War Among the Gods

A comparative study of the myths concerning the major gods reveals the fact that they were not a united family. In spite of different spheres of influence having been provided for them, they did not always live in peace and harmony with each other. The first disagreement took place before the enforced separation of the Sky-father from the Earth-mother. The separationists ranged themselves under the leadership of Tane, and the opposition, under Whiro. There was bitter opposition to Tane, which continued after the period of the separation of Rangi and Papa, but finally Whiro was defeated. In the Tahitian legends, there is a record of the struggle between Tane and page 51the navigator Hiro. The late Queen Marau of Tahiti regarded Tane as a chief who was a contemporary of Hiro, who lived about the middle of the thirteenth century. It is thus possible that the New Zealanders have projected an historical event back into the period of the gods by confusing a human Tane with the god Tane and therefore adding his human contemporary Hiro under the dialectical form of Whiro to the godhead.

In the Tahitian traditional narratives, it is stated that the gods of Ra'iatea descended upon Tahiti and waged war against the god Tane, who was worshiped at the time in Tahiti. The principal invading god was 'Oro, the son of Ta'aroa (Tangaroa). In the end Tane was defeated. The temples of 'Oro were established in Tahiti, and 'Oro became the principal god of the Society Islands. The Cook Islands' traditions of Aitu-taki, Atiu, and Mangaia state that there was an influx of people to these islands from Tahiti and that they were worshipers of the god Tane. It is thus evident that the wars between the gods were the wars between their followers and that when the worshipers of 'Oro from Ra'iatea conquered the Tahitian followers of Tane, many of the Tahitians left for the Cook Islands rather than submit to their conquerors.

From the myths and traditions of Mangaia in the Cook Islands, it would appear that the Mangaians page 52emigrated from the neighboring island of Rarotonga. The principal god of Rarotonga was Tangaroa. The ancestors of the first settlers to Mangaia must have occupied some inferior status in Rarotonga, for they concealed their sojourn in that island and their voyage from it by saying that the island of Mangaia rose from the ocean depths with their human ancestors upon it. Not only did they shake off the temporal yoke of Rarotonga, but they emancipated themselves from the spiritual yoke of Tangaroa by substituting Rongo in his place. Thus they recast both their history and their mythology. In their mythology, they acknowledged Vatea (Atea) and Papa as the primary parents of the gods. In the family of gods, they placed Tangaroa as the first-born, with Rongo as the second, and Tane and the others following. Tangaroa was neatly disposed of by means of the custom which prevents the parents from eating with their first-born son. Vatea, in dividing his estate among his sons, proposed to give all the food to the first-born, Tangaroa. His wife, Papa, influenced by the desire to share in the food offerings, persuaded Vatea to allocate the red foods to Tangaroa and give all the other food to the second son, Rongo. Red was the color of the gods and high chieftainship, so Vatea consented. At a feast which followed, all foods with a reddish color, cooked or uncooked, were set aside in the heap for Tangaroa. page 53They consisted of coconuts, taro, fish with a reddish tinge, and crayfish and crabs that turn red on cooking. But the red foods were small in quantity, whereas the pile of other foods for Rongo was so great that some rolled off and were trodden underfoot. The symbol of chieftainship went to Tangaroa but quantity and variety went to Rongo. Tangaroa, in a huff, left and so was removed as an active member from the Mangaian pantheon. The Mangaians further concealed their mundane history by making their primary ancestors the children of the god Rongo. Hence the story of the Earth-formed-maid was omitted from Mangaian mythology. It is interesting to note that the Mangaians added the Rarotongan ancestor Tangiia to their gods but projected him back in time by making him a brother of Tangaroa and Rongo.

In Mangareva, the principal god was Tu, but he was made the eldest son of Tangaroa instead of his brother. Atea was present as one of the earliest gods but he appeared as an individual and not the father of the gods.

It is evident from the mythology of different island groups that a pattern of theology was carried out from the center to the marginal islands along the various radials. The main feature consisted of a number of deified ancestors having been grouped together into one family by making them the children of per-page 54sonifications of Space and Earth. The gods were given separate departments to rule over, but, though they were theoretically equal, different island groups have had the tendency to exalt one member of the family over the others. Thus Tangaroa was exalted in the Society and Cook Islands, Tane in New Zealand and Hawaii, Rongo in Mangaia, and Tu in Mangareva. In the process of exalting a particular god above his fellows, the older pattern of mythology was sometimes altered to fit the circumstances, as in the supplanting of the elder brother Tangaroa by Rongo in Mangaia. The struggle among the gods for greater prestige was merely a reflection of what took place among their human followers.