In
Māori mythology, Ikaroa is the long fish that gave birth to all the stars in the
Milky Way
The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye. ...
or the
Mother Goddess of all the stars – ornaments of the
Sky God. Ika-Roa is also an alternative name for the Milky Way.
Ika-roa was also called ''Mangōroa'' ("long
shark
Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachi ...
") or ''Mangōroa i ata'' ("long shark in the early
dawn
Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's hori ...
").
Notes
References
* E. Shortland, ''Maori Religion and Mythology'' (Longmans: London), 1882.
* E.R. Tregear, ''Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary'' (Lyon and Blair: Lambton Quay), 1891.
Māori mythology
Fish deities
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