Samoan Mythology - Creation

The Samonan legends name Tuli, the son of the god Tagaloa. He went down from the heavens in the shape of a bird to the surface of the ocean, but he found no place to rest and no island to land upon. He complained to his father, who then threw down a stone, which became land. Tuli took possession of this piece of land, but had his father pull it up higher and higher again. The rock grew to be covered with mold, which then grew grass, and then was covered over with convolvulus.

Tuli went to his father and said that there was no man to reside on his land. Tagaloa bade Tuli pull up the convolvulus that grew there, and when it rotted it produced two grubs. Tuli returned to his father and told him of this.

Tagaloa told Tuli to return to earth and bring with him Tagaloa-tosi and Tagaloa-va'a-va'ai, who were set to work on the two grubs. They shaped the grubs into two men, beginning at the head and naming each part as it came into being.

One day, while fishing, one of them was injured and died. Tuli returned once again to his father and complained that one of his inhabitants was dead. Tagaloa bade him reanimate the body and change it from male to female, and he did, and the two inhabitants became man and wife and the ancestors of the human race.Site encourages problem-solving of vital issues using an international or global perspective and resources, and provides specific means to accomplish this

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The Dawn and Dusk of Man is a Thinkquest Mythology Project by Sheila, Min, Ana and Tencia of Montgomery Blair High School.