it in human form, and gave the image
breath. As he had made man in his own likeness he called him Tiki-ahua
or Tiki's likeness. (R. Taylor "Te Ika A Maui, or New Zealand and
its Inhabitants", Second Edition (London, 1870), page 117. Compare E.
Shortland, "Maori Religion and Mythology" (London, 1882), pages 21 sq.)
A very generally received tradition in Tahiti was that the first human
pair was made by Taaroa, the chief god. They say that after he had
formed the world he created man out of red earth, which was also the
food of mankind until bread-fruit was produced. Further, some say that
one day Taaroa called for the man by name, and when he came he made him
fall asleep. As he slept, the creator took out one of his bones (ivi)
and made a woman of it, whom he gave to the man to be his wife, and the
pair became the progenitors of mankind. This narrative was taken down
from the lips of the natives in the early years of the mission to
Tahiti. The missionary who records it observes: "This always appeared
to me a mere recital of the Mosaic account of creation, which they
had heard from some European, and I never placed any reliance on it,
although they have repeatedly told me it was a tradition among them
before any foreigner arrived. Some have also stated that the woman's
name was Ivi, which would be by them pronounced as if written "Eve".
"Ivi" is an aboriginal word, and not only signifies a bone, but also a
widow, and a victim slain in war. Notwithstanding the assertion of
the natives, I am disposed to think that "Ivi", or Eve, is the only
aboriginal part of the story, as far as it respects the mother of the
human race. (W. Ellis, "Polynesian Researches", Second Edition (London,
1832), I. 110 sq. "Ivi" or "iwi" is the regular word for "bone" in the
various Polynesian languages. See E. Tregear, "The Maori-Polynesian
Comparative Dictionary" (Wellington, New Zealand, 1891), page 109.)
However, the same tradition has been recorded in other parts of
Polynesia besides Tahiti. Thus the natives of Fakaofo or Bowditch Island
say that the first man was produced out of a stone. After a time he
bethought him of making a woman. So he gathered earth and moulded the
figure of a woman out of it, and having done so he took a rib out of his
left side and thrust it into the earthen figure, which thereupon started
up a live woman. He called her Ivi (Eevee) or "rib" and took her to
wife, and the whole human race sprang from this pair. (G. Turner