''In the Beginning'' is a 2001 New Zealand children’s book by

Peter Gossage Peter Gossage (22 October 1946 – 30 July 2016) was a New Zealand author and illustrator. Known for his children's picture books based on Māori mythology, Gossage published over 20 books with deceptively simple storytelling popular inside and ...

, a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

author. The book is a retelling of the

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 ...

creation story and is sculpted around

Māori mythology Māori mythology and Māori traditions are two major categories into which the remote oral history of New Zealand's Māori may be divided. Māori myths concern fantastic tales relating to the origins of what was the observable world for the pr ...

. Gossage writes about the struggle of Ranginui and Papatūānuku's children who are tired of living in the dark and trying to part their parents to allow light into

Aotearoa ''Aotearoa'' () is the current Māori-language name for New Zealand. The name was originally used by Māori in reference to only the North Island, with the name of the whole country being ''Aotearoa me Te Waipounamu'' ("North Island and South ...

Plot summary

The book opens with the introduction of Aotearoa's parents, Rangi, the father and Papa, the mother. Many children were born into the darkness between the two of them, as Rangi lay on top of Papa. These sons were Tū, Tāne, Tāwhirimātea, Haumia, Rongo and their only daughter, Tangaroa. Living in the darkness between their parents caused some of their sons to become resentful of their dark and cramped life. As a result, a plan was devised to escape. Tū suggested killing their parents but Tāwhirimātea disagreed. Haumia and Rongo believed things should remain the way there were. Finally, Tāne came up with the idea to push the two of them apart. The siblings took turns standing and pushing upwards to force their parents apart. Tangaroa and Tū both failed while Tāwhirimātea refused to participate as he believed it was cruel to try and separate them. Finally, Tāne found a solution. He lay on his back and pressed his feet against his father's chest. This caused Rangi to fly up into the air and light streamed all around the siblings. Now lonely and bare, Papa was left on the ground while Rangi soared the sky. Tāne clothed his mother in trees, flowers and ferns then dressed his father in the rainbows, clouds, stars, the sun and the moon. The spouses were separated. The siblings became the guardians of the land, each taking on important roles vital to the creation of Aotearoa and its prosperity. Tāne because the guardian spirit of the forest, Tū because God of man and war, Tangaroa became guardian of the sea, Tāwhirimātea became God of winds and storms, Haumia because guardian spirit of wild and uncultivated foods and Rongo because God of peace and agriculture.

Characters

* Rangi - the father. *

Papa Papa is a word used in many languages as an affectionate term for father. Papa or PAPA may refer to: Geography and geology *Pápa, a town in Hungary *Papa village (Samoa), on the island of Savai'i *Papa, Scotland, various islands *Papa rock, ...

- the mother. * Tū - God of Man and war. * Tāne - Guardian spirit of the Forest. * Tāwhirimātea - God of winds and storms. *

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 ...

- Guardian of the sea. * Haumia - Guardian spirit of wild and uncultivated foods. * Rongo - God of peace and agriculture.

Mythology

The story is inspired by the

origin story of

(

) and how the land was created. Māori have many origin stories, but the most important of them all, passed down from generation to generation, is the story of how light came from darkness and how from nothing came life.

The separation of earth and sky

As told in Gossage's book, the siblings ( Tūmatauenga, Tāne Mahuta, Tāwhirimātea, Haumietiketike, Rongomātāne and

) were born between Rangi and Papa in darkness but decided to separate their parents to allow light to come into the world. Tāne did this by laying on his back and pushing his father up into the sky where he'd remain. With their parents separated and light flowing throughout Aotearoa, the children because gods of various parts of the natural world. Tāne because God of the forests and Tangaroa became God of the sea. This time of the story, where life is flourishing, nature is evolving, the siblings thrive; this is Te Ao- Mārama, the movement from darkness to the world of light. Just a Gossage's book had ended, Ranginui and Papatūānuku did not want to be separated from each other or their children. The couple wept for each other and were not angry with their children. Their sadness inspired the whakatauki (a Māori proverb) ''“Kei te heke ngā roimata o Ranginui”'' which translates to the tears of Ranginui are falling. Māori say this proverb when it is raining. Ranginui grieved for his love Papatūānuku and so Tāne, in response, turned his mother downwards so that she would not see Ranginui’s sadness and as Gossage mentioned, he then clothed her in the flowers, trees and ferns. In other

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

versions of this pūrākau, sometimes it is the moon that prompts the children to separate their parents, Rangi and Papa; in some other accounts, it is the sun.

Criticism

Gossage was met with harsh words when he approached

Selwyn Muru Selwyn Frederick Muru (born 6 September 1937), also known as Herewini Murupaenga, is a New Zealand artist of Māori descent (Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Kurī). His life's work includes, painting, sculpture, journalism, broadcasting, directing, acting ...

from

TV2 Channel 2 or TV 2 may refer to: Television networks, channels and stations *Channel 2 (Iran), operated by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting *Channel 2 (Israel), a commercial television station *, entertainment and music television in Latvia * ...

and asked, “Can you give us any advice?” Selwyn then replied with, “Why don’t you

pākehā Pākehā (or Pakeha; ; ) is a Māori term for New Zealanders primarily of European descent. Pākehā is not a legal concept and has no definition under New Zealand law. The term can apply to fair-skinned persons, or to any non-Māori New Ze ...

leave our culture alone?”{{Cite journal , last=Agnew , first=Trevor , date=2016-10-25 , title=Peter Gossage: A Talent for Communication , url= , journal=Agnew Reading , volume=897 , via=Blogspot

References