Te wao nui, ngā manu, te ira tangata
Say it: TAH-neh MAH-hoo-tah · Tāne = man; Mahuta = to spring up, to grow.
Tāne separated Ranginui and Papatūānuku so that light could enter the world. He is the one who reaches — growth, knowledge, and the courage to stand upright.
Ko wai tēnei? — in plain words
The one who pushed his parents apart so light could come in — the first act of courage in the world. He made the forests, the birds, and shaped the first human from earth.
Whanaungatanga: Son of Ranginui and Papatūānuku; brother of the other Atua; ancestor of humankind.
Where you already meet them
Te kōrero — the story
In the long darkness Tāne braced his shoulders against his mother and pushed with his legs against his father, until te ao mārama — the world of light — came into being. He then climbed to the uppermost heavens to bring back ngā kete o te wānanga, the three baskets of knowledge, so that people might learn.
A common misunderstanding
He isn't 'the god of trees' in a decorative sense. Trees are his descendants — which is why timber, firewood and even paper are treated as taonga with an origin.
Ngā uara
Whakapapa
Everything is related; you descend from forest and sky.
Mātauranga
Knowledge is carried, not owned.
Kaitiakitanga
Guardianship of what grows.
If you are new to this — start here
Before you cut, prune or pick anything growing, pause and say why you are taking it.
I tēnei ao — acknowledging today
He mihi
Tāne Mahuta, e tū nei, tēnā koe. Homai te māramatanga.
Tāne Mahuta, standing here, I greet you. Grant me clarity.
Ngā taha o te ora