Rangi and Papa

[2] Ranginui first married Poharua Te Po where they bore 3 offspring including Aorangi (or Aoraki as given in South Island).

[3] He later married Papatūānuku together becoming the primordial sky father and 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.

[6]: 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.

He cannot bear to hear the cries of his parents nor see the tears of Ranginui as they are parted, he promises his siblings that from henceforth they will have to deal with his anger.

As these winds show their might the dust flies and the great forest trees of Tāne are smashed under the attack and fall to the ground, food for decay and for insects.

[6]: 3–6 [9]: 54 [7]: 448–449 Then Tāwhirimātea attacks the oceans and huge waves rise, whirlpools form, and Tangaroa, the god of the sea, flees in panic.

Punga, a son of Tangaroa, has two children, Ikatere father of fish, and Tū-te-wehiwehi (or Tu-te-wanawana) the ancestor of reptiles.

When mist rises from the forests, these are Papatūānuku's sighs as the warmth of her body yearns for Ranginui and continues to nurture mankind.