The Vao
Not independently attested as a ghost of Cook Islands folklore. In Cook Islands Māori, vao means 'bush' or 'wilderness' and does not name a spirit; documented spirits of the dead are tūpāpaku and the tīni, recorded by ethnographers such as Christian Clerk. 'Vao' is also the name of an island off Malekula, Vanuatu. The helpful village-ghost described is not recorded under this name.