Hiva

Hiva is a legendary island in the sagas of the Easter Island culture, the mythical place of origin, in its meaning roughly comparable to the Garden of Eden in Christian culture.

Legends

The following is said about the creation of Easter Island: A supernatural being named Uoke came from Hiva and flew over the Pacific . With a gigantic tree trunk, it pried numerous islands out of the underground and hurled them into the sea, where they sank forever. When Uoke got to Easter Island, which was much bigger then than it is now, he began to break out large parts of the land with his lever, but the rock at a place called Puko Puhipuhi (located in what is now Hanga Hoonu Bay on the north coast) was like that hard that its lever broke. Uoke gave up and so Easter Island got its current triangular shape.

But Hiva was also the home of Hotu Matua , the mythical founding father. He lived in a place called Marae Renga (rega = beautiful, lovely, wonderful) on the island of Hiva. Because of a quarrel he had to leave the island and settled with his followers on Easter Island. What is significant about this legend is that Hotu Matua brought all the important plants ( sugar cane , yams , toromiro , mulberry tree ) and animals (pigs, chickens) as well as all important cultural achievements ( Rongorongo script, house building) from Hiva. So Hiva is not only the origin of the Easter Island people, but also the source of all wealth.

However, Hiva is doomed. As the sea level rises or the land falls, the island gradually disappears into the ocean.

"You wave and answer the following: The homeland is also bad, because there the flood brings destruction, the ebb brings salvation."

- Farewell message from Hotu Matua to Tuki

According to legend, the Moai , the gigantic stone figures of Easter Island, also come from Hiva . The art of statue-making was reportedly known to the first settlers who came with Hotu Matua. When the settlers established themselves and brought in their first harvest, Hotu Matua remembered forgetting to bring a stone statue from Hiva. He sent six young men back in a canoe to take the moai named Tauto to Easter Island. However, during the loading process, the men broke the moai in two. Hotu Matua had a vision of this misfortune and broke out into loud wailing. He went to the beach to await the expedition's return. After a few days he found a fragment, the head with the neck of the Tauto statue, on Anakena beach . It had got there through magical powers and from then on served as a model for all other Moai on Easter Island. The six men, however, were never seen again.

location

Which island corresponds to the mythical Hiva cannot be clearly identified; several islands or groups of islands come into question. Etymologically it should be noted that Hiva occurs as a prefix or suffix in several Marquesan island names : Hiva Oa , Fatu Hiva and Nuku Hiva . Hiva was also an ancient Polynesian name for the entire Marquesas group.

According to legend, Hiva is located in the west of Easter Island, which suggests that the Polynesian people spread from west to east. Although this has long been controversial, the tradition on this point is confirmed by modern linguistic, archaeological and, last but not least, genetic research.

Parallels

In the legends of the Tuamotu Archipelago , Hiva-iti (Polynesian: Little Hiva) is a mythical land believed to be between the Tuamotu Islands and Easter Island, possibly identical to Pitcairn Island .

In the tradition of the island of Tahiti , Hiva-Ro-Tahi is a hidden land, home of the legendary King Hoka.

The Maori have a similar legend of origin. Allegedly, all Maori come from the mythical land of Hawaiki and their souls return there after death.

reflection

Today the name Hiva is used in the entire South Sea region for music and folklore groups, as a company and hotel name etc. Ä. used effectively in advertising.

Individual evidence

^ ^A ^b Sebastian Englert : Island at the center of the world - New light on Easter Island, Charles Scribner's Sons New York, 1970
↑ ^a ^b Thomas Barthel : Das eightchte Land - The discovery and settlement of Easter Island, Verlag Klaus Renner Munich, 1974
^ Fritz Felbermayer: Legends and Traditions of Easter Island, Verlag Hans Carl Nürnberg, 1970, pp. 19-20
^ ^A ^b Robert D. Craig: Dictionary of Polynesian Mythology, Greenwood Press, Westport (CT), 1989, ISBN 0-313-25890-2

Remarks

↑ It is interesting that there were no pigs when the Europeans arrived on Easter Island. Whether there were pigs before, as on most of the other Polynesian islands, which may have become extinct, has not yet been conclusively archaeologically clarified.
↑ One of the most stubborn proponents of the theory of the spread from east to west, i.e. from South America, was Thor Heyerdahl .

[Englert-1] A ^b Sebastian Englert : Island at the center of the world - New light on Easter Island, Charles Scribner's Sons New York, 1970

[Barthel-3] Thomas Barthel : Das eightchte Land - The discovery and settlement of Easter Island, Verlag Klaus Renner Munich, 1974

[4] Fritz Felbermayer: Legends and Traditions of Easter Island, Verlag Hans Carl Nürnberg, 1970, pp. 19-20

[Craig-6] A ^b Robert D. Craig: Dictionary of Polynesian Mythology, Greenwood Press, Westport (CT), 1989, ISBN 0-313-25890-2

[2] It is interesting that there were no pigs when the Europeans arrived on Easter Island. Whether there were pigs before, as on most of the other Polynesian islands, which may have become extinct, has not yet been conclusively archaeologically clarified.

[5] One of the most stubborn proponents of the theory of the spread from east to west, i.e. from South America, was Thor Heyerdahl .