Tāne
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In Māori mythology, Tāne is the god of forests and of birds, and the son of Ranginui and Papatūānuku, the sky father and the earth mother, who used to lie in a tight embrace where their many children
A carving of Tāne-nui-a-Rangi sited at the entrance to the Auckland Zoo's forest aviary
New Zealand rainforest: the trees and birds are the children of Tāne.
Tāne Mahuta, "Lord of the Forest", in the Waipoua forest
Hine-nui-te-pō
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Hine-nui-te-pō in Māori legends, is a goddess of night who receives the spirits of humans when they die. She is the daughter of Tāne Mahuta / Tāne Tuturi and Hine-ahuone. Hine-nui-te-pō shepherds the
Tāne
…Hine-tītama without her knowing who he is. Upon discovering that she has married her father, she flees to the underworld, and becomes the goddess of death, Hine-nui-te-pō. Tāne follows her and begs her to return. She tells him to return to the world and raise their children, while she will wait below to receive them when…
Māui attempting to enter Hine-nui-te-pō. Carving by Tene Waitere in the meeting house Rauru (opened in 1900).