{"id":810218,"date":"2026-09-01T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/?p=810218"},"modified":"2026-09-01T05:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T05:00:00","slug":"hanga-rau-origins-rapa-nui","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/en\/hanga-rau-origins-rapa-nui\/","title":{"rendered":"A Thousand People Relived the Foundational Event of the Rapa Nui People in Ha\u014ba Rau"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>By Ma\u2019u Henua Communications Department.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last July, nearly a thousand people\u2014including local community members, guests, and tourists\u2014gathered at <a href=\"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/lugar\/anakena\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/en\/lugar\/anakena\/\">Ha\u014ba Rau Bay<\/a> on Rapa Nui, to witness the sixth annual of He Tomo I\u014ba <a href=\"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/en\/hana-rau-o-te-ariki-tuu-maheke-te-ariki-nui\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/hana-rau-o-te-ariki\/\">o te &#8216;Ariki ki Ha\u014ba Rau<\/a>, a commemoration that recreates the arrival of &#8216;Ariki Hotu Matu&#8217;a to the island.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With a historical overview and the &#8216;Umu Hatu as a prelude, the day began with the reenactment of rapa nui oral tradition\u2014He &#8216;uru\u014ba o Haumaka, Kimi Ma&#8217;ara, and Haka &#8216;Ara &#8216;Ariki, which narrate the revelatory dream and the journey to the new land\u2014leading up to the arrival of <a href=\"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/en\/lugar\/akahanga-sepulcher-of-hotu-a-matu-a\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/lugar\/akahanga-sepulcro-de-hotu-a-matu-a\/\">Hotu Matu&#8217;a<\/a> and Vakai&#8217;s boats. The central moment was the birth of Tu&#8217;u Maheke, son of Vakai and the first Rapa Nui born on the island: the moment that tradition recognizes as the birth of the rapa nui people. <\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery aligncenter has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1201\" data-id=\"810212\" src=\"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/recreacion-llegada-a-isla-de-pascua-rapa-nui-edited.avif\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-810212\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/recreacion-llegada-a-isla-de-pascua-rapa-nui-edited.avif 1600w, https:\/\/moevarua.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/recreacion-llegada-a-isla-de-pascua-rapa-nui-edited-300x225.avif 300w, https:\/\/moevarua.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/recreacion-llegada-a-isla-de-pascua-rapa-nui-edited-1024x769.avif 1024w, https:\/\/moevarua.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/recreacion-llegada-a-isla-de-pascua-rapa-nui-edited-150x113.avif 150w, https:\/\/moevarua.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/recreacion-llegada-a-isla-de-pascua-rapa-nui-edited-768x576.avif 768w, https:\/\/moevarua.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/recreacion-llegada-a-isla-de-pascua-rapa-nui-edited-1536x1153.avif 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" data-id=\"810211\" src=\"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/embarcaciones-recreacion-hanga-rau-rapa-nui-isla-de-pascua-1-1024x682.avif\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-810211\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/embarcaciones-recreacion-hanga-rau-rapa-nui-isla-de-pascua-1-1024x682.avif 1024w, https:\/\/moevarua.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/embarcaciones-recreacion-hanga-rau-rapa-nui-isla-de-pascua-1-300x200.avif 300w, https:\/\/moevarua.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/embarcaciones-recreacion-hanga-rau-rapa-nui-isla-de-pascua-1-150x100.avif 150w, https:\/\/moevarua.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/embarcaciones-recreacion-hanga-rau-rapa-nui-isla-de-pascua-1-768x512.avif 768w, https:\/\/moevarua.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/embarcaciones-recreacion-hanga-rau-rapa-nui-isla-de-pascua-1.avif 1390w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The commemoration continued at Ahu Nau-Nau, with the reenactment of &#8216;Ari\u014ba Ora and artistic performances of Riu and &#8216;Ut\u0113, traditional songs that sustain the island&#8217;s oral tradition. The day concluded in the Palmeras sector with the &#8216;Umu mo te Mahi\u014bo, a communal curanto shared among the attendees as a gesture of unity. <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Thank you to all the keepers of knowledge, artists, and the Ma&#8217;u Henua team for bringing to life once again what allows us to pass on this important milestone in our history to new generations,&#8221; said &#8216;Ariki Tepano Martin, president of Ma&#8217;u Henua Indigenous Community.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/mau-henua-hito-fundacional-rapa-nui-683x1024.avif\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-810209\" style=\"aspect-ratio:0.6670060794824952;width:290px;height:auto\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/mau-henua-hito-fundacional-rapa-nui-683x1024.avif 683w, https:\/\/moevarua.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/mau-henua-hito-fundacional-rapa-nui-200x300.avif 200w, https:\/\/moevarua.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/mau-henua-hito-fundacional-rapa-nui-100x150.avif 100w, https:\/\/moevarua.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/mau-henua-hito-fundacional-rapa-nui.avif 765w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Ma\u2019u Henua Communications Department. Last July, nearly a thousand people\u2014including local community members, guests, and tourists\u2014gathered at Ha\u014ba Rau Bay on Rapa Nui, to witness the sixth annual of He Tomo I\u014ba o te &#8216;Ariki ki Ha\u014ba Rau, a commemoration that recreates the arrival of &#8216;Ariki Hotu Matu&#8217;a to the island. With a historical [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":810217,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[137,122],"tags":[246,121,120,150],"class_list":["post-810218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-rapa-nui-culture","tag-hanga-rau","tag-history-of-rapa-nui","tag-rapa-nui-culture-en","tag-the-future-office-of-the-new-department-of-the-environment-of-the-municipality-of-isla-de-pascua-is-to-be-built-totally-of-the-so-called-ecobricks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/810218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=810218"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/810218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":810221,"href":"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/810218\/revisions\/810221"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/810217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=810218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=810218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=810218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}