Editing Tāne

{{short description|God of forests and of birds in Māori mythology}}
{{for|the Sanmarinese village also known as "Le Tane"|Valgiurata}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Polynesian
| name = Tāne
| god_of = [[Māori people|Māori]] god of forests and birds,<br>[[Tahitians|Tahitian]] god of beauty and peace
| image = Carving of Tane nui a Rangi, at Auckland Zoo.jpg
| caption = A carving of Tāne-nui-a-Rangi sited at the entrance to the [[Auckland Zoo|Auckland Zoo's]] forest aviary
| other_names = Tāne-mahuta, Tāne-nui-a-Rangi
| cult_centre = 
| symbol = <!-- or | symbols = -->
| consorts = [[Hineahuone]], [[Rangahore]]
| parents = [[Rangi and Papa]]
| siblings = [[Haumia-tiketike|Haumia]] ([[Arawa (canoe)|Arawa]]), [[Rongo]], [[Tangaroa]], [[Tāwhirimātea]], [[Tūmatauenga|Tū]], [[Rūaumoko]], [[Whiro]]
| offspring = [[Hine-nui-te-pō]], [[Tiki]], [[Haumia-tiketike]] (southern [[Bay of Plenty]] and parts of the east coast)
| gender = Male
| equivalent1_type = 
| equivalent1 = 
| equivalent2_type = 
| equivalent2 = 
| region = [[Polynesia]]
| ethnic_group = [[Māori people|Māori]], [[Tahitians]]
}}
In [[Māori mythology]], '''Tāne''' (also called '''Tāne-mahuta''', '''Tāne-nui-a-Rangi''', '''Tāne-te-waiora''' and several other names) is the [[god]] of forests and of birds, and the son of [[Rangi and Papa|Ranginui]] and [[Rangi and Papa|Papatūānuku]], the [[sky father]] and the [[Earth goddess|earth mother]], who used to lie in a tight embrace where their many children lived in the darkness between them (Grey 1956:2).

On [[Tahiti]], Tane was the god of peace and beauty.<ref name="Anne">{{cite book|last1=Salmond|first1=Anne|title=Aphrodite's Island|date=2010|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=9780520261143|pages=[https://archive.org/details/aphroditesisland00salm/page/24 24,179,206,317]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/aphroditesisland00salm/page/24}}</ref>

==Separates his parents==
[[Image:Waitakere Forest n.jpg|left|thumb|New Zealand rainforest: the trees and birds are the children of Tāne.]]
The children of Rangi and Papa grew frustrated at their confinement in the cramped space between their parents. [[Tūmatauenga|Tū]], future god of [[war]], proposes that they should kill their parents. But Tāne (or Tāne-mahuta) disagrees, suggesting that it is better to separate them, sending Rangi into the sky and leaving Papa below to care for them. Tāne's brothers [[Rongo]], then [[Tangaroa]], [[Haumia-tiketike]] and Tū all try in vain to separate the parents.  After many tries, Tāne lies on his back and pushes with his strong legs, and finally forces his parents apart, and Rangi rises high into the heavens (Grey 1956:2-3).<ref>In legends of the Taranaki region, it is Tangaroa who manages to separate Rangi and Papa (Smith 1993:1-2)</ref> Then Tāne searched for heavenly bodies as lights so that his father would be appropriately dressed. He obtained the stars and threw them up, along with the Moon and the Sun. At last Rangi looked handsome (Orbell 1998:145).

[[Tāwhirimātea]], the god of storms and winds, is angry that the parents have been torn apart. He joins his father in the sky and punishes the earth and sea with violent storms (Grey 1956:3-6, Tregear 1891:54). Tāwhirimātea attacks the forests of Tāne, snapping the trunks of the trees, shattering the trees to the ground, leaving them as food for decay and insects. Then he attacks the oceans, and Tangaroa, the god of the sea, flees. Two of Tangaroa's descendants, [[Ikatere]], father of [[fish]] and [[Tu-te-wehiwehi]] (or Tu-te-wanawana), the ancestor of [[reptile]]s, are terrified by Tāwhirimātea's fury. The fish flee into the sea, and the reptiles into the forests. Ever since, Tangaroa has resented Tāne for hiding his runaway children. So it is that Tāne supplies the descendants of Tūmatauenga with canoes, fishhooks, and nets to catch the descendants of Tangaroa. Tangaroa retaliates by overturning canoes and sending floods that sweep away houses, land and [[tree]]s (Grey 1971:5-6).

==Progenitor of humankind==
Some legends say that Tāne made the [[List of first men or women in mythology and religion|first man]], named [[Tiki]]. More widely known is a tradition that Tāne was trying to find himself a wife, but at first he found only non-human females and fathered insects, birds, and plants.  One such was [[Rangahore]], who gave birth to a stone and was abandoned by Tāne. Then he made a woman by moulding her from the soil (Orbell 1998:145).

In some stories, Tāne marries his daughter 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-Po|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 they die (Orbell 1998:38).

Other traditions tell of the three baskets of knowledge that Tāne brought down from the [[heaven]]s (Orbell 1998:145).

==See also==
{{Portal|Mythology|New Zealand}}
[[File:'Lord of the Forest' Tane Mahuta.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Tāne Mahuta]], "Lord of the Forest", in the Waipoua forest]]
*[[Tāne Mahuta]], a famous [[Agathis australis|kauri]] tree.
*[[Whirinaki Te Pua-a-Tāne Conservation Park|Whirinaki Te Pua-a-Tāne]], a prehistoric rainforest.
*[[Kāne]], a god of Hawaii.

==Notes==
<references/>

==References==
*[[George Grey|G. Grey]], ''Nga Mahi a Nga Tupuna'', fourth edition. First published 1854. (Reed: Wellington), 1971.
*G. Grey, ''Polynesian Mythology'', Illustrated edition, reprinted 1976. (Whitcombe and Tombs: Christchurch), 1956.
*M. Orbell, ''The Concise Encyclopedia of Māori Myth and Legend'' (Canterbury University Press: Christchurch), 1998.
*A. Smith,  ''Songs and Stories of Taranaki from the Writings of Te Kahui Kararehe'' (MacMillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies: Christchurch), 1993.
*[[Edward Tregear|E.R. Tregear]], ''Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary'' (Lyon and Blair: Lambton Quay), 1891.

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[[Category:Māori gods]]
[[Category:Māori mythology]]
[[Category:Beauty gods]]
[[Category:Peace gods]]
[[Category:Polynesian gods]]
[[Category:Tahiti and Society Islands gods]]
[[Category:Tree gods]]
[[Category:Nature gods]]