Tūmatauenga
Māori war god / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tūmatauenga (Tū of the angry face) is the primary god (atua) of war and human activities such as hunting, food cultivation, fishing, and cooking in Māori mythology.
Tūmatauenga | |
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Atua of war, hunting, cooking, fishing, and food cultivation | |
Other names |
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Gender | Male |
Region | New Zealand |
Ethnic group | Māori |
Genealogy | |
Parents | Ranginui and Papatūānuku |
Siblings |
In creation stories, Tū suggests to kill his parents to allow light into the world. After they are instead separated. One of his brothers Tāwhirimātea was not happy with this and had declared war against his brothers and Tū was the only one who fought while the other brothers hid away avoiding the fight. Because of his brothers actions and having to fight Tāwhiri alone, he wars with his brothers and becomes the origin of humanity's activities, and the reasons for their behaviour when interacting with the creations of his brothers.
As the god of war, all taua were dedicated to him and he was treated with the greatest respect and awe. Tūmatauenga inspires the New Zealand Army's Māori name: Ngāti Tūmatauenga where all soldiers are deemed of the same iwi ("tribe") under the deity's patronage regardless of racial heritage.[1] The marae is often considered the umu pokapoka a Tūmatauenga – fiery ovens of Tūmatauenga – the realm of Tūmatauenga,[2] whereas all areas where battles take place become Te Marae Ātea a Tūmatauenga – the battle domain of Tūmatauenga.[3]