How Tane Created Human Life

By Chrissie Ward

In the beginning was the great Nothingness. Out of the great Nothingness emerged the great Night, and out of the great Night came Rangi, the Sky Father, and Papa, the Earth Mother. These two joined together, creating the land, and they had many offspring. Their principle children were Tu, the god of war; Tane, the god of forests and the creatures that live there; Tawhiri, the god of winds and storms; Rongo, the god of cultivated food; Haumia, the god of uncultivated food; and Tangaroa, god of all things that live in the sea.

Much time passed, and the children of Rangi and Papa grew tired of living in darkness, for the Sky Father lay closely joined with the Earth Mother and there was no light upon the land. The brothers met together to decide what to do. Should they kill Rangi and Papa, or should they try to separate them? Tu, the fierce god of war, said, "We must kill them. It is the only way."

Tane, the god of the forests and the forest creatures, said, "No, it is better to tear them apart. Let the sky stand far above us and the earth stand beneath us. The sky will become a stranger, but earth, our mother, will remain close to us."

The majority agreed. One by one they tried to separate Rangi and Papa, and one by one they failed. Then it was Tane's turn. At first he tried to push his parents apart with his arms, but to no avail. Then he planted his shoulders on Mother Earth and his feet on Father Sky, and pushed. Slowly, slowly he pushed, and with the force of a great forest tree he began to separate Rangi and Papa. They were hurt and cried out to him, "Why are you doing this? Why do you try to end your parents' love?"

Tane closed his ears and continued to push. His strength could not be denied, for it was the strength of all growing things. With groans and shrieks of pain, Rangi and Papa felt themselves being separated. Blood flowed from their intertwined limbs as they were ripped apart. Tane continued pushing, pressing the earth beneath his shoulders and thrusting the sky far above him.

Light flooded over the land, and the offspring of the sky and the earth rejoiced. But Rangi and Papa wept with sorrow, and their tears fell so abundantly that the land was being flooded. Their children decided that the only solution was to turn their mother over, so that she and Rangi would no longer have to look at one another and be constantly reminded of the other's grief.

As they began this mighty task, a voice cried to them from their mother's bosom. It was Ruaumoki, the last-born child, who was still nursing at Papa's breast.

"Keep me with you," he wailed. "Don't abandon me under the land!"

The others said, "No, you are too young to leave your mother."

Out of kindness, they placed fire deep in the ground to keep Papa and her young child warm, and then with a great heave they turned Papa over. And when Papa and Rangi could no longer gaze on the other's face, gradually they shed fewer tears and the land was safe. But Ruaumoki was angry with his brothers, and became the god of earthquakes.

All the offspring of Rangi and Papa were male beings. Tane brought forth many offspring to make the land beautiful, but without a female he could not create human life. At last in frustration he asked his mother for advice. She told him to go to a place called Kurawaka, for it was there that her blood had flowed into the ground when she and Rangi were torn apart.

Tane went to Kurawaka, and from the red clay on the beach he fashioned the body of a woman. Tane took her in his arms, pressed his nose to her nose and breathed life into her nostrils. Her eyes opened and she sneezed. This was the first woman, Hine-ahu-one, the Woman of the Earth.

Tane lay with Hine-ahu-one, and she gave birth to a daughter, Hine-titama, the Woman of the Dawn. Hine-titama was the first human child.

Hine-titama was raised by her mother and never knew who her father was. She grew up to be very beautiful, and when Tane saw her he desired her. He took her as his wife, and in due time Hine-titama gave birth to a daughter.

One day when Hine-titama was rocking her baby on her knee, she wondered, "What shall I say to this child when she asks me about her whakapapa, her lineage? For I know my mother, but not my father."

She went to Tane, her husband, and asked, "Who is my father?"

And Tane answered evasively, "Ask the posts of your house."

Hine-titama went to the first post of her house and asked, "Who is my father?" The post said, "It is Tane." Hine-titama didn't believe it, for Tane was her husband. She asked the next post, and the next, and the next, and they all answered: "Tane." Then she knew it must be true, and was horrified.

She confronted Tane and said, "I will not stay here in the world of light, for you have brought great shame upon me. I choose the path to the underworld, where my grandmother, Papa, will shelter me."

Tane wept and begged her to stay, but she was unmoved and cast a sleeping spell upon him. While he slumbered, she slipped down the path from the earth to the underworld. But before she left Tane she placed a lump in his throat, the Adam's apple, so that he would always be reminded of her.

When Hine-titama reached the underworld she changed her name to Hine-nui-te-po, the Great Woman of the Night. And in the underworld she remains, waiting to greet the spirits of her descendants, who must all follow her there.