Editing Polynesian mythology (section)

==Description==
[[File:Tahiti-Oro.jpg|thumb|right|150px|A sacred god figure wrapping for the war god [['Oro]], made of woven dried coconut fibre ([[sennit]]), which would have protected a Polynesian god effigy (''to'o'') made of wood]]
Prior to the 15th century AD, [[Polynesian peoples]] fanned out to the east, to the [[Cook Islands]], and from there to other groups such as [[Tahiti]] and the [[Marquesas]]. Their descendants later discovered the islands from [[Tahiti]] to [[Rapa Nui]], and later [[Hawaiian Islands|Hawai‘i]] and [[New Zealand]]. The latest research puts the settlement of New Zealand at about 1300 AD. The various [[Polynesian languages]] are all part of the [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian]] language family. Many are close enough in terms of vocabulary and grammar to permit communication between speakers of different languages. There are also substantial cultural similarities between the various groups, especially in terms of social organization, childrearing, horticulture, building and textile technologies; their mythologies, in particular, demonstrate local reworkings of commonly shared tales.

In some island groups, [[Tangaroa]] is of great importance as the god of the sea and of fishing. There is often a story of the marriage between Sky and Earth; the New Zealand version,  [[Rangi and Papa]], is a union that gives birth to the world and all things in it. There are stories of islands pulled up from the bottom of the sea by a [[magic (paranormal)|magic]] fishhook or thrown down from [[heaven]]. There are stories of voyages, migrations, seductions and battles, as one might expect. Stories about a trickster, [[Māui]]        and demon [[Ulupoka]] are widely known, as are those about a beautiful goddess/ancestress [[Hina (goddess)|Hina or Sina]].

In addition to these shared themes in the oral tradition, each island group has its own stories of demi-gods and culture heroes, shading gradually into the firmer outlines of remembered history. Often such stories were linked to various geographic or ecological features, which may be described as the petrified remains of supernatural beings.