Aitu
Aitu is a term found throughout Polynesian languages referring to ghosts, spirits, or demons, often malevolent in nature. The word appears across Tongan, Samoan, Maori, Tahitian, Cook Islands, and other Polynesian mythologies with varying specific meanings. In Tongan mythology, ʻaitu or ʻeitu are lesser gods, many being patrons of specific villages and families, often taking the form of plants or animals and regarded as more cruel than other gods. In Maori mythology, aitu refers to sickness, calamity, or demons, while the related word aituā means misfortune or accident. In the Cook Islands, Ai