Contemporary Traditional Maori Culture ,Part 2"The Maori Creation Story:The

Separation of Heaven and Earth

By William Lee,1/13/12Period1

Culture and Geography

Source:George Grey, 1956, Polynesian Mythology(Ed. By William W. Bird):

Christchurch, Whitcombe and Tombs Ltd.,250p. (BL 2615.G843p 1956);and

Ruben Meza, 2012

(According to Maori tradition)

"All humans are descended from one

pair of ancestors. Rangi and Papa, who

are also called Heaven and Earth

 

"In those days, Heaven and Earth clung closely together, and all was darkness.

"Rangi and Papa had six sons. One of them who is Tane-Mahuta, The father of the forests and their

inhabitants."

 

"The second son who is Tawhiri-ma-tea, The father of winds and

storms."

 

"The third is Tangaroa, the father of fish and reptiles."

 

The fourth is Tu-Matauenga, The father of fierce human beings."

 

"The fifth is Haumia-tikitiki,The father of food that grows without

cultivation."

 

Finally the six son named Rongo-Ma-Tane who is the father of cultivated food." 

 

"In the beginning, These six sons and all other beings lived in darkness for extreme long time,

abled only to wonder what light and vision might be like."

After a battle between the six sons, Tu-Matauenga ate 4 of his brothers as food, sparing Tewhiri-Ma-

Tea, The father of winds and storms.

This is why today people are fierce and have war, Why people eat plants and animals, and why they

are storms.