More Polynesian gods

Other Tahitian gods included Ta’aroa and Tane, but also Ro’o, Tu, Hiro and ‘Oro.

Ta’aroa, Tangaroa in Maori mythology, was god of the oceans. Son of the Sky father and Earth mother, brother of Tane. He was driven to the ocean, which became his realm, by another brother, Tawhirimatea, god of storms. He was the creator of all sea life, some of his children came to land, Tane's realm. Tangaroa never forgave Tane for adopting his grandchildren. Thus, Maoris make offerings to Tangaroa before taking to the sea, or fishing, to appease his anger with them, Tane’s adopted children.

Ta'aroa by Bobby Holcomb

In the Society Islands, particularly Raiatea, Ta’aroa was elevated to the god of creation.  He existed before all else, inside his egg, alone in the nothingness. With a shake of his body he cracked the egg, he used the broken shell to form the rocks and sand. He then proceeded to create the rest of the earth, crying the oceans and rivers. He called forth craftsmen to sculpt the gods, Tane was the first, but more followed. Tane in turn put the sun, the moon and the stars in the sky. Ta’aroa then created man.

‘Oro was the son of Ta’aroa, he was worshipped by a powerful cult, centered on the marae Taputapuatea in Raiatea. It was the dominant cult in Tahiti, when the first European explorers set foot on the island.

He was a god of war, and legend has it that he lived on Mt.Pahia in Bora bora with his sisters (a place I visited and even camped, as a student collecting weevils!). 'Oro descended to earth on a rainbow, seeking a human wife.

His natural manifestation could be a green-red bird or light yellow thrush, much like the two native birds found in Rimatara!

In Hawaiian mythology Lono also descended to earth on a rainbow seeking a wife, (though this is seemingly coincidence, as his Tahitian counter-part is Ro’o). Captain Cook may have been mistaken for Lono by Hawaiians, a mistake that later proved fatal for him!

Intriguingly, because ancient Polynesians worshipped their ancestors, current day families still claim to trace their genealogies back to the gods. The more powerful your ancestor, the more powerful you were. Carved wooden or stone representations of ancestors, tiki, stood on marae (traditional sacred sites) and acted as a link between the world of gods and men. Only priests and chiefs were allowed to approach them, others could be put to death for such a sacrilege. Our old friend and family tiki A'a (here depicted by the London Missionary Society, demurely wearing a loin cloth) is such a god representation, maybe even of Ta'aroa. John Williams who gives us the first written trace, initially called him by the name A'a, but later used the name  "Ta'aroa te upoo vahu". Lets not forget that we live on marae Tararoa, just a small mis-prononciation away.