Tāne

Tāne
Tāne
Māori god of forests and birds,; Tahitian god of beauty and peace
	A carving of Tāne-nui-a-Rangi sited at the entrance to the Auckland Zoo's forest aviary.
Other names	Tāne-mahuta, Tāne-nui-a-Rangi
Gender	Male
Region	Polynesia
Ethnic group	Māori, Tahitians
Personal information
Parents	Rangi and Papa
Siblings	Haumia (Arawa), Rongo, Tangaroa, Tāwhirimātea, Tū, Rūaumoko, Whiro
Consorts	Hineahuone, Rangahore
Offspring	Hine-nui-te-pō, Tiki, Haumia-tiketike (southern Bay of Plenty and parts of the east coast)

In

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.^[1]

Separates his parents

The children of Rangi and Papa grew frustrated at their confinement in the cramped space between their parents. 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 finally forces his parents apart, and Rangi rises high into the heavens (Grey 1956:2-3).^[2] Then Tāne searched for heavenly bodies as lights so that his father would be appropriately dressed. He obtained the stars and threw them up, along with the Moon and the Sun. At last Rangi looked handsome (Orbell 1998:145).

Tu-te-wehiwehi (or Tu-te-wanawana), the ancestor of reptiles, are terrified by Tāwhirimātea's fury. The fish flee into the sea, and the reptiles into the forests. Ever since, Tangaroa has resented Tāne for hiding his runaway children. So it is that Tāne supplies the descendants of Tūmatauenga with canoes, fishhooks, and nets to catch the descendants of Tangaroa. Tangaroa retaliates by overturning canoes and sending floods that sweep away houses, land and trees

(Grey 1971:5-6).

Progenitor of humankind

Some legends say that Tāne made the

Tiki. More widely known is a tradition that Tāne was trying to find himself a wife, but at first he found only non-human females and fathered insects, birds, and plants. One such was Rangahore

, who gave birth to a stone and was abandoned by Tāne. Then he made a woman by moulding her from the soil (Orbell 1998:145).

In some stories, Tāne marries his daughter Hine-tītama without her knowing who he is. Upon discovering that she has married her father, she flees to the

Hine-nui-te-pō

. Tāne follows her and begs her to return. She tells him to return to the world and raise their children, while she will wait below to receive them when they die (Orbell 1998:38).

Other traditions tell of the three baskets of knowledge that Tāne brought down from the heavens (Orbell 1998:145).

Notes

ISBN 9780520261143
.

^ In legends of the Taranaki region, it is Tangaroa who manages to separate Rangi and Papa (Smith 1993:1-2)

References

G. Grey, Nga Mahi a Nga Tupuna, fourth edition. First published 1854. (Reed: Wellington), 1971.

G. Grey, Polynesian Mythology, Illustrated edition, reprinted 1976. (Whitcombe and Tombs: Christchurch), 1956.

M. Orbell, The Concise Encyclopedia of Māori Myth and Legend (Canterbury University Press: Christchurch), 1998.

A. Smith, Songs and Stories of Taranaki from the Writings of Te Kahui Kararehe (MacMillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies: Christchurch), 1993.

E.R. Tregear, Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary (Lyon and Blair: Lambton Quay), 1891.

[Anne-1] ISBN 9780520261143
.

[2] In legends of the Taranaki region, it is Tangaroa who manages to separate Rangi and Papa (Smith 1993:1-2)

[1]

[2]

Separates his parents

Progenitor of humankind

See also

Notes

References