te Ali (the Flounder)
Tuvaluan · deity · Tuvaluan traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
te Ali, the Flounder, is the second of the two primal beings of the Tuvaluan creation account. In the contest of strength with the Eel over a great stone, the Flounder is crushed flat beneath it; freed at last, it chases the Eel and deals it the blow that leaves the Eel thin. The Flounder's flattened shape becomes the pattern of the low, flat coral atolls that make up Tuvalu, the counterpart to the upright coconut-palm form of the Eel. Together the two account for the characteristic landscape of the islands: flat land ringed by tall palms.
Domains
- creation of the world
- earth and land
Powers
- to become, when crushed flat, the model of the flat coral atolls
Epithets
- te AliD. G. Kennedy, Field Notes on the Culture of Vaitupu, Ellice Islands (New Plymouth, N.Z.: Thomas Avery & Sons, 1931). (secondary)
Relations
- twin sibling: te Pusi (the Eel)The Flounder and the Eel are paired companions in creation who become rivals over the world-stone.Talakatoa O'Brien, 'Genesis,' in Tuvalu: A History, ed. Hugh Laracy (Suva: Institute of Pacific Studies, USP, 1983). (secondary)
- rival: te Pusi (the Eel)In their contest of strength the Flounder is crushed flat while the Eel is beaten thin.Simati Faaniu et al., Tuvalu: A History, ed. Hugh Laracy (Suva: Institute of Pacific Studies, USP, 1983). (secondary)
Sources
- te Ali (the Flounder) is one of the two creator beings of the Tuvaluan genesis, whose flattened body crushed under the world-stone becomes the model for the flat atolls of Tuvalu.: Talakatoa O'Brien, 'Genesis,' in Tuvalu: A History, ed. Hugh Laracy (Suva: Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific; Funafuti: Ministry of Social Services, 1983). (secondary); D. G. Kennedy, Field Notes on the Culture of Vaitupu, Ellice Islands (New Plymouth, N.Z.: Thomas Avery & Sons, for the Polynesian Society, 1931). (secondary)