UNITED STATES 



Midway Island 



TROPIC OF CANCER 



.Mariana 

 Islands 



MICRONESIA 



PACIFIC 



SOUTH 



PACIFIC 



OCEAN 



Ka puta ki waho ko Taporapora, 

 ko Tauwarenikau, ko Kuku-paru, 

 ko Wawau-atea, ko Wiwhi-te- 

 Rangiora 



and land was bom. 

 Taporapora, Tauwarenikau, 

 Kuku-paru, Wawau-atea. 



Wiwhi-te-Rangiora. 3 



The universe that was shaped in this series of cosmological 

 matings, according to the same early source, had 



either ten or eleven Heavens; the lowest was separated 

 from the earth, by a solid transparent substance like ice 

 or crystal, and it was along the underside, or that next to 

 the earth, that the sun and moon were supposed to glide. 

 Above this pavement was the grand reservoir of rain, 

 and beyond that was the abode of the winds. 



Each Heaven was distinct, the lowest being the 

 abode of the rain; the next of Spirits; the third of the 

 winds; the fourth of the light, the highest of all, being 

 the most glorious, and therefore the chief habitation 

 of the gods. 4 



The world was not simply a physical structure, though; 

 the sky was Rangi, the Sky Father, and the earth was Papa- 

 tuanuku, the Earth Mother, and generations of gods were born 

 from their mating. During the eons that they lay together, the 

 universe was dark and still, and very cold. Rangi clothed his 

 woman with trees and plants to warm her, and as the tempera- 

 ture rose on earth the life of the small creatures began, and 

 Papa gave birth to their sons, the gods. It was a terrible time for 

 the god-children, because there was still no light in the world 

 and they lay imprisoned between their parents 



some lying on their sides, some were lying stretched out 

 at full length, some on their backs, some were stooping, 

 some with their heads bent down, some with their legs 

 drawn up, some embracing . . . some with exhausted 

 breath, some crawling, some walking, some feeling 

 about in the dark, some arising, some gazing, some 

 sitting still, and in many other attitudes — they were all 

 within the embrace of Rangi-nui and Papa. 5 



