A ghost, a spirit of a deceased person. Also the germ of a human being, stillborn, grown into a malignant spirit. This spirit has the will and power to afflict mankind in various ways. It was therefore customary to bury it in a proper manner and with appropriate ceremony, that the kahukahu may be laid and rendered powerless to assail those who dwell in the living world.

Another name is atua noho-whare, or house-dwelling atua.



  • Best, Elsdon. (1908). "Te Rehu-o-Tainu: The Evolution of a Maori Atua." PSJ 4(6):41-66, p. 42.