Tangaroa

How to recognise Tangaroa

1. Great round headIn Cook Islands carving, the head is about one third the size of the body, with heavy-set features.
2. Squatting stanceThe legs are flexed and the hands rest on a rounded stomach, as in the carved figures of Rarotonga and Aitutaki.
3. Dark wood, red accentsA Rarotongan figure in Auckland Museum is dark brown with a varnished surface and drops of red wax around the eyes and navel.
4. Procreative powerRarotongan figures traditionally carry a prominent phallus, which denotes his procreative power.
5. Companions of the seaHis children and descendants are the creatures of the sea, so fish, whales and waves may accompany him.
6. Heʻe, the octopus (Hawaiʻi)Kanaloa is symbolised by the squid or octopus, and his bodily forms (kinolau) include the octopus, squid, banana and porpoise.

Names and titles

• Tangaroa of Many PathsKo Tangaroa ara rau, a Māori saying: Tangaroa of many paths
• Controller of the TidesAs Tangaroa-whakamau-tai he controls the tides
• Father of the FishHe is the progenitor of fish and the ancestor of the sea's creatures
• The House Beneath the WavesHis carved house Hui-te-ana-nui lies at the bottom of the sea
• Where Carving BeganIn Māori tradition the art of carving came from Tangaroa's underwater house through Ruatepupuke

Feast days

• Matariki public holiday25 June 2027

  Aotearoa New Zealand's public holiday for Matariki, the Māori new year, which follows the rising of the Pleiades. Its date is set by the maramataka (Māori lunar calendar). It falls on the Friday closest to the Tangaroa nights of the lunar month Pipiri.

  How it's celebrated. Many gather before dawn for hautapu ceremonies. These include karakia, calling out the names of people who died in the past year, and food cooked in an umu or hāngī. The steam is offered to the atua. Public ceremonies have been held at Takaparawhau (Bastion Point) in Auckland and at Te Puia in Rotorua. Others share kai or go stargazing. Some iwi mark the new year with Puanga rather than Matariki.

  Sources: Wikipedia: Matariki · The Spinoff: Matariki 2026, your guide to celebrating · Te Puia: Matariki Hautapu Ceremony

• Tangaroa lunar period27 June 2027

  The Tangaroa nights, or Ngā Pō a Tangaroa, are the last-quarter nights of the Māori lunar month, named for the atua Tangaroa. In Pipiri, this is the lunar period to which the Matariki public holiday, listed above, is tied.

  How it's celebrated. This is a calendar period, and no fixed ceremony for it is recorded in my sources. Tangaroa-ā-mua and Tangaroa-ā-roto are recorded as good nights for fishing, and Tangaroa-kiokio is often added as a third. Night names and their qualities vary between iwi. Interest in using the maramataka for fishing and planting has revived, and some Māori follow it today.

  Sources: Te Ara: Maramataka, nights of the month · Museums Wellington: The Māori Phases of the Moon · Te Ara: Maramataka, the lunar calendar