Tangaloa and the Story of How 'Eua Island Was Created

Tangaloa the craftsman was the God of theHikuleo was bound by a great cord , one end
carpenters who use to throw food upward intobeing held by Tangaloa in the sky and the other
the air before eating as an offering saying "forby Maui in the underworld. The earth would have
Tangaloa".been destroyed by a visit by her ( Hikuleo) hence
The bird called plover is sacred to him, as thisthe cord, a precaution to keep her in her home of
was the shape Tangaloa would take to come toPulotu.
the earth.'Eua island was created by Tangaloa the great
The plover bird is also famous for pecking atcraftsman, from the scraps he poured down to
Maui's eye as he lay on the beach at Lofanga inthe sea from his workshop in the sky this was
Ha'apai hence the nick name of Maui as torn eye.the first of the Tongan islands formed. Also
Between Tangaloa, Hikuleo, and Maui were dividedcreated from the scraps was the island of Ata
Pulotu ( heaven), the sky, and the underworld.where the first men were formed, three in
Hikuleo received Pulotu, Tongan heaven whichnumber from a worm breed of a rotten plant
was the abode of the souls of chiefs and greatthat was grown from a seed that was brought
people. To Tangaloa was assigned the sky, and toby Tangaloa from heaven to the earth.
Maui the underworld.