Makemake (deity)

For other uses, see Makemake (disambiguation).
Makemake with two birdmen, carved from red scoria

Makemake (also written as Make-make; pronounced [ˈmakeˈmake] in Rapa Nui[1]) in the Rapa Nui mythology of Easter Island is the creator of humanity, the god of fertility and the chief god of the "Tangata manu" or bird-man sect (this sect succeeded the island's more famous Moai era). He appeared to be the local form, or name, of the old Polynesian god Tane. He had no wife.[2]

Makemake, as a face with large eyes or perhaps a skull with large eye sockets and a phallic nose, is a frequent subject of the Rapa Nui petroglyphs.[3]

  1. ^ Robert D. Craig (2004). Handbook of Polynesian Mythology. ABC-CLIO. p. 63. ISBN 978-1-57607-894-5.
  2. ^ Metraux 1940, p. 312
  3. ^ Metraux 1940, p. 313