Tangaroa

In Māori cosmology Tangaroa is one of the children of the primal parents Ranginui (Sky) and Papatūānuku (Earth) and participated in the generation that separated them. That genealogy identifies him as an ancestral progenitor of marine life; his descendants include figures such as Punga and through Punga the ancestors of fish (Ikatere) and reptiles (Tū-te-wehiwehi / Tū-te-wanawana). Regional variants alter his place in origin narratives: in some Western Polynesian traditions cognates like Tagaloa can be a supreme creator, while in Manihiki Tangaroa is invoked in myths about the origin of fire. Local genealogical arrangements and ranks therefore vary by island.

Descriptions vary by island. In some Māori accounts Tangaroa is represented in whale form. Mangaia tradition records him with yellow hair. In Rennell and Bellona a localized Tangagoa was said to appear as a sparkling flame in the night sky on a coastal cliff and to fly with a flame when taking spirits. There is no single standardized anthropomorphic portrait across the traditions summarized here.

Tangaroa is a domain-holder of the sea and inland waters and is regarded as the progenitor and guardian of marine creatures, especially fish. Under the epithet Tangaroa-whakamau-tai he is associated with control over tides. Mythically he is attacked by Tāwhirimātea after the separation of the parents and driven into the sea, and he is in tension with Tāne over the refuge given to his runaway children — motifs that explain relations between sea and land. In specific island narratives he may hold additional roles: Manihiki myths relate Tangaroa to the origin of fire and Māui's obtaining of fire; Rennell/Bellona material records a psychopomp-like sparkle seen at deaths. Abilities and emphasis vary regionally rather than forming a single uniform power-set.