How Hotu Matua Found This Land

How Hotu Matua Found This Land

(A Legend from Rapa Nui – Easter Island)

Our homeland Marae Renga lay a distant journey to the west. There Hotu Matua our king was one of the chiefs: Oroi was his rival. There was a war between their tribes.

Hotu Matua's tattooer called Haumaka had a dream: that he went across the sea to a land with holes, with beaches also of fair white sand. There were six men in the dream who landed on that place. Haumaka told his dream to Hotu Matua.

Hotu Matua thought, 'There is a promise in this dream of Haumaka's.' He, therefore, sent away six men to find that land. “Look for a handsome country with sand for the king, to live on.’ They came those six, across the sea in their canoe Te Oraora Miro, bringing with them yams and breadfruit, coconuts and other things to plant. They found those rocky islets off the western headland, saw them first; jumped upon them, jumped off, came to this land here and landed at Te Pu.

They searched the land, they looked for what the king desired. They found this open land of waving grasses, grasses rolling like the sea. There were no tall trees, nor any streams. They climbed the rocks, they came to Orongo. They came to Ana Marikuru on the slopes of Rano Kao and there they dug the ground, they mounded earth to plant their yams. When they had finished this work they climbed up Rano Kao, they saw the crater there. They said, 'This is Haumaka's hole-the hole of which Haumaka dreamed.’

Rapa Nui

They came on again, they came to Te Manavai, to Canoe Bay, to Anavaero and all those places along the south coast. They came to Onetea where the white sand is, and said, ‘This is the land for the ariki to live on.’ But one said. ‘No, this is poor land, our breadfruit and our coconuts will not grow here. Let us search, let us go.’ Therefore they came on, they came to Anahavea, to Tongariki, to Big Bay, to Mount Parehe and all those places. They came around the eastern headland.

They saw the fair sand of Taharoa. Said one, ‘This is the king's land, here.’ But the rest said. ‘No, this land is not good.’ Therefore they continued until they saw the good fair sand at Anakena; it was like the beaches of the homeland. Then all those young men said. ‘Here the king will live in a handsome place.’ They rested in the dry cave at that place and therefore called it Anakena.

On the sand, at Turtle Bay they saw a turtle sleeping. Those six young men came on, they arrived at the turtle, they seized it. The turtle struck with its flipper, one was wounded. They carried; the turtle escaped. They carried a man instead of the turtle!

They found the cave called lhuarero and carried the man to that shelter, to wait for his wound to heal. The five kept watch-one day, two days, three days. They were ashamed to leave that man. One man grew bored. He said, ‘What do you say, that we go on and leave this person?’

So the five built cairns of stones. Each man brought stones, they built five things like men in cloaks outside the opening of the cave. They then said to the cairns, to the five things of stone like men: ‘If the young man asks you questions, tell him lies, you five, if he asks again, tell him only lies.’ Thus they left him cared for. They came out and went away, the five.

They came to Rapanga, to Ira, to Ringiringi and all those places; and so they came to Mataveri. At Mataveri they met a young man in the middle of their way, and so again were six. They now had come around the land, completely round. Therefore they climbed the slopes of Rano Kao to where their yams were planted. The grass was tall again, the place was full of weeds, of waving weeds like waves upon the beach. They said this word: ‘Poor land, covered with weeds there.’

Rapa Nui

They came on again, they came once more to Orongo-and on the sea they saw the king! They saw the double canoe of Hotu Matua. There were two canoes-that of Hotu Matua the ariki and that of Tu'u Ko Ihu the priest. When they came in close to shore the bindings that tied them were cut.

Cried Hotu Matua the king: ‘What is it like inland?‘

His six men answered him: ‘It is a poor land, mostly weeds and grass. If it were cleaned it would be clean. If it were weeded it would be weeded.’

Said Hotu Matua about those grasses waving like the sea: ‘A poor land this. When the tide is low we die few. When the tide is high we die many.’ This was the first occasion of the saying of those words.

Then one of the six called our “Why do you speak that bad news over the surf, Hotu Matua? Because of this, there will be bad luck for us.’

Then Hotu cut the bindings of those two canoes. His ship went along the south and his relation Tu'u Ko Ihu went to the north, they both went round the land. When the king’s ship came again and passed the headland Vai mahaki, Hotu Matua saw the navigator’s ship at Veronga. Tu’u Ko Ihu was going to land at Anakena, to be the flat chief to stand on this land. Therefore Hotu Matua said a word which made his own ship speed to shore and Tu’u Ko Ihu's be delayed. This was his word, his word that was filled with the mana of Hotu Matua: Ka hakamau te konekone !. ‘Stay the paddling!’

Thus the canoe of Hotu Matua came on and was the first one to touch this land. As it was being beached at Hiramoko the child Tu’u Ma Heke, son of Hotu Matua, was born. The mother gave birth there at the beach. The ship of Tu'u Ko Ihu came on also, and as it was beached at Hanga Ohio there was born the girl Avareipua, daughter of the priest and navigator Tu’u Ko Ihu.

Then Hotu sent a messenger to his relation Tu'u Ko Ihu: ‘Come and cut the son's navel cord. Make ceremonies for this chief Tu'u Ma Heke.’

Tu 'u Ko Ihu came, he spoke the chants, the red chiefly halo then was around that child's head. Then Tu'u Ko Ihu bit the navel cord, he cut it with his teeth. It was placed in a gourd and sent out to sea. When this ceremony was properly concluded Tu'u Ko Ihu returned to his own people at Hanga Ohio, tied the navel cord of his chiefly daughter Avareipua. He bit it, he sent the cord to sea, he finished.

Then all the people came ashore; they landed from the two canoes and stretched their legs, and rested-Tu'u Ko Ihu's people at Hanga Ohio, Hotu Matua's at Hiramoko.

There came to this land on those canoes the man, the fowl, the turtle, the banana plant; the aute tree whose bark gives taps cloth; the crayfish, the gourd, the kumara and the yam. These things all came with Hotu Matua the king. Hundreds and hundreds were the people, the mahingo who came to this land on that canoe of Hotu Matua the king.

Source:

Legends of the South Seas

Antony Alpers

1970

Pages: 233-236