In Papetoai, the location around the temple has always been a sacred place. In Fa'ato'ai, as the district was once called, there was a marae, a spring of fresh water and a large octopus.
This octopus, Tau Mata Fee Faatupu Hau, also called Tumu Rai Fenua had been sent by the gods of old to bring love and harmony to the people. All the inhabitants came to listen to the octopus who spoke to them about nature, the stars and completed their knowledge of the world. For a long time, the octopus fulfilled its mission and the inhabitants lived together peacefully.
One day, strangers landed on the beach of Vaihere, turtle-men who had swum from far away. They told the astonished population that on the other side of the sea, there were other lands, other countries, other people. The Turtle Men then went to see the octopus at the Tapuatea marae, and told him their story.
Curious, the people of Fa'ato'ai asked the turtle-men to take them to see where they lived. The octopus, at first refused to let them go, but to avoid conflict, she reluctantly allowed a few residents to leave.
When the inhabitants returned from their stay in the land of the turtle-men, they began to recount all that they had seen and all that they had learned in this new country. They told how the people there lived and what they did. And soon discords appeared within the population; because some inhabitants had changed their way of life and were quarreling saying:
"No, it's not like that over there, in the land of the turtle-men, that's how things are, that's how they think, that's how they do"
The gods hearing these disputes said to the octopus:
“We give you a land so you can show people how to love each other and live in harmony, and now they are quarreling. If you are unable to guide the people of the island, we will punish you”.
The upset octopus came out of its source and decided to leave Fa'ato'ai and seek refuge on Mount Rotui. In anger, she spilled her ink down the mountainside to Vaihere beach, where the turtle-men had landed.
Then the octopus called all the nohu (stonefish) and asked them to settle down and keep the bay well. Since then, the name Opunohu has remained (Opu = belly; nohu = stonefish). It is also said today that one should not fish in this area because the fish are poisoned by the ink of the octopus.
Its head became a rock as its eight tentacles stuck on Moorea's eight mountain ranges. But before her transformation, here is what she said to Taaroa: “I will come back one day. Signs will precede my return, that is to say the return of peace and unity. »
The old name of Mo'orea, "Aimeho", which means to eat in secret, comes from this legend. Indeed, you never see an octopus eat because its mouth is below its body. It is therefore said that she eats while hiding.
The full name is “'Aimeho i te rärä varu” or Aimeho of eight radiations, representing the eight tentacles of the octopus. The octopus' head sits on Mount Rotui and its tentacles radiate out to form the island's eight mountain ranges. From the temple of Papetoai, you can see the head and the two eyes of the octopus lying on Mount Rotui.
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