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 ...

, Tama-nui-te-rā (Tamanuiterā) is the personification of the

Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

Etymology

In the

Māori language Māori (), or ('the Māori language'), also known as ('the language'), is an Eastern Polynesian language spoken by the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. Closely related to Cook Islands Māori, Tuamotuan, and ...

, ''Tama-nui-te-rā'' means "Great Son of the Sun". The Māori word for "sun" or "day" is ''rā'', deriving from

Proto-Polynesian Proto-Polynesian (abbreviated PPn) is the hypothetical proto-language from which all the modern Polynesian languages descend. It is a daughter language of the Proto-Austronesian language. Historical linguists have reconstructed the language using ...

*''laqaa''.

Legends

Hero Māui decided that the days were too short and caught Tama-nui-te-rā with a snare, then beat him to make him travel more slowly across the

sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space. In the field of astronomy, ...

Family

In some legends Tama-nui-te-rā is the husband of Ārohirohi, goddess of mirages. In other legends, Tama-nui-te-rā had two wives, the

Summer Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset occurs, daylight hours are longest and dark hours are shortest, wit ...

maid, Hineraumati, and the

Winter Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultures ...

maid, Hinetakurua. The child of Tama-nui-te-rā and Hineraumati, Tane-rore, is credited with the origin of

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

. Another son of Tama-nui-te-ra is

Auahitūroa Auahitūroa is a male Māori deity, personification of comets, and the origin of fire. His consort is Mahuika Mahuika is a Māori fire deity. Generally, Mahuika is female and wife of the god Auahitūroa. Myths In some versions, she is the yo ...

, god of comets and fires, and grandchildren of Tama-nui-te-rā are

Ngā Mānawa Ngā Mānawa, in a tradition of the Ngāti Awa, a Māori tribe of the eastern Bay of Plenty in New Zealand's North Island, was the collective name for the Fire Children, the five sons of Mahuika and Auahitūroa. The names of the Fire Children ar ...

.E. Best, ''Māori Religion and Mythology'', Part 2 (''Dominion Museum Bulletin'' No.11. Museum of New Zealand: Wellington, 1982), 244-245.

Bibliography

* J. White, ''The Ancient History of the Maori''. Volume II. Government Printer: Wellington, 1887, 136–137, 151–152.

Notes

Māori gods Solar gods {{deity-stub

Etymology

Legends

Family

See also

Bibliography

Notes