Ikatere
Fish god in Māori mythology. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In Māori and Polynesian mythology, Ikatere, also spelled Ika-tere,[1] ('fast fish')[2] is a fish god, the father of all sea creatures, including mermaids.
| Ikatere | |
|---|---|
| Gender | Male |
| Region | Polynesia |
| Ethnic group | Māori |
| Genealogy | |
| Parents | Punga |
| Siblings | Tū-te-wehiwehi |
He is a son of Punga, and a grandson of Tangaroa, and his brother is Tū-te-wehiwehi[1][2] (Grey 1971:1–5).
When Tāwhirimātea (god of storms) made war against his brothers for the separation of Rangi and Papa (sky and earth), Ikatere and Tū-te-wehiwehi were among those who had to flee from his wrath for their survival.[1][2] The two argued over whether they should stay in the sea or go to the land.[2] Ikatere chose to keep his children, the fish, to the sea,[1] while Tū-te-wehiwehi chose to take his children, reptiles, to the land.[2] A saying that refers to the choices they made for their descendants goes as such:
Māori Translation Tāua ki uta, tāua ki te wai. We of the land, we of the sea.[2]
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
