Tangaroa (Takaroa in the
South Island) 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.[1]
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.
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 onslaught, the fish seek shelter in the sea, and the reptiles in the forests. Ever since, Tangaroa has held a grudge with
Tāne Mahuta, the atua of forests, because he offers refuge to his runaway children.[3]
The contention between Tangaroa and Tāne Mahuta, the father of
birds,
trees, and humans, is an indication that the Māori thought of the ocean and the land as opposed realms. When people go out to sea to fish or to travel, they are in effect representatives of Tāne Mahuta, entering the realm of Tāne Mahuta's enemy. For this reason, it was important that offerings were made to Tangaroa before any such expedition.[4]
The
Kāi Tahu version of the origin of Takaroa maintains that he is the son of
Temoretu, and that Papatūānuku is his wife. Papatūānuku commits adultery with
Rakinui while Takaroa is away, and in the resulting battle on the beach Takaroa's spear pierces Rakinui through both his thighs. Papatūānuku then marries Rakinui.[5]
In
Rarotonga, Tangaroa is the
god of the sea and
fertility. He is the most important of all the departmental gods. Carved figures made from
wood carvings are very popular on the island today.[8]
In
Mangaia, Tangaroa is a child of Vatea (daylight) and Papa (foundation) and the younger twin brother of Rongo. Rongo and Tangaroa share food and fish: Tangaroa's share is everything that is red (the red
taro, red fish and so on). Tangaroa is said to have
yellow hair and when Mangaians first saw
Europeans they thought they must be Tangaroa's children.[7]: 464 [9]
In
Manihiki, Tangaroa is the origin of fire.
Māui goes to him to obtain fire for humankind. Advised to reach Tangaroa's abode by taking the common path, he takes the forbidden path of death infuriating Tangaroa who tries to kick him to death. Māui manages to prevent that and insists that Tangaroa give him fire. Māui kills Tangaroa. When his parents are horrified, Māui uses incantations to bring him back to life.[7]: 463–464
Elsewhere
Tangaloa is one of the oldest Polynesian deities and in western
Polynesia (for example, Samoa and Tonga) traditions has the status of supreme creator god. In eastern Polynesian cultures Tangaroa is usually considered of equal status to Tāne and thus not supreme.
In
Rapa Nui tradition Tangaroa was killed at
Hotu-iti bay and was buried in the surrounding area.
In
Ra'iātea a legend reported by Professor
Friedrich Ratzel in 1896[10] gave a picture of his all-pervading power.
In the
Marquesas Islands, the equivalent deities are Tana'oa or Taka'oa.
In
Rennell and
Bellona Islands (Polynesian cultures in the southern
Solomon Islands) Tangagoa is a sea god who stayed on the coastal cliff of east Rennell known as Toho, and flew in the night with a flame in the sky. Tangagoa was believed to take spirits of the dead, so when someone was near death, the sparkling fire would be seen at night. Some can still recall the time when this god appeared in the night as a flame in the sky, and have many tales of it. Tangagoa started to disappear in the 1970s and early 1980s when Christian missionaries visited the cliff and reportedly 'cast' him out.
A legendary figure named Tagaro also features in the Melanesian cultures of north-eastern
Vanuatu. In the beliefs of North
Pentecost island, Tagaro appears as a destructive trickster,[11] while in other areas, he is an eternal creator figure, and names cognate with Tagaro (such as
ApmaTakaa) are applied nowadays to the Christian God.[12]
^In the traditions of the
Taranaki region, it is Tangaroa who forcibly separates Rangi and Papa from each other.[2] In the traditions of most other regions of New Zealand, Rangi and Papa were separated by Tāne, atua of the tree.
^Smith, A. (1993). Songs and Stories of Taranaki from the Writings of Te Kahui Kararehe. Christchurch: MacMillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies. pp. 1–2.
^Grey, George (1971) [1854]. Nga Mahi a Nga Tupuna (Fourth ed.). Wellington: Reed. pp. 1–5.
^Orbell, Margaret (1998). Concise Encyclopedia of Maori Myth and Legend. Christchurch: Canterbury University Press. pp. 146–147.
ISBN0-908812-56-6.