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Oceania
Explore myths, traditions and legendary beings grouped under Oceania.
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Na Atibu
Na Atibu is a primordial figure in traditions associated with the Gilbert Islands, now the Republic of Kiribati, in the central Pacific. He is commonly described as an ancient male being, ancestor or first man, and is of…
Ngaru
Ngaru is a name associated with the sea, waves, and ocean movement in parts of the Polynesian world. It is sometimes presented in modern mythology lists as the name of a Polynesian sea god or wave deity. That description…
Oro
Oro, also written ʻOro, is a major deity in the traditional religion of the Society Islands, especially Tahiti and Raiatea, in eastern Polynesia. He is most strongly associated with warfare, chiefly authority, religious …
Pahuanuiapitaaiterai
Pahuanuiapitaaiterai is a name associated with Polynesian mythology, but it is not securely documented as a widely recognized deity across Polynesia. Information about the figure is extremely limited, and the name appear…
Po
Po is a Polynesian concept associated with darkness, night, the unseen world and the earliest stages of creation. It is especially important in Māori and Hawaiian traditions, although the meaning and religious significan…
Pulotu
Pulotu is a name used in several Polynesian traditions for a supernatural realm associated with the dead, ancestral spirits and powerful deities. It is especially prominent in Tongan and Samoan religious traditions, alth…
Ro’o
Ro’o is a name associated in some accounts with the religious traditions of eastern Polynesia, especially Tahiti and the wider Society Islands. The figure is often described as a deity connected with cultivated food, fer…
Roua
Roua is a name associated with Polynesian mythology, but its identity is uncertain and its traditional context is not securely established in the surviving record. Unlike widely documented Polynesian figures such as Māui…
Sisimatailaa
Sisimatailaa is a little-documented figure associated with Samoan mythology and the wider Polynesian cultural region of Oceania. The name appears in modern collections of Polynesian mythological beings, but descriptions …
Ta’aroa
Ta’aroa is a major creator deity in the traditional religion of Tahiti and the Society Islands, in eastern Polynesia. He is often described as a primordial god who existed before the ordered world and brought the heavens…
Tahu
Tahu is a name associated with Polynesian mythology in some modern collections, but it does not identify one clearly documented, pan-Polynesian god. Unlike widely attested figures such as Māui, Tangaroa, Tāne, or Tū, Tah…