JAMES COWAN: THE PATU-PAIAREHE

PATU-PAIAREHE is the name applied by the Maori to the mysterious forest-dwelling race who, for want of a more exact term, may be described as the fairies of New Zealand.
An atmosphere of mysticism surrounds Maori references to these elusive tribes of the mountains and the bush. They are spoken of as an iwi-atua, a race of supernatural beings, and they are accredited with some of the marvellous powers attributed to the world of fairies in other parts of the globe. Some folk-tales of the Maori describe them as little people—but the native fancy does not usually picture them the tiny elves common to the elf-world fairydom. Most of the legends I have gathered give them the ordinary stature of mortals, while at the same time investing them with some of the characteristics of the enchanted tribes of other lands.
http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document/Volume_30_1921/Volume_30,_No._118/The_Patu-paiarehe._Notes_on_Maori_folk-tales_of_the_fairy_people,_by_James_Cowan,_p_96-102/p1

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