IKA-ROA

[Polynesian] The Milky Way, the shining vehicle of the night-goddess Po. Ika-Roa, 'The Long Fish, who Gave Birth to All the Stars', was of vital importance to navigators as a beacon. It is also known as Mangaroa ('Long Brook' or 'Flour River'), and Mango-Roa-I-Ata among the Maori. One myth relates how Tane gathered heaps of small stars together and put them in a canoe, which he put in the sky. Ika-Roa is also mentioned as the mother of the other stars, the ornaments of the sky-god.