Maori Legends.
In the beginning there was no sky, no sea , no earth and
No Gods. There was only darkness , only Tekore, the Nothingness. The very beginning was made from Nothing. From this nothingness, the primal parents of The Maori came, Papatuanuku ,the Earth mother, and Ranginui, the Sky father.
Papatuanuku and Ranginui came together , embracing In the darkness , and had 70 male children. These Offspring became the gods of the Maori. However, the Children of Papatuanuku and Ranginui were locked in Their parents embrace, in everlasting darkness, and Yearned to see some light. They eventually decided That their parents should be separated, and had a Meeting to discuss what should be done.
They considered for a long time – should Ranginui and Papatuanuku be killed?Or shall they be forced to Separate?
Finally, Tumatauenga, the god of War, said “Let us kill our parents.” However,Tane – Mahuta ,the god of man
And forests , and all which inhabits the forests,
Thought that Ranginui and Papatuanuku should be Separated. He thought that Ranginui should go up Above, to the sky , and that Papatuanuku should go Below to dwell on earth. All the children, including Tu,
The God of War, agreed with Tane.
Tawhiri Matea , the god of winds and storms was the Only child who did not wish for his parents to be Separated. He feared that his kingdom would be Overthrown. One by one the children tried to separate Their parents. Rongomatane , the god and father of Cultivated foods, tried but it did not work. Haumia Tiketike , the god un cultivated foods also tried .
Then it was time for Tangaroa, the god of the sea, and Tumatauenga, the god of war, but neither Tangaroa or Tumatauenga could separate their parents.
Lastly Tane – Mahuta tried. Strong as a Kauri Tree,
He placed his shoulders against his mother Papatuanku
And his feet against his father Ranginui, and he pushed
Hard, and for a very long time, straining and heaving as He pushed them apart. Ranginui and Papatuanku cried In pain, and asked their sons “why do you wish to Destroy our love?”
After a very long time Tane finally managed to separate
Ranginui and Papatuanku, and for the first time the Children saw the day light ( ao Marama ) come Streaming in. Once this happened , Tawhiri Matea,
The god of winds and storms, and who had been Against the separation of his parents, left for the sky to Join his father.
Now that the separation of the parents was complete,
There was only one thing missing, so Tane decided to
Fix it,so he created a female out of clay ,then he Breathed life into it, and created Hine-ahu-one- The
Earth formed maiden.
The End.
