ORIGIN: Polynesian (Maori)
TYPE: Creator god
INFORMATION: One of the children of Ranginui and Papatuanuku who created mankind. In some Polynesian traditions he is represented as the first man, akin to Adam. The word is also incorporated in tiki-wananga or "god stick", which describes the wooden or stone images of deities that are usually minimally worked and stand about fifty centimeters tall. Only thirty or so examples of these are known, most having been destroyed by Christian missionaries. The celebrated large Maori totems are depictions of ancestors who appear as human/bird or reptile hybrids. Also Ki'i (Hawaiian).