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 ...

, Taranga is the mother of

Māui Māui or Maui is the great culture hero and trickster in Polynesian mythology. Very rarely was Māui actually worshipped, being less of a deity ( demigod) and more of a folk hero. His origins vary from culture to culture, but many of his main expl ...

. Her husband is

Makeatutara In Māori mythology, Makeatutara is the father of Māui. His wife is Taranga. He is a deity and guardian of the underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious tra ...

. Māui was born prematurely, so Taranga wrapped his body in her hair and threw him into the waves. Some sea-creatures cared for him, hiding him in

kelp Kelps are large brown algae or seaweeds that make up the order (biology), order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genus, genera. Despite its appearance and use of photosynthesis in chloroplasts, kelp is technically not a plant but a str ...

until a

storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstor ...

sent him back to the beach. His ancestor, Tama-nui-a-rangi, found him and brought him back to life, and educated him. Māui arrived at his mother's village one day, and recognized his brothers. Taranga didn't know who he was until Māui reminded her of the circumstances of his birth. Each morning, Taranga would disappear and eventually Māui followed her to the underworld by assuming the shape of a wood pigeon. Māui found her with his father, Makeatutara, a guardian of the underworld. Taranga introduced them and his father performed the dedicatory ritual over his son. Because Makeatutara made mistakes in the incantation, Māui was fated to die and thus humankind is mortal. In some versions, Taranga is a man, the son of Murirangawhenua. He married Irawhaki, and begat the Māui brothers.

References

*E. R. Tregear, ''Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary'' (Lyon and Blair: Lambton Quay, 1891), 233–234, 478. * J. White, ''The Ancient History of the Maori'', 7 Volumes (Government Printer: Wellington, 1887–1891), II:63. Legendary Māori people {{Māori-myth-stub