All humans descended from the primordial parents Rangi (Heaven) and Papa (Earth) who were locked in a close embrace, keeping the world in darkness. Rangi and Papa had six sons - Tane-mahuta who ruled over forests, Tawhiri-ma-tea who was father of winds, Tangaroa who was father of sea life, Tu-matauenga who was father of mankind, Haumia-tikitiki who was father of uncultivated food, and Rongo-ma-tane who was father of cultivated plants. The sons and all other beings lived in darkness for a long time, unable to experience light.

1. Contempoary Traditional Maori Culture, Part 2 The Maori: Creation Story By Alexandra Roybal January 17, 2012 Culture and Geography, Period 8

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.