The Maori Tangaroa and the Offering Before the Sea

In the Maori account, Tangaroa is one of the children of the primal parents Rangi (Sky) and Papa (Earth), and his story explains a piece of the living world. When the brothers force their parents apart and Tawhirimatea, god of storms, makes war on his siblings in anger, Tangaroa flees to the sea; and because his descendants divide, some fish taking to the ocean, some reptiles fleeing to the forest of his brother Tane, Tangaroa and Tane are set at odds, which is why, in the traditional understanding, offerings and karakia (ritual words) are made to placate Tangaroa before a canoe puts to sea or fish are taken. In Hawaii, Kanaloa is often paired with Kane as a complementary power, associated with the ocean and, in some traditions, with healing springs. These remain part of living Polynesian traditions, and are presented here as such rather than as beliefs of the past.