All humans descended from the primordial pair Rangi (Heaven) and Papa (Earth) who were in an eternal embrace, keeping the world in darkness. Rangi and Papa had six sons - Tane-mahuta who created forests, Tawhiri-ma-tea father of winds, Tangaroa who created sea life, Tu-matauenga father of mankind, Haumia-tikitiki who created uncultivated food, and Rongo-ma-tane father of cultivated plants. For a long period, all beings existed in darkness between Heaven and Earth.

1. Contempoary Traditional Maori Culture, Part 2 The Maori: Creation Story By Alexandra Roybal January 17, 2012 Culture and Geography, Period 8 George Grey, 1956, Polynesian Mythology (ed. by William W. Bird): Christchurch, Whitcombe and Tombs Ltd., 250 p. (BL 2615. G843p 1956); and Mr. Ruben Meza, 2012

2. All humans are descended from one pair of ancestors, Rangi and Papa, who are also called Heaven and Earth.

3. In those days, Heaven and Earth clung closely together, and all was darkness

4. Rangi and Papa had six sons:1.Tane-mahuta, the father of the forests and their inhabitants

5. 2.Tawhiri-ma-tea, father of winds and storms

6. 3. Tangaroa, the father of fish and reptiles.

7. 4. Tu-matauenga, the father of fierce human beings.

8. 5. Haumia-tikitiki, the father of food that grows without cultivation.

9. 6. Rongo-ma-tane, the father of cultivated food.

10. In the beginning these six sons and all other beings lived in darkness for an extremely long time, able only to wonder what light and vision might be like.