Tagaro and Suqe-Matua: The Creation of Good and Evil
On Ambae Island in Vanuatu, the culture hero Tagaro is a creator figure pitted against his twelfth brother Suqe-matua. Tagaro and Suqe-matua shared the work of creation, but whatever Suqe-matua did was wrong. They always disagreed, but the word of Tagaro always prevailed. Tagaro created useful plants, gentle animals, and beneficial customs, while Suqe-matua created weeds, dangerous creatures, and harmful practices. Tagaro made ten human figures from mud and breathed life into them. He then threw a fruit at one of the figures, transforming the man into a woman, thus establishing the two sexes.