Tangaroa (Lord of the Sea and Fertility)
Rarotongan · deity · Rarotongan traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
On Rarotonga (southern Cook Islands) Tangaroa is the senior of the great departmental gods, lord of the sea and of fertility, son of Vatea (Atea) and Papa. He is the focus of the famous Rarotongan wooden staff-gods and fishermen's offerings, and his line is traced in the genealogies of Te Ariki-tara-are.
Names and tradition associations
Domains
- the sea and fish
- fertility and abundance
Powers
- to rule the sea, its fish and its abundance
Relations
- sibling: Rongo (God of Taro and War)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)
- counterpart of: TangaroaGill’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)
Sources
- Tangaroa is the paramount Rarotongan god of the sea and fertility, eldest of the great departmental gods.: Te Ariki-tara-are, 'History and Traditions of Rarotonga', trans. S. Percy Smith, Journal of the Polynesian Society 8-29 (1899-1920). (secondary); Robert D. Craig, Dictionary of Polynesian Mythology (New York: Greenwood Press, 1989). (secondary)