Rongo (God of Taro and War)
Rarotongan · deity · Rarotongan traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Rongo is the Rarotongan and wider Cook Islands god of cultivated food (especially taro) and of war; on neighbouring Mangaia he heads the pantheon, and on Rarotonga he receives the first-fruits offerings at the marae alongside his brother Tangaroa.
Domains
- agriculture and taro
- war
Powers
- to grant the taro harvest and cultivated food
Relations
- sibling: Tangaroa (Lord of the Sea and Fertility)Tangaroa and Rongo are sons of the primal parents Vatea and Papa.Te Ariki-tara-are, 'History and Traditions of Rarotonga', trans. S. Percy Smith, Journal of the Polynesian Society 8-29 (1899-1920). (secondary)
Sources
- Rongo is the Rarotongan god of agriculture (taro) and war, brother of Tangaroa, receiver of first-fruits.: Te Ariki-tara-are, 'History and Traditions of Rarotonga', trans. S. Percy Smith, Journal of the Polynesian Society 8-29 (1899-1920). (secondary); William Wyatt Gill, Myths and Songs from the South Pacific (London: Henry S. King, 1876). (secondary)