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 ...

, Tu-metua was the sixth child and most beloved daughter of the

mother goddess A mother goddess is a goddess who represents a personified deification of motherhood, fertility goddess, fertility, creation, destruction, or the earth goddess who embodies the bounty of the earth or nature. When equated with the earth or t ...

Vari Vari ( el, Βάρη) is a southern suburb of Athens and former municipality in East Attica, Greece along the Athens coast. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Vari-Voula-Vouliagmeni, of which it is a municipal u ...

. Tu-metua lived in Te-enua-te-ki "The-mute-land" (''enua'', "land" + ''te'', used as a negative, + ''ki'', "to speak"). This was a place said to have no spoken language, but communication only by signs—such as nods, raised eyebrows, grimaces, and smiles.

Gill A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they ar ...

states that Vari and Tu-metua lived together in Enua-te-ki, but he was in error in treating Te Aiti as a descriptive word and not as Vari's own distinct land. Mamae's native text (Gill's informant), however, shows that the two lands were close together. It also explains the meaning of Tu-metua's name, which differs from Gill's translation as "Stick-to-the-parent".

References

{{reflist Mangaia mythology