In Kiribati mythology, Tarawa was the earth when the land, ocean and sky had not been cleaved yet by Nareau the spider.  Thus after calling the sky ''karawa'' and the ocean ''marawa'', he called the piece of rock that ''Riiki'' (another god that Nareau found) had stood upon when he lifted up the sky as, ''Tarawa''. Nareau then created the rest of the islands in Kiribati and also Samoa.