Nguatinihenua is remembered as one of the founding immigrant ancestors of Rennell and Bellona, a companion of Kaitu'u among the voyagers who reached the islands from 'Ubea. In the settlement traditions he stands at the head of one of the original lines of descent, and like the other apical ancestors he was accorded a place in the genealogies and the ancestor cult. Together the founding ancestors bridge the world of the gods and the ordinary human community that traces itself back to the coming of the two canoes.