RANGI The sky god of theMaoris, Rangi embraced his wife, Papa, so closely that their children could not break free of the womb. Of these children, two, Tu-matauenga and Tane-mahuta, decided to slay their parents and thereby escape the womb. However, this proved not to beas easy a task as spoken, and Tane-mahuta eventually had to do the work, rendingthe two deities apart.