Tonga-iti

Tonga-iti, Vatea’s third son, is visible in white and black spotted lizards and is worshipped as Mata-rau. A different Mangaian account makes him Papa’s husband and a rival claimant to her infant, whose divided body becomes sun and moon.

Parentage

• paternal: Vatea
• maternal: Papa

Names and tradition associations

• Motoro Mangaian · resolvedWilliam Wyatt Gill, Myths and Songs from the South Pacific (1876), pp. 10–11,25–28 (primary)

Variant accounts

• Local sun and moon accountGill records a Mangaian tribal account in which Tonga-iti is Papa’s husband rather than her son. Vatea and Tonga-iti dispute the paternity of an unnamed infant; its two halves become sun and moon. Gill says rival tribes rejected this genealogy.William Wyatt Gill, Myths and Songs from the South Pacific (1876), pp. 44–45 (primary)
• source review correctionGill identifies Mata-rau as a name of Tonga-iti, but describes Motoro separately as the deified son of the Rarotongan chief Tangiia. Moko is not established here as this figure’s personal name.William Wyatt Gill, Myths and Songs from the South Pacific (1876), pp. 10–11,25–28 (primary)
• source review correctionThe earlier description conflated Tonga-iti with Motoro. Gill also preserves a distinct local genealogy instead of one universal family tree.William Wyatt Gill, Myths and Songs from the South Pacific (1876), pp. 10–11,44–45 (primary)
• source review correctionMotoro’s deification and cult cannot be transferred to Tonga-iti through a shared alias.William Wyatt Gill, Myths and Songs from the South Pacific (1876), pp. 10–11,25–28 (primary)
• source review correctionThe soil-domain entry cited Motoro, a distinct deified figure, rather than Tonga-iti.William Wyatt Gill, Myths and Songs from the South Pacific (1876), pp. 25–28 (primary)

Domains

• tribal god of mangaia
• lizards and reptiles

Powers

• manifest in the body of the lizard

Relations

• sibling: RongoRongo is named his elder brother.Gill, Myths and Songs from the South Pacific (1876), Ch. I, pp. 12–14 (primary)
• sibling: TangaroaGill, 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)

Sources

• Tonga-iti, Vatea’s third son, is visible in white and black spotted lizards and is worshipped as Mata-rau. A different Mangaian account makes him Papa’s husband and a rival claimant to her infant, whose divided body becomes sun and moon.: William Wyatt Gill, Myths and Songs from the South Pacific (1876), pp. 10–11,44–45 (primary)