Mythology of Oceania

The mythology of Oceania and the Gods of the Pacific region are both complex and diverse. They have been developed over many centuries on each of the islands and atolls that make up Oceania. While some gods are shared between many groups of islands while others are specific to one set of islands or even to a single island. Their exact roles are often overlapping as one god can appear in different places under different names. A god can also appear in many different forms.

Oceania is a general name applied to a very vast region including Polynesia, Micronesia, Australia, Tasmania and more. Even among these groups (ex. Polynesia) there are still many different societies and tribes with their own cultures. This list is not a complete list of mythologies, just a collection of the more well known beliefs in different regions.

Polynesia

The well known and perhaps most widely believed creation myth in Polynesia starts with Po. Po is a darkness, void of all light and life. At some point there were stirrings within Po, then a light began to shine until eventually day was created and then came Heaven Father and Earth Mother, named Rangi and Papa, respectively. Rangi took Papa and the gods were born. There are different variations among different cultures of Polynesia, but many agree that the first gods came from Rangi and Papa, and there are different variations that suggest Rangi took several more wives to create more gods and these gods then created all that is on Earth.

Maui

Maui is one of the most well known and discussed demi-gods in Polynesian mythology. While Maui is not the creator, he is attributed with providing humanity much of what was needed to survive and thrive, such as fire and new islands that he had fished from the sea.

Australia

Very little is known about the beliefs of the aboriginal people of Australia in regards to the creation of the Earth. While there have been vague mentions of everything being created by a deity or some supernatural being, there is not much information on who that being was or how important they were to the tribes. What we do find in aboriginal mythology is many stories about native animals, such as pelicans and kangaroos, and how they came to be. One story involves an extra-marital affair, where a woman named Narina laid with Kilpuruna, who was the friend of her husband Yuruma. Yuruma discovered their affair and pushed Kilpuruna from a tall tree. Kilpuruna's fall flattened him so much that he turned into a blanket lizard and Yuruma became an Eagle forever hunting lizards. Narina transformed into a cockatoo and flies from place to place, crying for her lost lover.

Another myth explains the creation of the moon and the sun. In the beginning, there was no light and the people had to search for food in the darkness and eat it raw. Purukupali who was the first man created, and his friend Japra decided one day to rub two sticks together and a fire started. Purukupali knew that this fire was going to help the people, so he gave one torch to Japra and one torch to his sister Wuriupranala and told them to keep the torches lit no matter what. Japra and Wuriupranala became the moon-man and sun-woman, forever walking across the sky to keep the aboriginals from ever falling into darkness again.

Micronesia

Micronesia is similar to Australia in that it lacks the specifics of creation but rather focuses on smaller stories such as the sun and the moon and certain cultural practices by the people.

One such story is about the theft of the moon. A chief asks all the people in his tribe to bring him the moon, and says that whoever brings the moon can marry his daughter. The poor boy who finds out how to steal the moon brings it to chief, but the moon is wrapped in covers. The boy tells the chief not to remove the covers ever and then takes the chiefs daughter to marry. The chief doesn't listen to the boy and removes the covers, but with very cover the moon gets brighter until finally the chief removes the last cover and the moon becomes too bright and shoots back into the sky. The chief goes to the boy to tell him what happened and asks the boy to retrieve the moon again, but the boy says it is not possible and suggests they leave the moon in the sky for all to see.

Another story explains the abundance of fresh water on the island of East Fayu. There was a ghost from Onari that went in search of water, as many Micronesian islands have a lack of fresh water due to being islands. The ghost found water and decided to carry it back to Onari in his mouth, but along the way he saw a celebration happening on the Island of East Fayu. A young lady invited the ghost to the celebration but quickly realized there must be something important in the ghosts mouth as he refused to open it. The young lady snuck up behind the ghost and tickled him, causing the ghost to laugh and spill the water. Since then, fresh water can be found on East Fayu by digging wells, and the well water is practically pure and does not require boiling like much of the water on the other islands.

References

• Anita Dalal, Myths of Oceania, Steck-Vaughn, (2002); ISBN 9780739849781
• A. W. Reed, Alice Mills, New World Mythology: Myths and Legends of Oceania and the Americas (2009) ISBN 1740480228
• Roland Burrage Dixon, Oceanic Mythology, Forgotten Books (2008); ISBN 1605069523
• Garry Trompf, The Religions of Oceania, Routledge (1995); ISBN 0415060192
• George Grey, Polynesian Mythology, Kessinger Publishing, 2004; ISBN 1419242555
• Barbara A. West, Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania, Infobase Publishing, 2009; ISBN 1438119135
• Roslyn Poignant, Oceanic mythology: the myths of Polynesia, Micronesia, Melanesia, Australia, Hamlyn, 1967; ISBN 0600023729
• Peter Neal Peregrine, Melvin Ember, Encyclopedia of Prehistory: East Asia and Oceania, Volume 3, 2001; ISBN 0306462575