In Tonga, one of the island groups of Polynesia, there is a legend which has a striking similarity to the story of Cain and Abel in the Bible. Tangaroa, the fisherman god, one day threw his fishing line badly and his hook caught the ocean bed. Tangaroa pulled and tugged with all his might and main and brought to the surface a number of islands which included Tonga.

The islands were deserted and the god felt lonely so he said to his sons: ‘Take your wives and make your home in Tonga’. The two sons obeyed their father and shared out the island between them. Yaka-Ako-Ouli, the younger brother, was a hard working man who knew how to make axes and necklaces. Tubo, the elder brother, was an idler. He was filled with envy against his brother and one day he killed him.

Tangaroa immediately cursed Tubo and all his children. He summoned the family of the dead man and told them: ‘Sail out to sea in your canoes and go to the islands in the east. Your skin will be as white as your soul but the children of Tubo will have a black skin.’

So, according to the Polynesians, Tangaroa populated the islands of the Pacific and much of the world with both good and bad people.