The Tangata manu (Rapa Nui: taŋata manu; meaning "birdman") was the winner of a traditional competition on Rapa Nui (Easter Island). Competitors chose adult men to gather the first egg of the season from a sooty tern (manu tara) on the nearby island of Motu Nui. The men then swam back to Rapa Nui and climbed the sea cliffs of Rano Kau to reach the village of Orongo on top of the cliffs.

Mythology

In Rapa Nui mythology, the god Makemake was the main god of the bird-man cult. Three other gods were connected to this cult: Hawa-tuu-take-take (the Chief of the Eggs, a male god), his wife Vie Hoa, and another goddess named Vie Kenatea. Each of these four gods had a helper god who was linked to them. The names of all eight gods were recited by participants during different rituals before the egg hunt.

Bird-man religion

The names of the contestants, all important men on the island, were shown in prophecies by priests called ivi-attua, who could be men or women. Each contestant would choose one or two hopu, adult men of lower status, who would swim to Motu Nui carrying supplies in a bundle of reeds called a pora held under one arm. They would wait for the first sooty terns to arrive, hoping to return with the first egg while their sponsors waited at the stone village of Orongo on the southwestern end of Rapa Nui. The race was very dangerous, and many hopu were killed by sharks, drowning, or falling from cliffs, though there were many replacements available.

Once the first egg was found, the person who collected it would go to the highest point on Motu Nui and shout toward the main island, announcing the name of their sponsor and saying, "Go shave your head, you have got the egg!" People on the shoreline would repeat the message up the cliff to the contestants waiting in Orongo. The hopu who did not win would swim back to the main island together, while the egg-finder stayed alone on Motu Nui and fasted. He would then swim back to the main island with the egg placed inside a reed basket tied to his forehead. When he reached land, he would climb the steep, rocky cliff and give the egg to his sponsor (if it was still whole), who had already shaved his head and painted it white or red.

The successful contestant—the sponsor, not the hopu—would then be named the new tangata-manu. He would hold the egg and lead a group down the slope of Rano Kau to Anakena (if he was from the western clans) or Rano Raraku (if he was from the eastern clans). The new tangata-manu was given food and other gifts, and his clan had the only right to collect wild bird eggs and baby birds from Motu Nui that season. He would then live alone for a year in a special ceremonial house. For the next five months, he would be considered tapu, allowing his nails to grow long and wearing a headdress made of human hair. During this time, he would do nothing except eat and sleep.

Decline

The bird-man cult was put an end to by Christian missionaries in the 1860s. The origins of the cult are uncertain, as it is unknown whether it took the place of or existed at the same time as the Moai-based religion. However, archaeologist and anthropologist Katherine Routledge gathered the names of 86 tangata-manu as part of the Mana Expedition from 1913 to 1915.