Hotu Matu'a

Hotu Matu'a is the founding ariki mau (paramount ancestor-king) of Rapa Nui. Guided by his counsellor Hau Maka's dream of a far land, he led the Polynesian migration from the homeland Hiva in a great voyaging canoe and settled at Anakena, dividing the island among his sons (whence the clans) and passing the kingship to his firstborn Tu'u Maheke. He died on the rim of Rano Kau gazing toward Hiva. The ariki traced their line to him and, through him, to the gods Tangaroa and Rongo (Métraux 1940:127).

Children

• Tuu Maheke

Domains

• kingship
• ancestry

Relations

• descendant of: TangaroaClaimed descent from the god Tangaroa.Métraux, Ethnology of Easter Island (1940), p. 127 (primary)
• descendant of: RongoClaimed descent from the god Rongo, son of Tangaroa.Métraux, Ethnology of Easter Island (1940), p. 127 (primary)

Sources

• existence: Sebastian Englert, La Tierra de Hotu Matu'a (1948) (primary); Katherine Routledge, The Mystery of Easter Island (1919) (primary); Alfred Métraux, Ethnology of Easter Island (Bishop Museum Bulletin 160, 1940) (primary)