Editing Laufakanaʻa

{{Short description|Tongan god}}
In the [[Polynesian narrative|Polynesian mythology]] of [[Tonga]], '''Laufakana{{okina}}a''' (speak to silence; i.e.: command [the winds] to calm down) was a primordial creator god, and his home was {{okina}}Ata.

In Tongan cosmogony, the sky and the sea, and the land of [[Pulotu]] (the dark [[underworld]], the home of the souls of departed chiefs) existed from the earliest times. All other lands were created later. Either they were thrown down from the sky by [[Hikuleʻo|Havea Hikule{{okina}}o]] or, subsequently, they were fished up by [[Māui (mythology)#Tongan mythology|Maui]] from the bottom of the ocean. All the ''makafonua'' (landstones) of Hikule{{okina}}o were full of unevenness, and tended to jump around (that is, they were the source of earthquakes) and were full of holes and pits (that is, volcanoes), while Maui's lands were smooth (coral islands and atolls). [[ʻAta]] and [[ʻEua]], the islands which were fished up first, were quite hilly, as Maui apparently was not an expert fisherman yet. His next catch, ([[Tongatapu]]) he kept much smoother.

The first people of {{okina}}Ata came forth directly from the same ''uanga'' (fly larva, maggot) as [[Kohai, Koau, mo Momo]], and were the ancestors of all other men. At that time the god [[Tamapo'uli'alamafoa|Tamapo{{okina}}uli{{okina}}alamafoa]] was the king of the sky, and he commanded some of the [[Tangaloa]] gods to tell the ''fa{{okina}}ahikehe'' (sub-god) Laufakana{{okina}}a to go down to the realm of light (i.e. the earth, not Pulotu) to become ruler of {{okina}}Ata and also ruler of the winds. Whenever a boat came to {{okina}}Ata in stormy weather, Laufakana{{okina}}a had to listen to the prayers of the crew and give them a good wind to sail on. The prayer had to consist of an offering of ''mā'' (meal of [[breadfruit#Uses|fermented breadfruit]]<ref>{{cite journal |title=Breadfruit Fermentation Practices in Oceania|page=157|journal=Journal de la Société des Océanistes |date=1984 |volume=40 |issue=79 |first=Nancy |last=Pollock |doi=10.3406/jso.1984.2544 |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/jso_0300-953x_1984_num_40_79_2544}}</ref>) cooked in the oil of the grated [[coconut]].

Laufakana{{okina}}a also brought a special fishing net with him. This typical {{okina}}Ata-net was used by the islanders on special occasions, as when they went fishing for the [[Tuʻi Tonga]]. As well, the ''putalinga'' (a kind of [[Plantain (cooking)|plantain]]), the ''sī'' ([[ti (plant)]]), the ''ngū-{{okina}}ata'' and ''tua-{{okina}}ata'' [[Yam (vegetable)|yams]] were brought down from the sky by Laufakana{{okina}}a and first grew on {{okina}}Ata, before they spread to the other islands.

==References==
{{Reflist}}
*''Traditions tonganiennes'', legends collected by Father P. Reiter, originally published in the German/Swiss anthropology journal ''Anthropos'', 1907
*E.W. Gifford; ''Tongan myths and tales'', BPB Bulletin 8; 1924

[[Category:Tongan deities]]
[[Category:Sky and weather gods]]