Tangaroa, translated by Dr Te Huirangi Eruera Waikerepuru as Sea Life, is an Atua or a God according to Māori and several Moana (Polynesian) cultures. Dr Waikerepuru, who was trained in pre-colonial traditional knowledge from childhood, referred to the Atua as "natural universal energies," emphasizing flow.
Water, bodies, bodies of water, and the Universe
Newsflash: the body is a mirror of the universe. You might ask, how can this be so? By the time we get to the end of the article, perhaps you’ll see why I might write those words.
We have to get there somehow, so let’s begin the journey with the greatest gift from Indigenous peoples to the West: the insight that everything is interconnected. It turns out that water is an excellent example of interconnection. Ok, so water is important to us, but how does the universe come up with a substance we need for existence, free of charge?
Water, as we know, needs Hydrogen – 'hydro gen' means water generator – and Oxygen. Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe. It accounts for approximately 75% of the universe's mass. Helium comes next with 23% and Oxygen is 1%; all up, that’s 99% of mass. This mass, however, accounts for only 5% of the universe, with the remainder comprising dark energy (~68%) and dark matter (~27%). This means that water is produced by the atomic mixing of two of the three most abundant elements in the universe. It has impressive parents.
Protons, neutrons, and dancing electrons
Shortly after the Big Bang, protons clumped together to make the nucleus of Helium. There was basically a molten soup consisting of protons (having a positive charge) and neutrons (neutral charge). The heavy elements of Helium, Lithium, and Boron were formed out of the clumping together of protons and neutrons under intense heat and pressure.
Once the universe ‘cooled’ to a mere 4000 °C, protons could catch electrons via the electro-weak interaction, and from that, the dance of electrons occurs. Protons and electrons combine to form Hydrogen. Helium can also be formed from Hydrogen in other ways, with Bethe showing in 1939 that when a new star condenses, a small amount of Carbon transforms Hydrogen to Helium. What is important here is that a chain reaction is generated, resulting in the Carbon-Nitrogen-Oxygen cycle. From there, the fascinating dance of electrons over time produces various forms of Oxygen, which have different combinations of protons and neutrons, known as isotopes. The process is repeated, resulting in resources of Carbon, Nitrogen, and Oxygen for the star. At extremely high temperatures, the isotopes Oxygen-16 and Oxygen-17 occur, which are two of the most common forms of oxygen seen in nature.
Once Oxygen is in the system, it is a matter of time before the collision of particles occurs, creating the molecule that is water. This occurs via the electrical interaction of particles in the outer orbits of the elements. That might seem strange, but this is how the entire table of elements is created. In the case of water, Oxygen connects to the two Hydrogen atoms, and the remaining two pairs of electrons in the orbit of Oxygen give the molecule the shape of a tetrahedron. These additional electrons give water the surface property of connecting, as they enable water molecules to ‘hold hands’, as it were, with each other.
So where’s all the water?
H2O is unlike other molecules in that it has three distinct forms: solid, liquid, and gas. As Phillip Ball (the source of much of the preceding information) pointed out, you can fly a jumbo jet through clouds, but you need an icebreaker to pass through ice.
Beyond our planet, there are vast fields of ice on Neptune, and most comets are chunks of ice compacted with minerals. On our planet, the fact of the matter is that 71% of the surface of Earth is water. We might actually be living on planet Water.
Within the human body, between 50 and 65% of the body is fluid. The range is due to the body's fat content. There is a strong relationship between blood and the great oceans: they are chemically identical. That’s why, in hospitals, people are sustained by a saline drip: salt water can be directly infused into the bloodstream. The only chemical difference between seawater and blood is that blood contains red and white corpuscles.
So there you have it: water from the beginning of the universe to the human body. Rather than being some odd exception to a universe set about on other duties, humans are intimately, chemically, and atomically part of it. This perhaps explains the importance given to water by Indigenous peoples and contrasts, as it happens, to the current Western view. The latter perception is often one of exploitation (exploiting resources) and waste (dumping waste and runoff).
What about the mirror?
Remember that Carbon-Nitrogen-Oxygen cycle? Well, the other place you find those three elements is in the backbone of DNA. So yes, we are descendants from the stars after all, just as some Indigenous people say, and contemporary science proves. We are all replicas of natural universal forces of creation. Replicas, that is, with an authentic soul, provided we find it.
Water and humanity
We live in a world where some dairy farmers care about their landscape and use natural methods to ensure the health of waterways. There are consultants specializing in water usage on golf courses that save millions of liters of water (and dollars) every year through the wise use of water. Here in Taranaki, Aotearoa New Zealand, there is an oversupply of water, but through careful use, participation in the abundance of nature is made possible. The wise use of water is something that Indigenous peoples and Westerners can agree on, as part of the way forward in our relationship with the environment. The West may even come to see water as sacred, as Indigenous peoples do.
Reference
Ball, P. (2000). H20: A biography of water. London: Phoenix.
The information regarding the interplay of cosmic forces leading to the formation of water is based on a summary of pages 5-16 of Ball's book. Any incorrect statements are my responsibility.