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Tangaroa
Tangaroa (Māori; Takaroa in the South Island dialect; cognate with Tagaloa in Sāmoan) is the great atua 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 a whale. In some of the Cook Islands, he has similar roles, though in Manihiki, he is the fire deity that Māui steals from, which in Māori mythology is instead Mahuika, a goddess of fire. Māori traditions Tangaroa is son of Ranginui and Papatūānuku, Sky and Earth. After joining his brothers Rongo, Tū, Haumia, and Tāne in the forcible separation of their parents, he is attacked by his brother Tāwhirimātea, the of storms, and forced to hide in the sea. Tangaroa is the father of many sea creatures. Tangaroa's son, Punga, has two children, Ikatere, the ancestor of fish, and Tū-te-wehiwehi (or Tū-te-wanawana), the ancestor of reptiles. Terrified by Tāwhirimātea's o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 and the Māori people (though there are many different versions). In some South Island dialects, Rangi is called Raki or Rakinui. Union and separation Ranginui first married Poharua Te Pō where they bore 3 offspring including Aorangi (or Aoraki as given in South Island). He later married Papatūānuku together becoming the primordial sky father and Earth Mother, earth mother bearing over 500 children of male and female including Tāwhirimātea, Tāne and Tangaroa. Both Ranginui and Papatūānuku lie locked together in a tight embrace, and their sons forced to live in the cramped darkness between them. These children grow and discuss among themselves what it would be like to live in the light. Tūmatauenga, the fiercest of the children, proposes that the best solution to their predicament is to kill their parents. But his brother Tāne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tāne
In Māori mythology, Tāne (also called Tāne-mahuta, Tāne-nui-a-Rangi, Tāne-te-waiora and several other names) is the god of forests and of birds, and the son of Rangi and Papa, Ranginui and Rangi and Papa, Papatūānuku, the sky father and the Earth goddess, earth mother, who used to lie in a tight embrace where their many children lived in the darkness between them (Grey 1956:2). On Tahiti, Tane was the god of peace and beauty. Separates his parents The children of Rangi and Papa grew frustrated at their confinement in the cramped space between their parents. Tūmatauenga, Tū, future god of war, proposes that they should kill their parents. But Tāne (or Tāne-mahuta) disagrees, suggesting that it is better to separate them, sending Rangi into the sky and leaving Papa below to care for them. Tāne's brothers Rongo, then Tangaroa, Haumia-tiketike and Tū all try in vain to separate the parents. After many tries, Tāne lies on his back and pushes with his strong legs, and f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 Rangi and Papa, Papatūānuku (Earth goddess, earth mother) and Rangi and Papa, Ranginui (sky father). Tāwhirimātea is the second oldest of 70 children, all of whom are boys. In his anger at his brothers for separating their parents, Tāwhirimātea destroyed the forests of Tāne (god of forests), drove Tangaroa (god of the sea) and his progeny into the sea, pursued Rongo and Haumia-tiketike till they had to take refuge in the bosom of their mother Papa, and only found in Tūmatauenga a worthy opponent and eternal enemy (Tregear 1891:499). To fight his brothers, Tāwhirimātea gathered an army of his children, winds and clouds of different kinds – including Apū-hau ("fierce squall"), Apū-matangi, Ao-nui, Ao-roa, Ao-pōuri, Ao-pōtango, Ao-whētuma, Ao-whekere, Ao-kāhiwahiwa, Ao-kānapanapa, Ao-pākinakina, Ao-pakarea, and Ao-tākawe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Māori Mythology
Māori mythology and Māori traditions are two major categories into which the remote oral history of New Zealand's Māori people, Māori may be divided. Māori myths concern tales of supernatural events relating to the origins of what was the observable world for the pre-European Māori, often involving gods and demigods. Māori tradition concerns more folkloric legends often involving historical or semi-historical forebears. Both categories merge in to explain the overall origin of the Māori and their connections to the world which they lived in. The Māori did not have a writing system before European contact, beginning in 1769, therefore they relied on oral retellings and recitations memorised from generation to generation. The three forms of expression prominent in Māori and Polynesian oral literature are genealogical recital, poetry, and narrative prose. Experts in these subjects were broadly known as . The rituals, beliefs, and general worldview of Māori society were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rongo
In Māori mythology, Rongo or Rongo-mā-Tāne (also Rongo-hīrea, Rongo-marae-roa, and Rongo-marae-roa-a-Rangi) is a major god (''atua'') of cultivated plants, especially Sweet potato#New Zealand, kūmara, a vital crop. Other crops cultivated by Māori in traditional times included taro, Dioscorea alata, yams (''uwhi''), cordyline (''tī''), and Calabash, gourds (''hue''). Because of their tropical origin, most of these crops were difficult to grow except in the far north of the North Island, hence the importance of Rongo in New Zealand. He was also an important agricultural deity, god of agriculture and god of war in the southern Cook Islands, especially on Mangaia where the Akaoro marae and Orongo marae were centres of his worship; where cooked taro was offered to him cited in to assure success in battle and the fertility of land. A legend concerning Rongo flying the first kite is told in the waiting room of Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room, in which Rongo is voiced by Ern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tūmatauenga
Tūmatauenga (''Tū of the angry face'') is the primary god () of war and human activities such as hunting, food cultivation, fishing, and cooking in Māori mythology. In creation stories, Tū suggests to kill his parents to allow light into the world. After they are instead separated. One of his brothers Tāwhirimātea was not happy with this and had declared war against his brothers and Tū was the only one who fought while the other brothers hid away avoiding the fight. Because of his brothers actions and having to fight Tāwhiri alone, he wars with his brothers and becomes the origin of humanity's activities, and the reasons for their behaviour when interacting with the creations of his brothers. As the god of war, all were dedicated to him and he was treated with the greatest respect and awe. Tūmatauenga inspires the New Zealand Army's Māori name: where all soldiers are deemed of the same ''iwi'' ("tribe") under the deity's patronage regardless of racial heritage. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Punga (mythology)
In Māori mythology, Punga is a supernatural being, the ancestor of sharks, lizards, rays, and all deformed, ugly things. All ugly and strange animals are Punga's children. Hence the saying ''Te aitanga a Punga'' (the offspring of Punga) used to describe an ugly person. Family and mythology Punga is a son of Tangaroa, the god of the sea, and when Tāwhirimātea (god of storms) made war against his brothers after they separated Rangi and Papa (sky and earth), the two sons of Punga, Ikatere and Tū-te-wehiwehi, had to flee for their lives. Ikatere fled to the sea, and became the ancestor of certain fish, while Tū-te-wehiwehi took refuge in the forest, and became the ancestor of lizards. Etymology As is appropriate for a son of Tangaroa, Punga's name has a maritime origin - in the Māori language, 'punga' means 'anchor stone' - in tropical Polynesia, related words refer to coral stone, also used as an anchor (Craig 1989:219, Tregear 1891:374). According to some versions, Punga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cook Islands
The Cook Islands is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands whose total land area is approximately . The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers of ocean. Avarua is its capital. The Cook Islands is self-governing while in free association with New Zealand. Since the start of the 21st century, the Cook Islands conducts its own independent foreign and defence policy, and also has its own customs regulations. Like most members of the Pacific Islands Forum, it has no armed forces, but the Cook Islands Police Service owns a Guardian Class Patrol Boat, , provided by Australia, in order to police its waters. In recent decades, the Cook Islands have adopted an increasingly assertive and distinct foreign policy, and a Cook Islander, Henry Puna, served as Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum from 2021 to 2024. Most Cook Islanders are also citizens of New Zealand, but they also have the status of Coo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haumia-tiketike
Haumia-tiketike (or simply Haumia) is the god of all uncultivated vegetative food in Māori mythology. He is particularly associated with the starchy rhizome of the '' Pteridium esculentum'', which became a major element of the Māori diet in former times. He contrasts with Rongo, the god of and all cultivated food plants. In different tribal and regional variations of the stories involving him, he is often portrayed as the son or grandson of Ranginui. He is frequently associated with traditions of the world's creation, in which he agreed to and attempted the separation of Rangi from his wife Papa. creation myth After Haumia agreed to Rangi and Papa's forced separation in order to allow light and space into the world between them, he was the third child to attempt to push them apart with his arms. Despite Tāne being the one to successfully carry out the task, Haumia's involvement meant he was subjected to the fury of their brother, Tāwhirimātea, god of the winds and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whiro
Whiro-te-tipua (aka Whiro) is the lord of darkness and embodiment of all evil in Māori mythology. Usually depicted as a lizard-like creature, he inhabits the underworld and is responsible for the ills of all people, a contrast to his brother and enemy Tāne. According to some tribes, when people die, their bodies descend into the underworld, where they are eaten by Whiro. Each time Whiro eats a body, he becomes stronger. This process will eventually make him sufficiently powerful to break free of the underworld, at which point he will come to the surface and devour everything and everyone on it. Cremation is therefore recommended to prevent this, because Whiro cannot gain strength from ashes. Taiwhetuki – Whiro's House of Death – is a deep and dark cave where all things evil are preserved, such as black magic. It is a place in which countless personifications of illnesses and diseases dwell. Geckos, skinks, and tuatara were feared because of their spiritual association ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ikatere
In Māori and Polynesian mythology, Ikatere, also spelled Ika-tere, ('fast fish') is a fish god, the father of all sea creatures, including mermaids. He is a son of Punga, and a grandson of Tangaroa, and his brother is Tū-te-wehiwehi (Grey 1971:1–5). Disagreements between brothers When Tāwhirimātea (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 and the Māori people (though there are many different versions). In some South Island dialects, Ran ... (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 c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
