Wellington, was named Rangiatea by Te Rauparaha, in memory of our island home in Hawaiki, for it was a sacred island to our ancestors."
At Ra'iatea was the most sacred and important marae in the Central Pacific. It was situated at Opoa (called Poa in Raro tonga), at Taputapu-atea, and from which place stones were taken to use in the foundation of many other maraes in Tahiti, etc.; as, for instance, the stone pillar called Tura'a-marafea at Papetoai, Moorea, and that taken by Fanunū to found the marae of To'oarai, Papara, Tahiti, near which was afterwards built that of Mahai-atea, which has already been described.
There are other things which seem to connect Ra'iatea with Turi's ancient home, and one of which I think will be seen from the following quotation from an old Maori song:—
Tenei ano nga whakatauki o mua—
Toia e Rongorongo "Aotea," ka tere ki te moana,
Ko te hara ki Awarua i whiti mai ai i Hawaiki.
These are the sayings of ancient times—
'Twas Rongorongo launched "Aotea," when she floated on the sea,
Because of the sin at Awarua they crossed over from Hawaiki.
Now, Avarua is the opening in the reef a little to the north of Opoa, and by which the steamers now enter the lagoon of Ra'iatea from the east, and the "sin at Avarua," as described in the Aotea legends was the cause of the crew of that vessel migrating to New Zealand. Rongorongo was Turi's wife, and Aotea his canoe.
In Maori story, only one of the other islands referred to above is mentioned, viz., Vavau or Porapora, which I take to be Wawau-atea connected with the stories of Whiro, of whom Tahitian, Maori, and Rarotongan traditions are full, especially in connection with Ra'iatea and Taha'a. His
