# Hotunui — Polynesian Mythology character guide

> Hotunui in Polynesian Mythology by George Grey.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Paka Hotunui, Paka, O Hotunui

**First appearance:** 0020-the-story-of-marut-hu-the-son-of-hotunui-and-of-kahureremoa-the-daughter-of-paka

## Snapshot

A chief so shamed by a false accusation of sweet-potato theft that he abandons his pregnant wife and vanishes to Hauraki.

## Who they are

Hotunui arrives from beyond the ocean in the Tainui canoe and settles at Kāwhia, but a thief's footprints — erased by his own unusually large feet — get him accused of robbing a friend's storehouse. Too ashamed to stay, he leaves his pregnant wife with instructions to name the child after his unplanted field, then travels to Hauraki and becomes chief of Wakatīwai. His abandoned son Marutūāhu eventually seeks him out, and the reunion of father and son drives the story's central arc.

## Relationships

### [Marutūāhu](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/polynesian_mythology_se/characters/marutuahu)

_family_

Hotunui is Marutūāhu's father, a chief who passes down his legacy.

### [Marutūāhu](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/polynesian_mythology_se/characters/marutuahu)

_family_

Hotunui is Marutūāhu's father, a chief who passes down his legacy.

## In the story

### [The Story of Marutūāhu, the Son of Hotunui, and of Kahureremoa, the Daughter of Paka](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/polynesian_mythology_se/chapters/the-story-of-marut-hu-the-son-of-hotunui-and-of-kahureremoa-the-daughter-of-paka)

A chief who arrived on the Tainui canoe, falsely accused of theft, and fled to Hauraki where he fathered Paka.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/polynesian_mythology_se/characters/hotunui
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/polynesian_mythology_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/polynesian_mythology_se/characters