::'Oro

Islands::tahiti    Raiatea::ta'aroa    Would::their    Islands::sisters    Society::within    Society::various

A sacred god figure wrapping for the war god 'Oro, made of woven dried coconut fibre (sennit), which would have protected a Polynesian god effigy (to'o), made of wood. The mana of the god was symbolised by feathers, usually red in colour, which were attached to the surface of the woven covering. Figure held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

'Oro is a god of the Polynesian pantheon. The veneration of Oro, although practiced in varying intensity among the islands, was a major cult of the Society Islands in the 17th and 18th centuries, especially Tahiti and Raiatea. On Tahiti 'Oro was the main deity and the god of war. The secret society of Arioi was closely linked because of its rites. On the Marquesas Islands, 'Oro bore the name Mahui.<ref>J.A. Moerenhout, Voyages aux îles du Grand Océan, Paris, 1837; englische Übersetzung: Travels to the Islands of the Pacific Ocean, Lanham - London, 1983, S. 244</ref>

'Oro sections
Intro   Origins    Legends    Manifestations    Further reading    References   

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