In Cook Islands mythology, Avatea (also known as Vatea; meaning 'noon' or 'light')[1][2] was a lunar deity and the father of gods and men in Mangaian myth of origin. His eyes were thought to be the Sun and the Moon;[3] he was also known as the god of light.[4]
- ^ Cook Islands Maori Dictionary; p.91
- ^ Edward Tregear (1891). Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary. Wellington: Lyon and Blair. p. 168 – via NZETC.
- ^ William Wyatt Gill (1876). Myths and Songs from the South Pacific. London: Henry S. King & Co. p. 44.
- ^ William Wyatt Gill (1979). Cook Islands Custom. Fiji: Institute of Pacific Studies. p. 23.