In the Polynesian mythology

Polynesian mythology

Polynesian mythology is the oral traditions of the people of Polynesia, a grouping of Central and South Pacific Ocean island archipelagos in the Polynesian triangle together with the scattered cultures known as the Polynesian outliers...

 of Tonga

Tonga

Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...

, Laufakanaa (speak to silence; i.e.: command [the winds] to calm down) was a primordial creator god. Although called 'Tongan', his home was Ata, and he was better known by the original Tongans on the Lau Islands

Lau Islands

The Lau Islands of Fiji are situated in the southern Pacific Ocean, just east of the Koro Sea. Of this chain of about one hundred islands and islets, about thirty are inhabited...

 than in the kingdom of Tonga proper.

In Tongan cosmogony, the sky and the sea, and the land of Pulotu

Pulotu

In the mythology of parts of western Polynesia , Pulotu is the underworld, the world of darkness ....

 (the dark underworld, the home of the souls of departed chiefs) existed from the earliest times. All other lands were created later. Either they were thrown down from the sky by Havea Hikuleo

Hikule'o

In the mythology of Tonga, Havea Hikuleo is the god of the world, Pulotu. The islands of Kao, Tofua, Hunga Haapai, Hunga Tonga, Late and Fonualei came from stones thrown down from the skies by Hikuleo. They are all volcanic islands...

 or, subsequently, they were fished up by Maui

Maui (Tongan mythology)

In Tonga, Maui drew up the Tongan Islands from the deep: first appeared Lofaga and the other Haapai Islands, and finally Vavau. Maui then dwelt in Tonga. Maui had two sons: the eldest, Maui Atalaga, and the younger Kisikisi. The latter discovered the secret of fire, and taught people the art of...

 from the bottom of the ocean. All the makafonua (landstones) of Hikuleo were full of unevenness, and tended to jump around (that is, they were the source of earthquakes) and were full of holes and pits (that is, volcanoes), while Maui's lands were smooth (coral islands and atolls). Ata

'Ata

Ata is a small, rocky island in the far south of the Tonga archipelago, situated on . It is also known as Pylstaart island. It should not be confused with Atā, which is an uninhabited, low coral island in the string of small atolls along the Piha passage along the northside of Tongatapu, nor should...

 and Eua

'Eua

Eua is a smaller but still major island in the kingdom of Tonga. It is close to Tongatapu, but forms a separate administrative division. It has an area of 87.44 km2, and a population in 2006 of 5,165 people.- Geography :...

, the islands which were fished up first, were quite hilly, as Maui apparently was not an expert fisherman yet. His next catch, (Tongatapu

Tongatapu

Tongatapu is the main island of the Kingdom of Tonga and the location of its capital Nukualofa. It is located in Tonga's southern island group, to which it gives its name, and is the country's most populous island, with approximately 71,260 residents , 70.5% of the national population...

) he kept much smoother.

The first people of Ata came forth directly from the same uanga (fly larva, maggot) as Kohai, Koau, mo Momo

Kohai, Koau, mo Momo

Kohai , Koau , mo Momo were in the Tongan mythology the first human beings created on earth. They came forth from the uanga...

, and were the ancestors of all other men. At that time the god Tamapoulialamafoa

Tamapo'uli'alamafoa

In the Polynesian mythology of the Tongan island of Ata, the god Tamapoulialamafoa is the king of the heavens. He is the one who ordered the sub-god Laufakanaa to become ruler of that island.According to others, however, Tangaloa Eiki was the ancestor god and Tangaloa...

 was the king of the sky, and he commanded some of the Tangaloa gods to tell the faahikehe (sub-god) Laufakanaa to go down to the realm of light (i.e. the earth, not Pulotu) to become ruler of Ata and also ruler of the winds. Whenever a boat came to Ata in stormy weather, Laufakanaa had to listen to the prayers of the crew and give them a good wind to sail on. The prayer had to consist of an offering of mā (bread) cooked in the oil of the grated coconut

Coconut

The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...

.

Laufakanaa also brought a special fishing net with him. This typical Ata-net was used by the islanders on special occasions, as when they went fishing for the Tui Tonga

Tu'i Tonga

The Tui Tonga is a line of Tongan kings, which originated in the 10th century with the mythical Ahoeitu; withdrew from political power in the 15th century by yielding to the Tui Haatakalaua; and died out with Laufilitonga in 1865...

. As well, the putalinga (a kind of plantain

Plantain

Plantain is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa. The fruit they produce is generally used for cooking, in contrast to the soft, sweet banana...

), the sī (ti (plant)

Ti (plant)

Cordyline fruticosa is an evergreen flowering plant in the Asparagus family, Asparagaceae, known by a wide variety of common names including Cabbage Palm, Good Luck Plant, Palm Lily, Ti Plant, Kī, La'i , Tī Pore , Sī , "Lauti" , and Autī .Formerly treated in the families Agavaceae...

), the ngū-ata and tua-ata yams

Yam (vegetable)

Yam is the common name for some species in the genus Dioscorea . These are perennial herbaceous vines cultivated for the consumption of their starchy tubers in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Oceania...

were brought down from the sky by Laufakanaa and first grew on Ata, before they spread to the other islands.