Historical.

The discoverer of Aitutaki was Ru-enua. In Havaiki, he noted that the valleys were crowded and the hills were covered with people. With his four wives, four brothers, and twenty unmarried tapairu women of high rank, he set sail in the canoe, Ngapua-Ariki, to seek a new home. As various dangers were encountered, he allayed the fears of his crew by confidently stating, "We shall not die. Am I not Ru, the man who was girdled with the red belt of chieftainship and who knows the things of the air and the things of the sea." During a storm, after the sky had been obscured for some time, he thus addressed the Sea-god. Tangaroa—

"O Tangaroa, in the illimitable spaces of the unknown,
Clear away the clouds by day,
Clear away the clouds by night,
That Ru may see the stars in the sky,
To guide him to the land of his desire."

On the sixth day of the voyage, and the ootu night of the moon, Ru sailed in through a passage in the reef on the north-east side of the island now known as Aitutaki. The passage was named Ootu, from the night of their landing. A sacred place, or marae, was built and named Te Hautapu-o-nga-Ariki. The island was named Utataki-enua-o-Ru-ki-te-moana. The name was derived from utauta, a cargo, and taki, to lead. It refers to Ru leading the valuable human cargo over the sea. Another name given to the island is Ararau-enua-o-Ru-ki-te-moana. Ararau is to search for land at sea with a canoe, and the name applied to the island refers to Ru's search on the ocean. The first name was shortened to Aitutaki, and the second to Araura. Araura should be spelt as Arahura, and it is difficult to see how it is connected with ararau. The meaning of ararau is significant of a period when many voyages of discovery were undertaken. All true Aitutakians trace their descent back to one or other of the twenty tapairu women of high rank who accompanied Ru.

The second voyagers of note were Te Erui and his brother Matareka. Te Erui set out from Havaiki in the canoe Viripo. An unexpected hurricane, hurihia, dismasted page xxhis vessel, but he managed to get back to Havaiki. On being told by a priest that the cause of the disaster was due to the naming of his canoe, he immediately built another canoe. The vessel, on the advice of the priest, was named Te Rangi-pae-uta, and the two masts were named after the gods Rongo and Tangaroa. Thus, with divinity sitting in the belly of his sail, he braved the sea once more in his quest of land. He landed on the west side of Aitutaki, at a point on the reef known as Te Rua-karae. Here he was opposed by one of Ru's descendants, who said, "Tera te moana uriuri o Hiro. Haere ki reira kimi henua ai." ("There lies the purple sea of Hiro. Go there to seek land.") The request went unheeded. After slaying various opponents, Te Erui cut a channel through the reef with his adze, Haumapu, and finally settled down at Reureu. The channel which is credited to Te Erui's engineering ability is Te Rua-i-kakau, the boat passage which has been such an inestimable boon to Aitutaki. The various historical spots mentioned are shown on the map of Aitutaki.

Ruatapu, the third voyager of note, came from Taputapuatea to Rarotonga, and then successively to Raro-ki-tonga, Mauke, and Atiu. During these voyages his canoe had the name of Te Kareroa-i-tai. At Atiu, the canoe name was changed to Tuehu-moana, and in it he sailed to Manuae and then Aitutaki. At Aitutaki he sailed through a passage near the north end, called Kopua-honu, and renamed, after him, Kopu-o-Ruatapu. He is credited with having brought the cocoanut and the flowering plant known as tiare maori. After quarrelling with his son Kirikava over fishing nets, he came on to Ruatea, near Black Rock. From there he attracted the attention of the ariki Taruia by means of certain toys, and they became friends. He excited the curiosity of Taruia with tales of the islands he had visited, and finally persuaded the ariki to accompany him on a voyage to see the beautiful women of the islands (nga wahine purotu o nga motu.) Ruatapu purposely sailed before Taruia was quite ready, and to the latter's appeal to wait he called back, "I will go on to Rarotonga and be on the beach to welcome you in." On the other side of the islet of Maina, at a spot called Rau-kuru-aka, Ruatapu purposely capsized his canoe, Taruia shortly afterwards appeared, and to Ruatapu's appeal to wait until he had righted his canoe, he replied with no small satisfaction, "No; I will go to Rarotonga and be on the beach page xxito welcome you in." Ruatapu waited until Taruia was out of sight. He then righted his canoe and, returning to Aitutaki, he had himself made ariki of the island. Ruatapu is a well-known Maori ancestor of similar parentage, and with whom a canoe-sinking incident is also associated in tradition.

Whilst chronology is outside our scope, it may be mentioned that Ruatapu lived at about the period of the coming of the great Hawaiki migration to New Zealand in 1350, approximately. Taruia was a contemporary of Ruatapu. From Taruia to Te Erui some genealogical tables give 13 generations. This would take Te Erui back to somewhere about the year 1000 A.D., whilst Ru-enua preceded him again.

There were other voyagers of note who marked their achievements by naming various places on the reef, the lagoon, and the island. Incidents in the history of the first three were represented dramatically to the author, with the accompaniment of song and dance. Thus the village of Amuri played "The coming of Ru" and "The fishing quarrel between Ruatapu and his son," whilst the village of Reureu danced "The song of Te Erui's adze." Such dramatic representations help to preserve the history of the past, and, being uninfluenced by European stage managers, they interpret the true spirit that moved the old-time voyagers to dare and succeed.