Tehainga'atua
Rennell & Bellona · deity · Rennell & Bellona traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Tehainga'atua is the supreme deity of the Rennellese and Bellonese pantheon, the foremost of the sky gods ('atua ngangi). He was reckoned the owner of the islands themselves, of the surrounding sea and reef, of the wild bush and the cultivated gardens, and the giver or withholder of rain, wind, hurricanes and drought. Human beings occupied the land only as his tenants, and the great agricultural rituals, in which turmeric, first fruits and dances were offered, were directed above all to him. Priest-mediums became possessed by him to convey his will. He was paired with the sky goddess Sikingimoemoe, and the district deities who cared more intimately for humankind were reckoned his descendants.
Children
Domains
- sky
- land
- sea
- storm
- rain
Powers
- owns the land and its people
- sends hurricanes, drought and rain
Relations
- spouse: SikingimoemoeMonberg, Torben. Bellona Island Beliefs and Rituals. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1991. (secondary)
- child: Tehu'aingabengaMonberg, Torben. Bellona Island Beliefs and Rituals. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1991. (secondary)
- child: BaabengaMonberg, Torben. Bellona Island Beliefs and Rituals. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1991. (secondary)
Sources
- Tehainga'atua was the pre-eminent sky god of Rennell and Bellona, owner of land, sea, sky and weather, and the chief object of the pre-Christian cult.: Monberg, Torben. Bellona Island Beliefs and Rituals. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1991, chapters on the sky gods. (secondary); Elbert, Samuel H., and Torben Monberg. From the Two Canoes. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1965. (secondary)