Tangaroa

Tangaroa and Rongo are the twin sons of Vatea and Papa. Gill distinguishes Tangaroa’s seniority by right from Rongo’s earlier birth. Tangaroa teaches agriculture and receives red produce and fish; Papa secures precedence for Rongo. Tangaroa departs for Rarotonga and Aitutaki. On Mangaia, Gill records coconut buds offered at his little-used marae.

Parentage

Recorded default; alternative parentage accounts are listed separately below.

• paternal: Vatea
• maternal: Papa

Parentage accounts

Each account is a separate source claim. The parentage and children listed outside these accounts use the recorded default. Selecting an account in the interactive app updates its lineage, descent classification and inherited-power candidates. Linked pedigree accounts are selected together; other records retain their recorded parentage. Claims of ancestry are not proof of biological descent or attested powers.

• Vatea and Papa (Gill)

  deity by descent in this account.

  • father: VateaWilliam Wyatt Gill, Myths and Songs from the South Pacific (1876), pp. 10–11 (primary)
  • mother: PapaWilliam Wyatt Gill, Myths and Songs from the South Pacific (1876), pp. 10–11 (primary)
  William Wyatt Gill, Myths and Songs from the South Pacific (1876), pp. 10–11 (primary)

Children in alternative accounts

• Tarauri: Reed-throwing song (Gill)William Wyatt Gill, Myths and Songs from the South Pacific (1876), pp. 13 (primary)

Names and tradition associations

• Tangaroa (Lord of the Sea and Fertility) Rarotongan · resolvedWilliam Wyatt Gill, Myths and Songs from the South Pacific (1876), pp. 14 (primary)
• Tangaroa-tui-mata Manihiki · resolvedWilliam Wyatt Gill, Myths and Songs from the South Pacific (1876), pp. 63–69 (primary)

Variant accounts

• Birth from PapaGill records two accounts: Tangaroa emerges from a boil on Papa’s arm, or through her head. Neither changes the named parents.William Wyatt Gill, Myths and Songs from the South Pacific (1876), pp. 10 (primary)
• source review correctionGill distinguishes birth order from seniority and says Vatea favoured Tangaroa, while Papa secured Rongo’s precedence.William Wyatt Gill, Myths and Songs from the South Pacific (1876), pp. 10–14 (primary)
• source review correctionThe cited claim concerns an offering or worship site, not a festival. It is retained in its corresponding cult category.William Wyatt Gill, Myths and Songs from the South Pacific (1876), pp. 19 (primary)

Domains

• the sea
• all things red
• abundance and property

Powers

• claim as his portion everything red

Relations

• twin sibling: RongoElder twin of Rongo, his younger brother who was given precedence.Gill, Myths and Songs from the South Pacific (1876), Ch. I, pp. 12–14 (primary)
• sibling: TaneGill, Myths and Songs from the South Pacific (1876), Ch. I, pp. 12–14 (primary)
• sibling: TangiiaGill, Myths and Songs from the South Pacific (1876), Ch. I, pp. 12–14 (primary)
• sibling: Tonga-itiGill, Myths and Songs from the South Pacific (1876), Ch. I, pp. 12–14 (primary)
• counterpart of: TangaroaCross-island counterpart comparison. This link does not identify the portrayals as one individual or transfer genealogy, cult, powers or objects.Comparative Polynesian mythology: reflexes of the same ancestral deity across the island groups (E. Tregear, Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary, 1891; R. D. Craig, Dictionary of Polynesian Mythology, 1989) (secondary)
• counterpart of: KanaloaCross-island counterpart comparison. This link does not identify the portrayals as one individual or transfer genealogy, cult, powers or objects.Comparative Polynesian mythology: reflexes of the same ancestral deity across the island groups (E. Tregear, Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary, 1891; R. D. Craig, Dictionary of Polynesian Mythology, 1989) (secondary)
• counterpart of: TagaloaCross-island counterpart comparison. This link does not identify the portrayals as one individual or transfer genealogy, cult, powers or objects.Comparative Polynesian mythology: reflexes of the same ancestral deity across the island groups (E. Tregear, Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary, 1891; R. D. Craig, Dictionary of Polynesian Mythology, 1989) (secondary)
• counterpart of: Ta'aroaCross-island counterpart comparison. This link does not identify the portrayals as one individual or transfer genealogy, cult, powers or objects.Comparative Polynesian mythology: reflexes of the same ancestral deity across the island groups (E. Tregear, Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary, 1891; R. D. Craig, Dictionary of Polynesian Mythology, 1989) (secondary)
• counterpart of: Tangaloa 'Eitumatupu'aCross-island counterpart comparison. This link does not identify the portrayals as one individual or transfer genealogy, cult, powers or objects.Comparative Polynesian mythology: reflexes of the same ancestral deity across the island groups (E. Tregear, Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary, 1891; R. D. Craig, Dictionary of Polynesian Mythology, 1989) (secondary)
• counterpart of: TangaroaCross-island counterpart comparison. This link does not identify the portrayals as one individual or transfer genealogy, cult, powers or objects.Comparative Polynesian mythology: reflexes of the same ancestral deity across the island groups (E. Tregear, Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary, 1891; R. D. Craig, Dictionary of Polynesian Mythology, 1989) (secondary)
• counterpart of: TakaroaCross-island counterpart comparison. This link does not identify the portrayals as one individual or transfer genealogy, cult, powers or objects.Comparative Polynesian mythology: reflexes of the same ancestral deity across the island groups (E. Tregear, Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary, 1891; R. D. Craig, Dictionary of Polynesian Mythology, 1989) (secondary)
• counterpart of: TanaoaCross-island counterpart comparison. This link does not identify the portrayals as one individual or transfer genealogy, cult, powers or objects.Comparative Polynesian mythology: reflexes of the same ancestral deity across the island groups (E. Tregear, Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary, 1891; R. D. Craig, Dictionary of Polynesian Mythology, 1989) (secondary)
• counterpart of: Tangaroa (Lord of the Sea and Fertility)Gill’s Mangaian migration story names Rarotonga; the Rarotongan record retains its own portrayal and genealogy.William Wyatt Gill, Myths and Songs from the South Pacific (1876), pp. 14 (primary)
• counterpart of: Tangaroa-tui-mataDistinct island accounts in Gill; their parents, descendants and objects are not interchangeable.William Wyatt Gill, Myths and Songs from the South Pacific (1876), pp. 10–14, 63–69 (primary)

Sources

• Tangaroa and Rongo are Vatea and Papa’s twins. Vatea favours Tangaroa, while Papa secures Rongo’s precedence.: William Wyatt Gill, Myths and Songs from the South Pacific (1876), pp. 10–14 (primary)
• Tangaroa and Rongo are the twin sons of Vatea and Papa. Gill distinguishes Tangaroa’s seniority by right from Rongo’s earlier birth. Tangaroa teaches agriculture and receives red produce and fish; Papa secures precedence for Rongo. Tangaroa departs for Rarotonga and Aitutaki. On Mangaia, Gill records coconut buds offered at his little-used marae.: William Wyatt Gill, Myths and Songs from the South Pacific (1876), pp. 10–14, 19 (primary)