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Oceania
Explore myths, traditions and legendary beings grouped under Oceania.
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Aroonoona
Aroonoona is a little-known name associated with Polynesian mythology, but its identity is uncertain. Unlike major figures such as Tangaroa, Māui, Tāne, or Hina, Aroonoona is not securely documented across a broad, recog…
Atanua
Atanua is a figure in the traditional mythology of the Marquesas Islands, an island group in Eastern Polynesia and part of present-day French Polynesia. She is generally identified as a goddess or personification of dawn…
Atea
Atea is a name associated with primordial beings and creator figures in several eastern Polynesian traditions, especially those of the Marquesas and Mangareva. The name is not a single, universally defined Polynesian god…
Tangata-manu
Tangata-manu is the Rapa Nui name commonly translated as “bird-man” or “bird person”. It refers primarily to the winner of an important ritual competition held on Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, rather than to a s…
Eitumatupua
Eitumatupua is a name associated with the mythology of Mangaia, an island in the southern Cook Islands. In the limited English-language material in which the name appears, Eitumatupua is generally described as a deity or…
Fa’ahotu
Fa’ahotu is a female figure associated chiefly with the traditional mythology of Tahiti and the Society Islands in eastern Polynesia. She is generally described as the consort of Atea, a primordial being connected with t…
Fati
Fati is a name sometimes listed in modern reference works as a Polynesian lunar deity or moon-associated figure. The identification is uncertain, however. Unlike better-documented Polynesian gods such as Tangaroa, Tāne, …
Faumea
Faumea is a name associated with Polynesian mythology, although it does not identify one universally defined goddess throughout Polynesia. In modern English-language summaries, Faumea is commonly presented as a female su…
Turi-a-faumea
Turi-a-faumea is a name generally associated with a Polynesian deity or spiritual figure connected with childbirth. Modern reference works often classify Turi-a-faumea as a Samoan goddess of childbirth, although the surv…
Fe’e
Fe’e is a Polynesian name associated primarily with the octopus, especially in Samoan tradition and in related languages of the central Pacific. Depending on the source, Fe’e may refer simply to an octopus, to a remarkab…
Hikule’o
Hikuleʻo is a major figure in traditional Tongan mythology, especially in stories concerning Pulotu, the realm of the dead and the dwelling place of powerful supernatural beings. His name is also written Hikule’o, Hikule…