Kane

Also known as: Tane · Role: son of heaven and earth · First appears: Chapter III · Maui Lifting the Sky · Part 1

In Chapter III · Maui Lifting the Sky · Part 1, the New Zealand legend names Kane as Tane. A son of heaven and earth, he was among the brothers who sought to separate sky from earth. Rongo, Kanaloa, Haumia Tiki-tiki and Tu each failed to lift the sky, but Tane raised it high above him. This revealed the human beings concealed and crushed beneath the clouds.

Afterwards, Tawhiri waged war against his brothers and drove them and their descendants into hiding places on land and sea. In Chapter X · Oahu Legends of Maui · Part 1, Kane and Kanaloa agreed with Maui to a digging contest at Kaha-luu; while the two gods dug, Maui escaped to the other side of the island.

Relationship record

Life events

• In the New Zealand legend, Rongo, Tangaroa, Haumia Tiki-tiki, and Tu failed to lift the sky, but Tane raised it.(Chapter III · Maui Lifting the Sky · Part 1)
  • With: Rongo Kanaloa Haumia Tiki-tiki Tu
  • “Rongo (Hawaiian god Lono) the ‘father of food plants,’ attempted to lift the sky, but could not tear it from the earth. Then Tangaroa (Kanaloa), the ‘father of fish and reptiles,’ failed. Haumia Tiki-tiki (Maui Kiikii), the ‘father of wild food plants,’ could not raise the clouds. Then Tu (Hawaiian Ku), the ‘father of fierce men,’ struggled in vain. But Tane (Hawaiian Kane), the ‘father of giant forests,’ pushed and lifted until he thrust the sky far up above him.”
• In the New Zealand legend, Tane's lifting of the sky revealed the human beings concealed and crushed beneath the clouds.(Chapter III · Maui Lifting the Sky · Part 1)
  • “Then they discovered their descendants--the multitude of human beings who had been living on the earth concealed and crushed by the clouds.”
• In the New Zealand legend, Tawhiri waged war against his brothers and drove them and their descendants into hiding.(Chapter III · Maui Lifting the Sky · Part 1)
  • With: Tawhiri Rongo Kanaloa Haumia Tiki-tiki Tu
  • “Afterwards the last son, Tawhiri (father of storms), was angry and waged war against his brothers. He hid in the sheltered hollows of the great skies. There he begot his vast brood of winds and storms with which he finally drove all his brothers and their descendants into hiding places on land and sea.”
• Maui and the two gods agreed to a digging contest, but Maui escaped to the other side of the island.(Chapter X · Oahu Legends of Maui · Part 1 · 📍 Kaha-luu)
  • With: Maui Kanaloa
  • “They agreed, and began to dig and throw up the dirt. Then Maui dug three times and tossed up some of the hills of that place. Kane and Kanaloa saw that Maui was digging very fast, so they put forth very great strength and threw the dirt into a hill. Meanwhile Maui ran away to the other side of the island.”