his brother Tāwhirimātea

Tawhirimatea

In Māori mythology, Tāwhirimātea is the god of weather, including thunder and lightning, wind, clouds and storms. He is a son of Papatūānuku and Ranginui...

, god of winds and storms, who would have killed him if their mother had not hidden him in her body, that is, in the ground. While he escaped from Tāwhirimātea, he was later discovered by Tū

Tumatauenga

In Māori mythology, Tū or Tūmatauenga is one of the great gods, and the origin of war. All war-parties were dedicated to him, and he was treated with the greatest respect and awe. He is usually a son of the primordial parent, sky and earth...

, god of war (here representing humankind), who saw Haumia's hair sticking up out of the earth. Haumia contrasts with his brother Rongo

Rongo

In Māori mythology, Rongo is a major god, the god of cultivated food, especially the kūmara, a vital food crop. Other food crops cultivated by Māori in traditional times include taro, yams , cordyline , and gourds . Because of their tropical origin, most of these crops were difficult to grow except...

, the god of the kūmara

Sweet potato

The sweet potato is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the family Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting, tuberous roots are an important root vegetable. The young leaves and shoots are sometimes eaten as greens. Of the approximately 50 genera and more than 1,000 species of...

 and all cultivated plants (Grey 1956:7-10, Orbell 1998:29, Tregear 1891:54).

Haumia is particularly associated with fernroot or aruhe, the starchy rhizome of the bracken

Pteridium esculentum

Pteridium esculentum, commonly known as Austral bracken or simply bracken, is a species of the bracken genus native to a number of countries in the Southern Hemisphere....

 fern Pteridium esculentum, which formed a major element of the Māori diet in former times. Food-quality rhizomes were only obtained from bracken growing in deep, moderately fertile soils. Bracken became abundant after the arrival of Māori, "mainly a result of burning to create open landscapes for access and ease of travel" (McGlone et al., 2005:1). Aruhe was dug in early summer and dried for use in the winter. Although it was not liked as much as kūmara, it was appreciated for its ready availability and the ease with which it could be stored (Orbell 1998:29).

Genealogy

• In the Arawa version (given above), Haumia is a son of Rangi and Papa. However in the southern Bay of Plenty and parts of the East Coast, Haumia is a son 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...
  
   and grandson of Rangi and Papa (Orbell 1998:29).
• White mentions a legend in which Haumia is the son of Tama-nui-a-raki, who is the son of Raki and Hekeheke-i-papa (White 1887-1891, I:20). The 'k' in Raki reveals that this is a South Island
  South Island
  The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...
  
   version, as 'Raki' is 'Rangi' in the North Island
  North Island
  The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...
  
  .