The Maori creation story tells of Rangi and Papa, who represent heaven and earth. They were originally locked in a tight embrace, leaving their children in constant darkness. Their six sons - Tane Mahuta, Tawhiri Ma-tea, Tangaroa, Tu-matauenga, Haumia-Tikitiki, and Rongo-ma-Tane - lived in darkness between their parents for a very long time, unable to experience light and vision.

1. Contemporary Traditional Maori Culture , part 2 The Maori Creation Story :The separation of Heaven and earth By Dewen yu 2012-1-19 period 4 culture and Geography

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 the father of food that 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 cultivated food

9. (8) and Rongo-ma- tane the father of cultivated food

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