title: Kaitangata (mythology)
text: # Kaitangata (mythology)
  
  In Māori mythology, Kaitangata is either a mortal son of Māui, or a son of star-god Rehua.
  
  Kaitangata, the son of Māui, is an industrious man who married the female supernatural being Whaitiri. Due to his name, Kaitangata means man-eater, Whaitiri believed him to be a cannibal as she was. However this proved to be incorrect and she eventually left him because he offended her. Before she returned to heaven as a cloud, she taught Kaitangata how to fish. With Whaitiri, he was the father of Hemā.
  
  