Cook Islands mythology Cook Islands mythology comprises historical myths, legends, and folklore passed down by the ancient Cook Islanders over many generations. Many of the Cook Islands legends were recited through ancient songs and chants. The Cook Islands myths and ...

(Aitutaki), Nganaoa is a hero who sighted and killed unusually large animals in the ocean while sailing with Rata.

Family

Nganaoa is the son of Vaiaroa and Tairi-tokerau. He discovered his parents on an island, sitting next to a

sennit Sennit is a type of cordage made by plaiting strands of dried fibre or grass. It can be used ornamentally in crafts, like a kind of ''macramé'', or to make straw hats. Sennit is an important material in the cultures of Oceania, where it is use ...

Boat request

Rata retrieved a canoe with his grandmother. He requested to enter the boat, claiming that he was excellent at flying

kites A kite is a tethered heavier than air flight, heavier-than-air or lighter-than-air craft with wing surfaces that react against the air to create Lift (force), lift and Drag (physics), drag forces. A kite consists of wings, tethers and anchors. ...

. However, it did not please Rata, and Nganaoa was thrown overboard. However, Rata changed his mind and let him on the boat.

Monsters

Nganaoa sighted a large

clam Clam is a common name for several kinds of bivalve molluscs. The word is often applied only to those that are edible and live as infauna, spending most of their lives halfway buried in the sand of the seafloor or riverbeds. Clams have two she ...

and shouted to Rata "''O Rata! A fearful enemy is rising up from the sea!''". Nganaoa was prepared and threw a

spear A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fasten ...

into the clams stomach. After killing the clam, he claimed he saw another one. Along the way, he discovered giant

octopuses An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight- limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefish ...

and

whales Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and ...

. He attempted to kill a whale with his spear, but it broke into half. Before he was almost smashed by the whale, he cut him in half with both pieces of his spear.{{Cite news, date=22 June 1892, title=A South Pacific Island Legend, work=The Gazette (Pennsylvania), url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/552258567/?terms=Nganaoa, access-date=24 July 2020, via=

Newspapers.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. In November 2018, ...

References

Cook Islands mythology Heroes in mythology and legend