“The Keeper of the Sacred Forest”

​“If I should fall… the earth shall die…”

Tāne-Mahuta, god and guardian of the sacred forests and its inhabitants, uttered these terrifying words before plunging his feet deep into the earth of Te Ika-A-Māui (the North Island of New Zealand) and spreading his sacred roots throughout the entire land. He kept the three tiny islands from ripping itself further apart, as well as the rest of the world, and bound his fate to that of his resting place, Aotearoa.

​Tāne-Mahuta was responsible for the separation of Mother Earth from Sky Father (Papatūānuku and Rangi-Nui), allowing the first light to penetrate the world. When the world settled, the mighty god populated the world with creatures, and gave power to special beings to discover and explore the new world – such as the Watchers.​

When the Taniwha Wars began to unravel the lands, Tāne-Mahuta decided to sacrifice himself for the greater good, thereby becoming the mightiest Kauri of the forest.​

The Taniwha, a corruption of the Watchers he himself had created, sought to find the final resting place and built a stone altar around the immobilised tree, hoping to leech the power that permeated from the god. What the Taniwha did not realise was that Tāne-Mahuta knew of their treachery; how their magic had unraveled the very essence of nature.​

The mighty tree spirit chose to side with the Māori and aided them in dismantling their stone prison and finally toppling the Taniwha’s dominance.