Editing Rangi and Papa (section)

==Union and separation==
Ranginui first married Poharua Te Po where they bore 3 offspring including Aorangi (or Aoraki as given in South Island).<ref name="Mitchell"/> He later married Papatūānuku together becoming the primordial [[sky father]] and [[Earth Mother|earth mother]] bearing over 500 children of male and female including [[Tāwhirimātea]], [[Tāne]] and [[Tangaroa]]. Both Ranginui and Papatūānuku lie locked together in a tight embrace, and their sons forced to live in the cramped darkness between them.<ref name="Mitchell">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mFb8fALKJuIC&dq=ranginui+and+papatuanuku&pg=PA18|title=History of Māori of Nelson and Marlborough|last=Mitchell|first=Hilary and John|publisher=Huia Publishers|year=2004|isbn=1-86969-087-7|location=Wellington|pages=18}}</ref><ref>The specific number of children varies in different versions but numbers of 70 or more are commonly mentioned. Whether such a high number actually occurs in one early text is another matter for investigation.</ref><ref>Their children include, depending on the version:  Rongo-mā-tāne, Haumia-tiketike, Tūmatauenga and [[Rehua]]. The youngest is [[Ruaumoko]], who has never been born and remains inside his mother's womb. His movements cause earthquakes.</ref>

These children grow and discuss among themselves what it would be like to live in the light. [[Tūmatauenga]], the fiercest of the children, proposes that the best solution to their predicament is to kill their parents.<ref name="Grey56" />{{rp|2}} But his brother [[Tāne]] disagrees, suggesting that it is better to push them apart, to let Ranginui be as a stranger to them in the sky above while Papatūānuku will remain below to nurture them. The others put their plans into action&mdash;[[Rongo]], the god of cultivated food, tries to push his parents apart, then [[Tangaroa]], the god of the sea, and his sibling [[Haumia-tiketike]], the god of wild food, join him. In spite of their joint efforts Rangi and Papa remain close together in their loving embrace.

After many attempts Tāne, god of forests and birds, forces his parents apart. Instead of standing upright and pushing with his hands as his brothers have done, he lies on his back and pushes with his strong legs. Stretching every sinew Tāne pushes and pushes until, with cries of grief and surprise, Ranginui and Papatūānuku were pried apart.<ref name="Grey56">Grey, 1956</ref>{{rp|2–3}}<ref name="Biggs66">Biggs, 1966</ref>{{rp|448}} Traditions of the Taranaki region, however, assign this separating role to Tangaroa, god of the sea.<ref name="Smith93">Smith, 1993</ref>{{rp|1–2}}