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Atua
Atua are the gods and spirits of the Polynesian people such as the Māori or the Hawaiians (see also ). The literal meaning of the Polynesian word is "power" or "strength" and so the concept is similar to that of '' mana''. Many of the atua that are known have originated from myths and legends of each Polynesian culture before Christianity was introduced. These days, the word atua is related to the monotheistic conception of God. However for Polynesian cultures, as opposed to having only one superior god, there are multiple atua. For Māori, there are eight main atua – excluding the parents, Ranginui (sky father) and Papatūānuku (earth mother): * '' Tāne Mahuta'' – god of the forest and all forest creatures such as animals, birds and trees; * Tāwhirimātea – god of wind and storms; * Haumia-tiketike – god of uncultivated food and fernroot (also known as Haumia, Haumia-tikitiki, and Haumia-roa); * '' Rongo-mā-Tāne'' – god of Agriculture and Peace (a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Māori Mythology
Māori mythology and Māori traditions are two major categories into which the remote oral history of New Zealand's Māori people, Māori may be divided. Māori myths concern tales of supernatural events relating to the origins of what was the observable world for the pre-European Māori, often involving gods and demigods. Māori tradition concerns more folkloric legends often involving historical or semi-historical forebears. Both categories merge in to explain the overall origin of the Māori and their connections to the world which they lived in. The Māori did not have a writing system before European contact, beginning in 1769, therefore they relied on oral retellings and recitations memorised from generation to generation. The three forms of expression prominent in Māori and Polynesian oral literature are genealogical recital, poetry, and narrative prose. Experts in these subjects were broadly known as . The rituals, beliefs, and general worldview of Māori society were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tangaroa
Tangaroa (Māori; Takaroa in the South Island dialect; cognate with Tagaloa in Sāmoan) 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. 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. Māori traditions Tangaroa is son of Ranginui and Papatūānuku, Sky and Earth. After joining his brothers Rongo, Tū, Haumia, and Tāne in the forcible separation of their parents, he is attacked by his brother Tāwhirimātea, the of storms, and forced to hide in the sea. 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 o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samoan Language
Samoan ( or , ) is a Polynesian languages, Polynesian language spoken by Samoans of the Samoan Islands. Administratively, the islands are split between the sovereign country of Samoa and the Unincorporated territories of the United States, United States territory of American Samoa. It is an official language, alongside English language, English, in both jurisdictions. It is widely spoken across the Pacific region, heavily so in New Zealand and in Australia and the United States. Among the Polynesian languages, Samoan is the most widely spoken by number of native speakers. Samoan is spoken by approximately 260,000 people in the archipelago and with many Samoans living in diaspora in a number of countries, the total number of speakers worldwide was estimated at 510,000 in 2015. It is the third-most widely spoken language in New Zealand, where 2.2% of the population, 101,900 people, were able to speak it as of 2018. The language is notable for the phonology, phonological differenc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polynesian Languages
The Polynesian languages form a genealogical group of languages, itself part of the Oceanic branch of the Austronesian family. There are 38 Polynesian languages, representing 7 percent of the 522 Oceanic languages, and 3 percent of the Austronesian family. While half of them are spoken in geographical Polynesia (the Polynesian triangle), the other half – known as Polynesian outliers – are spoken in other parts of the Pacific: from Micronesia to atolls scattered in Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands or Vanuatu. The most prominent Polynesian languages, by number of speakers, are Samoan, Tongan, Tahitian, Māori and Hawaiian. The ancestors of modern Polynesians were Lapita navigators, who settled in the Tonga and Samoa areas about 3,000 years ago. Linguists and archaeologists estimate that this first population went through common development over approximately 1,000 years, giving rise to Proto-Polynesian, the linguistic ancestor of all modern Polynesian l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ranginui
In Māori mythology the primal couple Rangi and Papa (or Ranginui and Papatūānuku) appear in a creation myth explaining the origin of the world and the Māori people (though there are many different versions). In some South Island dialects, Rangi is called Raki or Rakinui. Union and separation Ranginui first married Poharua Te Pō where they bore 3 offspring including Aorangi (or Aoraki as given in South Island). He later married Papatūānuku together becoming the primordial sky father and earth mother bearing over 500 children of male and female including Tāwhirimātea, Tāne and Tangaroa. Both Ranginui and Papatūānuku lie locked together in a tight embrace, and their sons forced to live in the cramped darkness between them. These children grow and discuss among themselves what it would be like to live in the light. Tūmatauenga, the fiercest of the children, proposes that the best solution to their predicament is to kill their parents. But his brother Tāne disagrees, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whiro
Whiro-te-tipua (aka Whiro) is the lord of darkness and embodiment of all evil in Māori mythology. Usually depicted as a lizard-like creature, he inhabits the underworld and is responsible for the ills of all people, a contrast to his brother and enemy Tāne. According to some tribes, when people die, their bodies descend into the underworld, where they are eaten by Whiro. Each time Whiro eats a body, he becomes stronger. This process will eventually make him sufficiently powerful to break free of the underworld, at which point he will come to the surface and devour everything and everyone on it. Cremation is therefore recommended to prevent this, because Whiro cannot gain strength from ashes. Taiwhetuki – Whiro's House of Death – is a deep and dark cave where all things evil are preserved, such as black magic. It is a place in which countless personifications of illnesses and diseases dwell. Geckos, skinks, and tuatara were feared because of their spiritual association ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atua (district)
Ātua is an ancient political district of Samoa, consisting of most of the eastern section of Upolu and the island Tutuila. Within Samoa's traditional polity, Ātua is ruled by the Tui Ātua together with the group of six senior orators of Lufilufi and 13 senior matai from throughout Ātua, comprising the Fale Ātua (or ''parliament'' of Atua). The ''fono'' (meeting) of Atua's rulers takes place in Lufilufi on the great malae of Lalogafu'afu'a. The paramount ''pāpā'' title and sovereign of Ātua is the ''Tui Ātua''. The title traces its lineage to Pili, son of Tagaloa-a-lagi. One of the first known Tui Atua was Tui Atua Leutelele'i'ite of Falefa, who according to oral tradition, is said to have been part ''aitu'' (God-like) and part ''tagata'' (human-like) and lived around 1170 CE. It is from his lifetime that the known pre-European history of Samoa associated with the Tui Ātua and its holders began. The current Tui Ātua is former Prime Minister, Head of State and tama-a-a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haumia-tiketike
Haumia-tiketike (or simply Haumia) is the god of all uncultivated vegetative food in Māori mythology. He is particularly associated with the starchy rhizome of the '' Pteridium esculentum'', which became a major element of the Māori diet in former times. He contrasts with Rongo, the god of and all cultivated food plants. In different tribal and regional variations of the stories involving him, he is often portrayed as the son or grandson of Ranginui. He is frequently associated with traditions of the world's creation, in which he agreed to and attempted the separation of Rangi from his wife Papa. creation myth After Haumia agreed to Rangi and Papa's forced separation in order to allow light and space into the world between them, he was the third child to attempt to push them apart with his arms. Despite Tāne being the one to successfully carry out the task, Haumia's involvement meant he was subjected to the fury of their brother, Tāwhirimātea, god of the winds and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Austronesian People
The Austronesian people, sometimes referred to as Austronesian-speaking peoples, are a large group of peoples who have settled in Taiwan, maritime Southeast Asia, parts of mainland Southeast Asia, Micronesia, coastal New Guinea, Island Melanesia, Polynesia, and Madagascar that speak Austronesian languages. They also include indigenous ethnic minorities in Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Hainan, the Comoros, and the Torres Strait Islands. The nations and territories predominantly populated by Austronesian-speaking peoples are sometimes known collectively as Austronesia. The group originated from a Early human migrations, prehistoric seaborne migration, known as the Austronesian expansion, from Taiwan, circa 3000 to 1500 BCE. Austronesians reached the Batanes, Batanes Islands in the northernmost Philippines by around 2200 BCE. They used sails some time before 2000 BCE. In conjunction with their use of Austronesian vessels, other maritime technologies (notably catamarans, out ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Filipino People
Filipinos () are citizens or people identified with the country of the Philippines. Filipinos come from various Austronesian peoples, all typically speaking Filipino language, Filipino, Philippine English, English, or other Philippine languages. Despite formerly being subject to Spanish Philippines, Spanish administration, less than 1% of Filipinos are fluent in Spanish language, Spanish. Currently, there are more than 185 Ethnic groups in the Philippines, ethnolinguistic groups in the Philippines each with its own Languages of the Philippines, language, identity, culture, tradition, and history. Names The name ''Filipino'', as a demonym, was derived from the term , the name given to the archipelago in 1543 by the Spaniards, Spanish explorer and Order of Preachers, Dominican priest Ruy López de Villalobos, in honor of Philip II of Spain. During the History of the Philippines (1521–1898), Spanish period, natives of the Philippine islands were usually known in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rongo
In Māori mythology, Rongo or Rongo-mā-Tāne (also Rongo-hīrea, Rongo-marae-roa, and Rongo-marae-roa-a-Rangi) is a major god (''atua'') of cultivated plants, especially Sweet potato#New Zealand, kūmara, a vital crop. Other crops cultivated by Māori in traditional times included taro, Dioscorea alata, yams (''uwhi''), cordyline (''tī''), and Calabash, gourds (''hue''). Because of their tropical origin, most of these crops were difficult to grow except in the far north of the North Island, hence the importance of Rongo in New Zealand. He was also an important agricultural deity, god of agriculture and god of war in the southern Cook Islands, especially on Mangaia where the Akaoro marae and Orongo marae were centres of his worship; where cooked taro was offered to him cited in to assure success in battle and the fertility of land. A legend concerning Rongo flying the first kite is told in the waiting room of Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room, in which Rongo is voiced by Ern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
