Tāne Māhuta – The Elder

There was a time when the primeval parents were bound in a close embrace. Their children began to protest at the growing discomfort of being squashed together in the darkness and sought a way out into the world of light. A battle ensued between these gods to decide who should part their parents. Because Tāne had the welfare of all in his mind he did not enter the fight but left it up to his brother Tūmātauenga to battle with his younger siblings. The blood that fell became the streams and rivers in the body of the earth mother. Tū banished his brothers to the places they now dwell in – Tangaroa as god of the sea; Haumietiketike and Rongo-mā-tāne to the earth to be gods of cultivated and uncultivated foods; Tawhirimātea to the heavens to dwell with his father Ranginui and Rūaumoko, the youngest, to be unborn and dwell within the bosom of Papatūānuku. Eventually Tāne was overwhelmed with grief at what Tū had done and asserted his elderly status and took over the role of separating his parents. In order to do this effectively he used his legs to push his father up into the heavens and his hands to push his mother below to be the earth. They remain in this state of separation today.

Although Tāne did not want to separate his parents he knew that it was the only way they could achieve their desired goal. This is the first record of protest from a Māori world view which resulted in the desired outcome. Tāne is personified in the great trees of the forest where his legs as branches can still be seen keeping his father at bay and the roots of his trees his arms forever embracing his mother and keeping her clothed.

Text / Texto:
Te Rita Papesch
Kirikiriroa/Hamilton, Aotearoa/New Zealand
August 2007