Tonight, we’re sitting under the band of light that we call the Milky Way, where we’ll be telling the tale of the legendary demigod Maui.

He’s typically associated with the constellation Scorpius. But instead of a scorpion, the tail and stinger are Maui’s bloody fish hook. And, unlike many stories we’re used to, Maui doesn’t actually belong to one constellation. Instead, he moves through the sky, from one constellation to another.

The story of Maui appears across Hawaii, New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga, Tahiti, and dozens of islands scattered across the Pacific, each version with its own specific details and local flavor. It's a living tradition, so we must respect that.

For tonight, I’ll be telling a blend of these myths as one story.

And much like the life of other great characters, your Orions, your Thors, Maui’s story is rich and full of adventure.

Maui’s full name, Maui-tikitiki-a-Taranga, translates to Maui-topknot-of-Taranga. It’s the perfect description for him when we talk about the astronomy of this myth, which, as always, we’ll reveal at the end of the story.

But in terms of the myth, it’s a description of how this demigod came to be, from the hair of Taranga, his mother.

However, Taranga isn’t excited about her baby. Instead, she’s going to do something that, for those of us today, is unthinkable.

She’s about to abandon her baby in the ocean.