Hotu Matu'a- Polynesian HeroHero"First Ariki"

Haumaka's Dream

In the account preserved by Englert in La Tierra de Hotu Matu'a, Haumaka was a dream-seer in the service of King Hotu Matu'a in Hiva. One night his spirit left his body and crossed the ocean. It found an island ringed by sea cliffs, with volcanic craters thick with reeds and a single sandy beach on the northern shore. Haumaka's spirit walked the land and returned to report what it had seen.

Hotu Matu'a sent seven scouts in a canoe to find the island. They reached it, confirmed Haumaka's vision, and planted yams to prepare the ground. When word returned, Hotu Matu'a gathered his people to leave.

The Voyage from Hiva

Why he left depends on who tells it. In Métraux's Ethnology of Easter Island, war had broken out in Hiva and Hotu Matu'a was losing. In accounts recorded by Englert, he sought new land for his people. Either way, he loaded two great double-hulled canoes with his followers and the seeds they would need. His queen, Vakai-a-Hiva, was pregnant.

They navigated by stars and ocean swells across thousands of miles of open Pacific. No land lay between Hiva and the island Haumaka had dreamed.

Anakena

The canoes reached Rapa Nui at Anakena, a crescent of sand on the northern coast. Cliffs ring almost every other shore. Vakai-a-Hiva gave birth shortly after landing, and the first child born on Rapa Nui entered the world.

Hotu Matu'a walked the island and divided it among his followers. He assigned each group a territory that ran from the coast to the interior. These divisions became the clan boundaries that organized Rapanui society for centuries.

Rano Kau

In accounts recorded by Routledge and Métraux, Hotu Matu'a spent his last days at Rano Kau, the volcanic crater at the island's southwestern tip. He sat facing west, toward Hiva, and called out to the land he had left. He would never see it again. His bones were kept as sacred relics, and the genealogical chants of Rapa Nui traced every family back to his name.