Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

and

Polynesian mythology The Polynesian narrative or Polynesian mythology encompasses the oral traditions of the people of Polynesia (a grouping of Central and South Pacific Ocean island archipelagos in the Polynesian Triangle) together with those of the scattered cul ...

, Ikatere, also spelled Ika-tere, ('fast fish') is a fish god, the father of all sea creatures, including

mermaids In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are sometimes asso ...

. He is a son of Punga, and a grandson of

Tangaroa Tangaroa (Takaroa in the South Island) is the great of the sea, lakes, rivers, and creatures that live within them, especially fish, in Māori mythology. As Tangaroa-whakamau-tai he exercises control over the tides. He is sometimes depicted as ...

, and his brother is

Tū-te-wehiwehi Tū-te-wehiwehi (also Tū-te-wanawana) is the father of all reptiles in Māori mythology. Family He is a son of Punga and brother of Ikatere. Punga's father was Tangaroa, atua of the sea. When Tāwhirimātea made war against his brothers f ...

(Grey 1971:1–5).

Disagreements between brothers

When

Tāwhirimātea In Māori mythology, Tāwhirimātea (or Tāwhiri) is the god of weather, including thunder and lightning, wind, clouds and storms. He is a son of Papatūānuku (earth mother) and Ranginui ( sky father). Tawhirimatea is the second oldest of 7 child ...

(god of storms) made war against his brothers for the separation of

Rangi and Papa In Māori mythology the primal couple Rangi and Papa (or Ranginui and Papatūānuku) appear in a creation myth explaining the origin of the world (though there are many different versions). In some South Island dialects, Rangi is called Raki or Ra ...

(sky and earth), Ikatere and Tū-te-wehiwehi were among those who had to flee from his wrath for their survival. The two argued over whether they should stay in the sea or go to the land. Ikatere chose to keep his children, the fish, to the sea, while Tū-te-wehiwehi chose to take his children, reptiles, to the land. A saying that refers to the choices they made for their descendants goes as such: :

References

Bibliography

Grey 1971:1–5 Animal gods Fish gods Māori gods Māori mythology {{Māori-myth-stub