The separation of earth and sky

Teaote tells a story of Nareau the creator.

Teaote: And so it began while Nareau the creator spider, was a sleep when he heard his name been called three times. He opened his eyes, stretched his limbs and yawned. He looked for the caller and saw no one. He looked down and saw Te Bomatemaki, the earth and sky, sealed together floating down below.

He descended and stood on Te Bomatemaki, taking his tale to Te Bomatemaki and chanted, ‘I stamp, I stamp, over the skies to the North wood. There are neither spirits nor men but only I, the powerful Nareau. Dense, dense, rock, rock! Crack of what, crack of rock! Crack of what, crack of boulder is the powerful Nareau! Ooh let it crack.’ He repeated this three times.

He put both his hands and felt water and sand. Then he created the sun out of two spirits inside Te Bomatemaki. He named him Nareau the Wise.

Nareau the Wise said to Nareau the Creator, ‘we can’t do anything here. It’s too low for everyone to move.’ Nareau the Creator told him to lift the roof but found the roof too low. No one could lift it higher.

Na Kika, octopus, had 10 legs. Nareau the Wise took two of Na Kika’s legs and fed Riiki with them, the essence of procreation. As Riiki was eating, Nareau the Wise tapped on Riiki’s chest while chanting, to implant courage and to make him stand. ‘Firm be his hands, firm be his feet, firm be his body. We shall strengthen him. Lift the sky, lift the sky, lift higher and higher still, lift all, lift all together.’

Oh, as Riiki lifted the upper portion of Te Bomatemaki, Nareau the Wise ran below to the North and assisted him by chanting, ‘lift yourself Riiki, and lift! Let there be a tale, oh let there be a tallest! I shall run under the skies to the South, North, East and West.’
Riiki shouted, ‘how is it?’ Nareau replied, ‘raise it higher!’ and Riiki continued, while Nareau the Creator created light, winds, food, water, trees, ocean, sun, moon, stars and everything else.

Riiki shouted once again, ‘how is it?’ Nareau replied, ‘higher!’ and Riiki continued. Then Nareau stamped on Riiki’s tail which jerked Riiki right up, that he brought up the upper portion of the sky to its present height and Nareau told Riiki to stay up there in the sky. Riiki became Na Iabu, or the Milky Way.

In our story we see the Milky Way, and we remember what Riiki had done. That’s why we’re all up and walking about. So we can say even Nareau in the beginning made this world and the heavens our maneaba.