Jump to content

Talk:Pouākai

Page contents not supported in other languages.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Untitled

[edit]

Can anyone tell me about the hasst's Eagle's Habitat

Correction

[edit]

"Pouakai" was certainly said to eat humans. As far as I know, "Hokioi" never was. The only legend connected with "Hokioi" I know of is that it spent its whole life above the clouds and was therefore never seen, being known only by its cry. Since Harpagornis was not a soaring eagle, this makes the identification of "Hokioi" with Harpagornis dubious, to say the least. "Pouakai", the man-eater, is a much better candidate for the moa-hunting Harpagornis.

"Pouakai" also turns up -- being ridden on by humans -- in the story of Pourangahua, who brought back the kumara from a strange distant land many days' sail eastward across the ocean. Since the kumara (sweet potato) is in fact native to South America, "Pouakai" in that story may be an exaggeration of the Andean condor. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.49.0.2 (talk) 02:25, 18 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Actual sources please

[edit]

It would be great to distinguish between poukai (supposedly the giant eagle) and hakawai or hokioi (probably the extinct snipe), especially since the latter has its own Wikipedia page which describes the legend and possible identity of the bird quite well. What we need on THIS page are actual sources that quote stories about poukai/pouakai. One blog post cites (without references) "Taylor (1855) 398; Wohlers (1876) 110; Stack (1878) 63; Skinner (1912) 146-47; and see NZETC. Tregear casts doubt on the stories of Pouākai in “Myths of Observation,” Lucifer: A Theosophical Magazine (Mar-Aug. 1895) 113-14; also Tregear (1904) (and a quoted story)". Anyone feel like adding those references at least? I will give it a go eventually I'm sure. Giantflightlessbirds (talk) 03:10, 10 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Move to Pouākai

[edit]

News sources and Ngāi Tahu seem to use this spelling: [1][2][3][4][5]. Alexeyevitch(talk) 07:28, 19 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Request for more information

[edit]

I was wondering whether someone could provide more information onto the myth of the Pouākai itself. Whilst there is a decently sized section with information about the Haast's Eagle, there is 2 lines that actually has anything about the Pouākai, and that is that it eats humans and that (according to an artist's depiction) it looks like a brown bird with green wing coverts, a beige underside, red nape, black throat, yellow legs, green beak and red eyes.

Whilst being useful information, of course, "In some of these legends, they kill and eat humans," is a line that does not even provide examples of legends. Of course, I understand that legends, myths, fables, tales and such, vary greatly by word of mouth changing details overtime, and I am not of Māori descent, nor was I born in New Zealand, but I think it would be nice if someone could write their own telling of a legend they've heard with the Pouākai. 93.191.200.122 (talk) 19:25, 21 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]