Mythology of Oceania

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The mythology of Oceania and the Gods of the Pacific region are both complex and diverse. They have been developed over many centuries on each of the islands and atolls that make up Oceania. While some gods are shared between many groups of islands while others are specific to one set of islands or even to a single island. Their exact roles are often overlapping as one god can appear in different places under different names. A god can also appear in many different forms.

Contents

Oceania is a general name applied to a very vast region including Polynesia, Micronesia, Australia, Tasmania and more. It is important to remember that even among these groups (ex. Polynesia) there are still many different societies and tribes with their own cultures. This list is not a complete list of mythologies, just a collection of the more well known beliefs in different regions.

Polynesia

The well known and perhaps most widely believed creation myth in Polynesia starts with Po. Po is a darkness, void of all light and life. At some point there were stirrings within Po, then a light began to shine until eventually day was created and then came Heaven Father and Earth Mother, named Rangi and Papa, respectively. Rangi took Papa and the gods were born. There are different variations among different cultures of Polynesia, but many agree that the first gods came from Rangi and Papa, and there are different variations that suggest Rangi took several more wives to create more gods and these gods then created all that is on Earth. [1]

Maui

Maui is one of the most well known and discussed demi-gods in Polynesian mythology. While Maui is not the creator, he is attributed with providing humanity much of what was needed to survive and thrive, such as fire and new islands that he had fished from the sea. [1] [2]

Australia

Very little is known about the beliefs of the aboriginal people of Australia in regards to the creation of the Earth. While there have been vague mentions of everything being created by a deity or some supernatural being, there is not much information on who that being was or how important they were to the tribes. [1] What we do find in aboriginal mythology is many stories about native animals, such as pelicans and kangaroos, and how they came to be. One story involves an extra-marital affair, where a woman named Narina laid with Kilpuruna, who was the friend of her husband Yuruma. Yuruma discovered their affair and pushed Kilpuruna from a tall tree. Kilpuruna's fall flattened him so much that he turned into a blanket lizard and Yuruma became an Eagle forever hunting lizards. Narina transformed into a cockatoo and flies from place to place, crying for her lost lover.

Another myth explains the creation of the moon and the sun. In the beginning, there was no light and the people had to search for food in the darkness and eat it raw. Purukupali who was the first man created, and his friend Japra decided one day to rub two sticks together and a fire started. Purukupali knew that this fire was going to help the people, so he gave one torch to Japra and one torch to his sister Wuriupranala and told them to keep the torches lit no matter what. Japra and Wuriupranala became the moon-man and sun-woman, forever walking across the sky to keep the aboriginals from ever falling into darkness again. [3]

Micronesia

Micronesia is similar to Australia in that it lacks the specifics of creation but rather focuses on smaller stories such as the sun and the moon and certain cultural practices by the people.

One such story is about the theft of the moon. A chief asks all the people in his tribe to bring him the moon, and says that whoever brings the moon can marry his daughter. The poor boy who finds out how to steal the moon brings it to chief, but the moon is wrapped in covers. The boy tells the chief not to remove the covers ever and then takes the chiefs daughter to marry. The chief doesn't listen to the boy and removes the covers, but with very cover the moon gets brighter until finally the chief removes the last cover and the moon becomes too bright and shoots back into the sky. The chief goes to the boy to tell him what happened and asks the boy to retrieve the moon again, but the boy says it is not possible and suggests they leave the moon in the sky for all to see.

Another story explains the abundance of fresh water on the island of East Fayu. There was a ghost from Onari that went in search of water, as many Micronesian islands have a lack of fresh water due to being islands. The ghost found water and decided to carry it back to Onari in his mouth, but along the way he saw a celebration happening on the Island of East Fayu. A young lady invited the ghost to the celebration but quickly realized there must be something important in the ghosts mouth as he refused to open it. The young lady snuck up behind the ghost and tickled him, causing the ghost to laugh and spill the water. Since then, fresh water can be found on East Fayu by digging wells, and the well water is practically pure and does not require boiling like much of the water on the other islands. [4]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polynesian mythology</span> Body of myths in Polynesia

Polynesian mythology encompasses the oral traditions of the people of Polynesia together with those of the scattered cultures known as the Polynesian outliers. Polynesians speak languages that descend from a language reconstructed as Proto-Polynesian – probably spoken in the Tonga and Samoa area around 1000 BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rongo</span> Māori god of cultivated plants

In Māori mythology, Rongo or Rongo-mā-Tāne is a major god (atua) of cultivated plants, especially kumara, a vital crop. Other crops cultivated by Māori in traditional times included taro, yams (uwhi), cordyline (tī), and gourds (hue). Because of their tropical origin, most of these crops were difficult to grow except in the far north of the North Island, hence the importance of Rongo in New Zealand.

In Hawaiian mythology, Kāne is considered the highest of the three major Hawaiian deities, along with Kū and Lono. He represented the god of procreation and was worshipped as ancestor of chiefs and commoners. Kāne is the creator and gives life associated with dawn, sun and sky. No human sacrifice or laborious ritual was needed in the worship of Kāne. In the Kumuhonua legend, he created Earth, bestowed upon it sea creatures, animals, plants, as well as created man and woman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rangi and Papa</span> World parents of Māori creation story

In Māori mythology the primal couple Rangi and Papa appear in a creation myth explaining the origin of the world and the Māori people. In some South Island dialects, Rangi is called Raki or Rakinui.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tāne</span> God of forests and of birds in Māori mythology

In Māori mythology, Tāne is the god of forests and of birds, and the son of Ranginui and Papatūānuku, the sky father and the earth mother, who used to lie in a tight embrace where their many children lived in the darkness between them.

Tangaroa is the great atua of the sea, lakes, rivers, and creatures that live within them, especially fish, in Māori mythology. As Tangaroa-whakamau-tai he exercises control over the tides. He is sometimes depicted as a whale.

In Polynesian languages the word aitu refers to ghosts or spirits, often malevolent. The word is common to many languages of Western and Eastern Polynesia. In the mythology of Tonga, for example, ʻaitu or ʻeitu are lesser gods, many being patrons of specific villages and families. They often take the form of plants or animals, and are often more cruel than other gods. These trouble-making gods are regarded as having come from Samoa. The Tongan word tangi lauʻaitu means to cry from grief, to lament.

Ao (daylight) is one of the primal deities who are the unborn forces of nature in Māori mythology. Ao is the personification of light, clouds, and the ordinary world, as opposed to darkness and the underworld.

Atea is a deity in several Polynesian cultures, including the Marquesas and Tuamotu Islands, and New Zealand.

Marama is a Polynesian deity of varying representation and importance depending on the society or tribe being discussed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avatea</span> Moon god of the Cook Islands

In Cook Islands mythology, Avatea was a lunar deity and the father of gods and men in Mangaian myth of origin. His eyes were thought to be the Sun and the Moon; he was also known as the god of light.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Varima-te-takere</span>

In Cook Islands mythology, Varima-te-takere also called Vari, was the primordial mother of the gods and mortals.

There have been many accounts of the origin of language in the world's mythologies and other stories pertaining to the origin of language, the development of language and the reasons behind the diversity in languages today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oceanian art</span> Artistic traditions of Oceania

Oceanic art or Oceanian art comprises the creative works made by the native people of the Pacific Islands and Australia, including areas as far apart as Hawaii and Easter Island. Specifically it comprises the works of the two groups of people who settled the area, though during two different periods. They would in time however, come to interact and together reach even more remote islands. The area is often broken down into four separate regions: Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia and Australia. Australia, along with interior Melanesia (Papua), are populated by descendants of the first waves of human migrations into the region by Australo-Melanesians. Micronesia, Island Melanesia, and Polynesia, on the other hand, are descendants of later Austronesian voyagers who intermixed with native Australo-Melanesians; mostly via the Neolithic Lapita culture. All of the regions in later times would be greatly affected by western influence and colonization. In more recent times, the people of Oceania have found a greater appreciation of their region's artistic heritage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melanesian mythology</span> Folklore, myths, and religion of Melanesia

Melanesian mythology refers to the folklore, myths, and religions of Melanesia, a region in Southwest Oceania that encompasses the archipelagos of New Guinea, the Torres Strait Islands, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and Fiji. The various mythologies consist primarily of the traditions of oral literature in the different populations of Melanesia. More recent aspects include the cargo cults born in the 20th century during the Pacific War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Māori mythology</span> Tales relating to the origins of the (Māori) world

Māori mythology and Māori traditions are two major categories into which the remote oral history of New Zealand's Māori may be divided. Māori myths concern tales of supernatural events relating to the origins of what was the observable world for the pre-European Māori, often involving gods and demigods. Māori tradition concerns more folkloric legends often involving historical or semi-historical forebears. Both categories merge in whakapapa to explain the overall origin of the Māori and their connections to the world which they lived in.

Micronesian mythology comprises the traditional belief systems of the people of Micronesia. There is no single belief system in the islands of Micronesia, as each island region has its own mythological beings.

In the religion and mythology of the ancient Hawaiians, Papahānaumoku — often simply called Papa — is a goddess and the Earth Mother. She is mentioned in the chants as the consort of the sky god Wākea. Their daughter is beautiful goddess Hoʻohokukalani, the main character of one myth. Papa is still worshipped by some Hawaiians, especially by women, as a primordial force of creation who has the power to give life and to heal. The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument was renamed in 2007 to the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, in honour of Papa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cook Islands mythology</span> Mythology

Cook Islands mythology comprises historical myths, legends, and folklore passed down by the ancient Cook Islanders over many generations. Many of the Cook Islands legends were recited through ancient songs and chants. The Cook Islands myths and legends have similarities to general Polynesian mythology, which developed over the centuries into its own unique character.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roslyn Poignant</span> Australian anthropologist and historian (1927–2019)

Roslyn Betty Poignant was an Australian photographic anthropologist who collaboratively published, interpreted, and repatriated her husband Axel Poignant's photos of indigenous peoples from Arnhem Land, Papua New Guinea, and Tahiti. Poignant was involved in photographing and writing about museum collections of the material culture of Polynesia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Australia. Poignant is known for her finding, researching and repatriating an 1885 photograph taken in Paris by anthropological photographer Roland Bonaparte of three Queensland indigenous persons taken to form part of an international touring troupe, for P. T. Barnum's circus. These were people presumed lost to the Manbarra of Palm Island

References

  1. 1 2 3 Dixon, Roland (1916). The Mythology of All Races (Part 5 ed.). Marshall Jones. pp. 265–307.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  2. ↑ Westervelt, William (1910). Legends of Ma-ui, a Demi God of Polynesia. Hawaiian Gazette. pp. 12–91.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  3. ↑ Mountford, Charles (June 22, 2020). The Dreamtime: Australian Aboriginal Myths. ETT Imprint. ISBN   9781922384294.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  4. ↑ Mitchell, Roger (1973). "The Folktales of Micronesia". Asian Folklore Studies. 32: 16–30 – via JSTOR.
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