Meteors in the Maori Astronomical Traditions of New Zealand

TL;DR

This paper reviews Maori cultural perceptions of meteors, highlighting their personification as gods or omens, and clarifies historical conflations with comets in scholarly literature.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of Maori traditions related to meteors and clarifies misconceptions about meteor and comet terminology.

Findings

Meteors are personified as gods or children in Maori culture.

Meteors are seen as omens of death and destruction.

Early scholars often conflated meteors with comets.

Abstract

We review the literature for perceptions of meteors in the Maori cultures of New Zealand. We examine representations of meteors in religion, story, and ceremony. We find that meteors are sometimes personified as gods or children, or are seen as omens of death and destruction. The stories we found highlight the broad perception of meteors found throughout the Maori culture and demonstrate that some early scholars conflated the terms comet and meteor.