Goddesses

Hainuwele - "Coconut Palm Leaf." A goddess among the peoples living on the island of Seram (in present-day western Indonesia). According to myth, Hainuwele was created from the mixing of her human father's blood with the sap of a coconut flower. After being killed by humans, she was reborn into plants, which from then on served as food for humans, and also caused the division of primitive humans into animals and humans proper.

Hinenuitepo - "Great Lady of Darkness." Maori goddess of darkness and death. Hinenuitepo, originally called Hinetitama ("Maiden of the Dawn"), was the daughter of Hinehauone, the first woman and the god Tane. Tane married Hinetitama, but when the girl learned that he was her father, she fled in terror to the underworld and became Hinenuitepo. From there, she cried out to Tane that she would bring death to all his children. Thus, the human race became mortal. The father told the trickster Maui that if he passed through Hinenuitepo's body from vagina to mouth, he would become immortal. Maui attempted to do this while Hinenuitepo was sleeping, but the laughter of a bird woke her up, so she killed Maui, confirming that human beings would never achieve immortality.

Kaintangata – in Maori mythology, she was the goddess of the sky. She married the cannibal chief Whaitiri and then gave birth to Hema, father of the hero Tawhaka.

Pani - Maori goddess of vegetation, wife of the god Rongo and mother of yams (edible tubers).

Papa – Maori goddess, creator of the earth, consort of the sky god Rangi, and mother of the great gods of the Maori pantheon. When her son Tane, god of trees, sought a mate, he first turned to his mother. However, she rejected his advances and advised him to create a wife from the sands of the island of Hawaiki. This creation, Hinehauone, was the first human being.