Contemporary Traditional Maori_Culture_Part_2
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Transcript of Contemporary Traditional Maori_Culture_Part_2
Contemporary Traditional Maori Culture ,Part 2"The Maori Creation Story:The
Separation of Heaven and Earth
By William Lee,1/13/12Period1
Culture and Geography
Source:George Grey, 1956, Polynesian Mythology(Ed. By William W. Bird):
Christchurch, Whitcombe and Tombs Ltd.,250p. (BL 2615.G843p 1956);and
Ruben Meza, 2012
(According to Maori tradition)
"All humans are descended from one
pair of ancestors. Rangi and Papa, who
are also called Heaven and Earth
"In those days, Heaven and Earth clung closely together, and all was darkness.
"Rangi and Papa had six sons. One of them who is Tane-Mahuta, The father of the forests and their
inhabitants."
"The second son who is Tawhiri-ma-tea, The father of winds and
storms."
"The third is Tangaroa, the father of fish and reptiles."
The fourth is Tu-Matauenga, The father of fierce human beings."
"The fifth is Haumia-tikitiki,The father of food that grows without
cultivation."
Finally the six son named Rongo-Ma-Tane who is the father of cultivated food."
"In the beginning, These six sons and all other beings lived in darkness for extreme long time,
abled only to wonder what light and vision might be like."
After a battle between the six sons, Tu-Matauenga ate 4 of his brothers as food, sparing Tewhiri-Ma-
Tea, The father of winds and storms.
This is why today people are fierce and have war, Why people eat plants and animals, and why they
are storms.