The offspring of Tū (humankind) increased and multiplied and did not know death until the generation of Māui-tikitiki (Biggs 1966:449). Māui is the son of Taranga, the wife of Makeatutara. He has a miraculous birth—his mother throws her premature infant into the sea wrapped in a tress of hair from her topknot (tikitiki)—hence Māui is known as Māui-tikitiki-a-Taranga. Ocean spirits find and wrap the child in seaweed. Māui's divine ancestor, Tama-nui-ki-te-rangi (or Rangi) then takes the child and nourishes it to adolescence.