Taranga- Polynesian FigureMortal"Mother of Māui"

The Topknot

Taranga had already borne four sons to her husband Makea-tutara when she gave birth to her youngest child too early. In the account George Grey recorded, the infant seemed unlikely to survive. Taranga cut off her topknot of hair, wrapped the baby in it, and cast him into the sea. The ocean received the child rather than drowning him. He washed ashore and was raised by his ancestor Tāmanui-ki-te-rangi until he was old enough to seek his birth family. His name preserved what Taranga had done: Māui-tikitiki-a-Taranga, Māui of the topknot of Taranga.

The Extra Body

The young Māui appeared among Taranga's other sons as a stranger. The older brothers did not know him and resented his presence. That night, Māui slipped into the sleeping house and lay down beside his mother. Taranga woke in the dark, counted the sleeping forms around her, and found one too many. She reached out and touched the unfamiliar body. Māui told her who he was. Taranga recognized her lost son and wept, and from that night she favored him above all her other children. The older brothers noticed.

The Rushes

Each morning Taranga vanished before dawn, and no one knew where she went. Māui blocked the windows of the sleeping house so that no light entered. Taranga overslept. When she finally woke and rushed out, Māui followed her. He watched his mother cross to a place in the ground, pull up a clump of rushes, and lower herself through the opening beneath. Below was the passage to another world. Māui descended after her and found his father Makea-tutara in the realm below, where he learned the karakia that gave him power over sun and death.