Tree Goddess
Kiribati · deity · primordial · Recorded classification
Vegetation/tree goddess and deified ancestor; the Gilbertese instance of the 'staple plants from a slain/buried body' motif. vitalStatus 'deceased' as the myth turns on her death and transformation. RECIPROCAL within batch with Auriaria (spouse + sibling). The three trees are entered as materialCulture of kind 'plant' (the staple trees that are her body).
Domains
- trees and vegetation
- fertility and renewal
- lightning
Powers
- becomes the coconut, almond and pandanus at her death
- has eyes that flash like lightning
Relations
- spouse: Red Giant AncestorWife of Auriaria; their love bore no children, and at her death the staple trees grew from her grave.Grimble, Rosemary. Migrations, Myth and Magic from the Gilbert Islands (1972), Nei Tituaabine the wife of Auriaria; their union childless (secondary)
- sibling: Red Giant AncestorSister as well as wife of Auriaria in the central and southern island traditions.Grimble, Rosemary. Migrations, Myth and Magic from the Gilbert Islands (1972), the sister and wife of the giant chief Auriaria (secondary)
Sources
- Nei Tituaabine is the Gilbertese vegetation goddess, a red-skinned anti with lightning-flashing eyes, sister and wife of the giant Auriaria; their union being childless, at her death three staple trees grew from her grave — the coconut from her head, the almond from her navel, and the pandanus from her heels.: Grimble, Rosemary. Migrations, Myth and Magic from the Gilbert Islands: Early Writings of Sir Arthur Grimble (1972) (secondary); Grimble, Arthur. Tungaru Traditions: Writings on the Atoll Culture of the Gilbert Islands (ed. H.E. Maude, 1989) (secondary)