A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

Kijikiji follows his father into the Underworld and repeatedly frustrates his efforts to weed the garden. Sent for fire, he extinguishes each gift until only a huge casuarina brand remains, then carries it one-handed and defeats its keeper in wrestling. Atalanga strikes him down, but he is restored through leaves identified in the story as belonging to the lower or heavenly worlds. Returning upward, he hides fire in his clothing and orders it into the trees when his father calls rain against it.

The later danger-clearing episodes show Kijikiji demanding the decisive position in hunts despite his father’s objections. He kills the rat, destroys biting trees and wounds the giant bird. In Fiji he overcomes sharks before discovering that Fulu-bubuta has swallowed Atalanga. After killing the dog and recovering the body, he wastes away through grief, leaving a second heap of bones beside his father’s. The ensuing child Tuimotuliki is attributed to both heaps in the narrative. The profile keeps this Tongan cycle distinct from Hawaiian and Māori Māui accounts and does not import their fishing, sun-snaring or other episodes without separate evidence.

Fire brought to the upper worldExceptional strength and disobedienceDeath through grief in the dog episode
01

Origins & earliest records

The selected witness is E. E. V. Collocott’s 1921 article in Folklore, volume 32, pp. 45–58. The eHRAF catalogue identifies a Tongan-language missionary journal as the immediate collection context. The English publication dates this witness rather than the oral beginning; that earlier journal text has not been independently collated here.

02

Records & interpretation

The concealed fire, restorations and danger-clearing acts belong to this Tongan cycle. The source does not support combining every Polynesian Māui narrative into one unchanged biography, and its supernatural birth and death claims are attributed.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Legends from Tonga. The Maui, pp. 45–55

    E. E. V. Collocott (printed signature Collcott) · 1921

    Selected public primary pages read in full, including continuations. English missionary-era presentation is attributed, and its judgments are not treated as community consensus.

  2. 02

    Legends from Tonga. The Maui

    Ernest Edgar Vyvyan Collocott (E. E. V. Collocott) · 1921

    E. E. V. Collocott, Legends from Tonga. The Maui, Folklore32 (1921), pp45–58; proofread Wikisource page transcription inspected, facsimile not independently checked.

Family, evolution & connections

Tuimotuliki’s stated parents in Collocott’s Sinailele episode

The child born after Sinailele steps over the dead Mauis’ bone heaps.

  • Sinailele and the two Mauis’ bones (joint narrative parents)

The text names Sinailele as mother and repeatedly calls both Mauis the child’s fathers. This extraordinary narrative paternity is not a biological reproduction model. Atalanga and Kijikiji are themselves father and son in the preceding episode. They are grouped as jointly stated parents here, not equated or turned into a linear ancestor chain. Later living-family descendant lists are excluded.

Collocott (1921), Legends from Tonga, Sinailele episode, printed pp.53–55 · Collocott (1921), Legends from Tonga, Sinailele episode, printed pp.53–55 · Collocott (1921), Legends from Tonga, Sinailele episode, printed pp.53–55

Atalanga and Kijikiji in Collocott’s Motuliki episode

The explicitly stated father–son pair in the dog episode.

Atalanga is called Kijikiji’s father, and Kijikiji his son. Motua is omitted: printed p.45 lists him among Atalanga’s brothers, but p.47 calls him father. The later joint paternity of Tuimotuliki belongs to a separate episode and is shown separately.

Collocott (1921), Legends from Tonga, Motuliki dog episode, printed pp.52–53 · Collocott (1921), Legends from Tonga, Motuliki dog episode, printed pp.52–53

Located primary passages

Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.

Legends from Tonga. The Maui, pp. 45–55

E. E. V. Collocott, Legends from Tonga. The Maui, Folklore32 (1921), pp45–58; proofread Wikisource page transcription inspected, facsimile not independently checked.

  1. Kijikiji follows his father underground, survives punishment, and carries concealed fire upward; the narrative explains its presence in wood.

    pp45–48; How Fire was brought to this World

Printed45–57 selected narrative pages inspected; sacred descendant catalogue and ceremonial formula excerpts excluded. No uninspected original informant identity or facsimile verification claimed. No global public-domain claim. Author died1970, independently verified in Australian Dictionary of Biography / National Library of New Zealand. Underlying1921 text treated conservatively as protected; site footer is not proof of globally free underlying copyright. Shared article budget24 words including duplicate short quotations/evidence in both outputs; no further excerpts.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Primary textLegends from Tonga, Folklore 32 (1921), printed p. 45Research access: 2026-10-05
  2. Primary textLegends from Tonga, Folklore 32 (1921), printed p. 47Research access: 2026-10-05
  3. Primary textLegends from Tonga, Folklore 32 (1921), printed p. 48Research access: 2026-10-05
  4. Primary textLegends from Tonga, Folklore 32 (1921), printed p. 50Research access: 2026-10-05
  5. Primary textLegends from Tonga, Folklore 32 (1921), printed p. 53Research access: 2026-10-05
  6. Primary textLegends from Tonga, Folklore 32 (1921), printed p. 55Research access: 2026-10-05
  7. ReferenceeHRAF catalogue: Legends from Tonga, 1921, collection contextResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

FT·359 · RESEARCH EDITION 01Back to top ↑