The Maori legend Uru Kehu says: “The ancient seas roared under the influence of the moon and the stars and the Uru Kehu o Nga Tupuna finally disembarked. Our ancestors with the red and golden hair arrived to our island. Most of them perished in the cold ocean when the sea broke their ship into a thousand pieces. Not all perished; some men and women were saved together with their children. This was the arrival of those of whom our old ones have spoken. According to them, We are the children of different colors, descendants of different currents and we travel over different seas to find each other…”
The Three Navigators: Maoriori, Uru Kehu, and Kiritea
Many Polynesian legends tell of the arrival of white-skinned, red-headed people. One of them is from the traditional lore of the Waitaha tribe of New Zealand, in which, 67 generations ago, there were three peoples with different colored skin and different traditions who lived and mixed peacefully on Easter Island.
Three navigators are mentioned: Hotu Matua, of the Maoriori people (dark skin, brown eyes and black hair); Kiwa, of the Uru Kehu (white men with blond or red hair) who came from the east with the rising sun; and the Kiritea people, men of the stone (also with light skin, short of stature, with green eyes and black hair) who came from northern Asia.
From their union and peaceful cooperation a new culture was born which gave the impulse for migration to New Zealand in search of new lands to cultivate. The message gleaned from this legend is that the inhabitants of Rapa Nui could have originated in a mix of diverse racial groups or biological human communities, becoming one cultural and linguistic community.
The Meaning of the Term Uru Kehu
The Rapanui language of today does not recognize the term URU KEHU. There is only the ancestral term URU MANU, which indicates a person not of the aristocratic clan, the Miru. According to the dictionaries of S. Englert and the Commission for the Rapanui Language, URU KEHU could be translated as “person apart from the Rapanui, of unknown descendance.” This could imply that in all the Rapanui there are genes of Uru Kehu, a blond or red-headed white man. Perhaps that is the reason that white skin was once considered a mark of beauty and distinction in the ancient Rapanui traditions.
Testimonies About the Light-Skinned Ancestors
As Manuel Tuki confirms: “many of the ancient people on Easter Island were tall and white. This comes from their ancestors. They aren’t dark; they are blond, red-haired; they have lots of freckles on their faces.”
Felipe Pakarati shares that opinion: “The reality is that there were many European ships which visited the Island a long time before it was seen by the Dutchman Roggeveen, and there were certainly enough men among them to reproduce.”
Frequently Asked Questions About the Uru Kehu Legend
What does Uru Kehu mean?
According to the dictionaries of S. Englert and the Commission for the Rapanui Language, Uru Kehu could be translated as “person apart from the Rapanui, of unknown descendance” referring to the white, blond, or red-haired ancestors present in the Rapanui lineage.
Who were the three navigators in the legend?
Hotu Matua (Maoriori people, dark skin), Kiwa (Uru Kehu people, white skin and blond or red hair), and the Kiritea (stone men from northern Asia, light skin and green eyes), whose peaceful union is said to have given rise to a new culture.
Which tribe preserves this tradition in New Zealand?
The Waitaha tribe of New Zealand preserves this oral tradition, which tells of the peaceful encounter of these three groups 67 generations ago on Easter Island.
Is there evidence of European ancestors before Roggeveen?
According to Felipe Pakarati’s testimony, many European ships visited the island before its official sighting by the Dutchman Jacob Roggeveen in 1722, which would support the possibility of earlier mixed ancestry.
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