1. contemporary traditional Maori
culture, part 2
"the Maori creation story:the
separation of heaven and
earth"
By (Christine Orona)(January
23,2010)(period 6) Culture and
Geography

2. (According to
Maori tradition)"all
humans are
descended from
one pair of
ancestors, Rangi
and papa, who are
also called
Heaven and
Earth."

3. "In those days,
Heaven and
Earth clung
closely
together, and all
was darkness."

4. "Rangi and papa had six sons: Tane-
Mahuta, the father of the forests and
their inhabitants".

5. "Tawhiri-ma-tea, the
father of wind and
storms"

6. "Tangaroa, the
father of fish and
reptiles".

7. Tu-
Mataueng
a, the
father of
fierce
human
beings"

8. Haumia -
tikitiki, the
father of food
that grows
without
cultivation.

9. Rango - ma - tane, the
father of cultivated food.

10. "In the beginning
these six sons
and all other
beings lived in
darkness for an
extremely long
time, able only to
wonder what light
and vision might
be like".

11. After the battle
between the six
sons, Tu-
matauenga ate
four of his
brothers as food,
sharing Tawhiri-
ma-tea, the
father of winds
and storms.

12. This is why today people
are fierce and have war,
why people eat plants
and animals, and why
there are storms.