NEI TITUAABINE

[Polynesian] The Gilbertese vegetation goddess. She was a red-skinned maiden with eyes that flashed like lightning. She was wooed by Auriaria, a great chief, but their union bore no fruit. Nei Tituaabine soon fell ill and died. She was buried and some time later three trees grew from her grave. From her head sprouted the coconut palm, from her navel the almond, and out of her heels the pandanus. Thus she was transformed in the tree goddess and her memory preserved.