Makemake
Rapa Nui · deity · primordial · Recorded classification
Makemake is the supreme god of Rapa Nui: creator of the world's first beings and of mankind (whom he procreates from a gourd of water and from mounded earth), god of fertility, and chief deity of the tangata-manu (birdman) cult. With his companion Haua he drove the sea-birds to the islet Motu Nui, and the yearly competition for the first sooty-tern (manutara) egg at Orongo was held in his name. He is the most frequent figure in Easter Island rock art, depicted as a staring face or skull with enormous eye-sockets.
Children
Domains
- creation
- fertility
- birds
Powers
- Create human life
- Command and drive the sea-birds
- Send fertility and plenty
Relations
- companion: HauaInseparable companion of Haua; together they brought the sea-birds to Motu Nui and share the food-offering.Métraux, Ethnology of Easter Island (1940) (primary); Routledge, The Mystery of Easter Island (1919) (primary)
Sources
- existence: Alfred Métraux, Ethnology of Easter Island (Bishop Museum Bulletin 160, 1940) (primary); Katherine Routledge, The Mystery of Easter Island (1919) (primary); Sebastian Englert, La Tierra de Hotu Matu'a (1948) (secondary)