Rata- Polynesian HeroHero"The Navigator"
Also known as: Laka and Lata
Description
Rata cut down a great tree for his canoe and returned the next morning to find it standing whole. Each day he felled it; each night the forest spirits restored it, until he learned to ask permission, and they built him a vessel of supernatural quality.
Mythology & Lore
The Father's Bones
Rata's father Wahieroa was killed by Matuku-tangotango, a monstrous being who lurked in a cave beneath the earth. In Grey's Polynesian Mythology, the young Rata grew up knowing two things: that his father's bones lay unburied in his killer's lair, and that without proper burial Wahieroa's spirit could not rest. To cross the ocean and reach Matuku, he would need a canoe.
The Trees That Rose Again
Rata went into the forest and found a great tree. He felled it with his adze and began to shape the hull. When he returned the next morning, the tree stood whole again, bark unbroken, as if never touched. He cut it down a second time. Again it rose overnight. On the third day Rata hid himself and watched. He saw the Hakuturi, the forest spirits, gathering every wood chip and fragment and fitting them back together through their magic. They were the guardians of the forest, and Rata had felled their tree without asking permission or performing the proper karakia.
Rata showed himself. The spirits explained his offense. He performed the ceremonies they required, and the Hakuturi forgave him. More than forgave him: they worked through the night, and by dawn they had carved, shaped, and finished a canoe finer than any human hands could make.
The Voyage
With his spirit-built canoe Rata sailed across the open sea. He found Matuku-tangotango's lair and dug a pit at its entrance. When the creature emerged, Rata caught him and killed him. He recovered his father's bones and carried them home for proper burial. Wahieroa's spirit could rest. The quest was finished.