Tane and the Stars

The Sneetches read Tane and the Stars by Ron Bacon, a Maori creation myth about how the moon came to exist. They then researched other cultural myths and compared them. Below is a comparison between Tane and the Stars and a Native American myth called Wesakechak and the Moon.

Comparing two cultures myths about the moon

Many cultures around the world have interesting myths about the moon, reflecting its importance in the night sky and its impact on our lives. Two cultures that share similarities and differences in their mythology about the moon are the New Zealand Maori and the Cree people of Native America.

The New Zealand Maori people believe that the Maori god Tane created the moon and the Native American believed that the moon was created from one of the messenger’s children as a punishment for not tending to the sun.

Both myths feature important characters in the Maori myth there is Tane and Rangi, however in the Native American myth the main characters are the Creator, Wesakechak, Tipiskawipisim and Pisim.

Both cultures myths include the sun. In the Maori myth Tane took little bits of the sun and made stars out of it because during the night people bumped into each other. Whereas in the Native American myth they had to keep the burning fire alight on the sun or otherwise the people and animals would die on earth.  

People’s ideas about the moon have changed over time. This is because of new scientific understandings. We now believe the moon was created by a rock the size of Mars colliding with Earth over 4500 million years ago.

By Simone