Polynesian legends tell of a Tahitian mother-of-pearl, named Te Ufi, a daughter of Okana, the spirit of coral, and Varo, the spirit of sand. She was dressed with her sparkling robe of each fishes in her realm. She looked so beautiful that Oro, the god of peace and fertility, rode a rainbow down to Earth and gave her the pearl so that she could offer it to mankind. The colours of Te Ufi and Oro’s rainbow blended into the pearl’s iridescence.
