Post #386983 by VampiressRN on Sat, Jun 14, 2008 11:10 AM

I found this interesting little piece of information on the myth of the Coconut Tree.....

Tuna, the eel lover of Sina, was killed by jealous suitors, but at his last meeting he had told Sina of his impending fate. He commanded her to cut off his head after he was slain and to plant it. From his head would grow a tree with a fruit that would furnish her with both meat and drink. On the fruit itself she would see the two eyes that had adored her and the mouth that had spoken tender words of love. So it came to pass that Sina planted the head of Tuna and from it grew the coconut palm.

The myth is found throughout Polynesia, and outside of Samoa the dialectical form of Hina replaces Sina. Even now, the Polynesian who husks a drinking nut for a stranger, delights to point out the eyes and mouth of Tuna represented by three depressions on the top of the shell. The mouth depression is the only one that pierces the full thickness of the shell, and it is closed with soft material. It is through the mouth of Tuna that the shoot passes to the outside of the nut to grow into a tree to provide food and drink for the descendants of Sina.