The people of Anaa claim that the first coconut tree originated on their island. They pretend not to know that the first coconut tree comes from Papeari in Tahiti and that it came out of the head of an eel.
A gigantic eel named Faaruaianuu is said to dwell with his wife Teipotutemarama in the Vaihiria Valley in Mataiea. Out of fear and disgust of her husband the eel, this woman resolved to leave him and go and seek protection from the hero Maui who dwelt in the Faana cave in the district of Vairao.
Maui welcomed him saying: Haere mai, e tere to oe (Come, what is the purpose of your journey?)
“Aroha mai oe ia'u (have mercy on me)” she replied.
– What do you want from me?
– I would like you to kill my husband the eel. »
“I agree,” Maui said, “but so far no warrior has been able to kill Faaruaianuu. I have to find a way.
After thinking, Maui said to the woman: “Here is what I will do, I will cut the trunks of coconut trees to make a path that will allow the eel to come to land. As he spoke the eel appeared offshore, heading for land, followed by swarms of seabirds. Maui took his omore (club) and went to the beach to await the eel's arrival. .
– Faaruaianuu, he shouted to her, haere mai. »
The eel answered: – Didn't my wife Teipotutemarama come to see you?
- Yes, she is here.
- Give it back to me!
"I won't give it back to you. Our respective forces will decide his fate. Go get her, she's in my cave.
The eel therefore headed towards the cave using the trunks of coconut trees placed across it by Maui as a path. Then he struck the eel's head several times with his club. But impossible to overcome, she was still full of life and continued on her way, saying: “Take care Maui, try to succeed. »
His head was already at the entrance of the cave, while the tip of his tail barely left the beach. It was then that Maui remembered that in eels, the vulnerable point is the tail. He then landed such a tremendous blow on the hiu (tail of a fish) that the tail was separated and bounced away.
“You won, Maui,” cried the eel, “you killed me.
Maui then separated the eel's head from the rest of the body, then he made a basket in which he placed it and giving the package to Teipotutemarama: "Here, he said to him, take this (taua), take it away and do not drop off only when you get to where you came from. »
This woman therefore set out carrying the head of her husband, the eel. But when she arrived at Pani in the district of Vaiari (Papeari), feeling tired, she stopped and put her basket on the ground and bathed in the river which flows there. But no matter how hard she rubbed herself, she couldn't clean herself. She got out of the water and, without thinking of her package, resumed her journey towards her birthplace.
Arrived at the mouth of a new river, she bathed again and felt purified. This is why since that time, this river is called “Vaima” (pure water). Soon she reached the mouth of another river and it was only there that she realized that she had forgotten the basket containing her husband's head. Also this river took the name of “Vaiite” (the water where one remembers).
Teipotutemarama then retraced his steps to Pani to pick up his pack. But the eel's head was gone, and instead there was only a young coconut tree. She then began to regret not having followed Maui's orders to the letter, because, she said, if I had obeyed her. today I would own all the coconut palms. She set out but, when she arrived in Mataiea, her country of origin, she died because she had broken Maui's orders.
However, the young coconut tree having grown, produced two fruits which fell into the sea. One was male and the other female, yet both were indeed "opaa" Carried by the waves, they drifted and thus reached the Anaa Island, in the Tuamotu. The male died, and only the female landed on the beach.
“What is this strange fruit? said the inhabitants of Anaa, let us try to plant it; we'll see what comes of it. »
The coconut germinated, gave a stem, then leaves: it grew and bore fruit. The people of Anaa took these fruits and planted them until the island was completely covered with coconut trees. They then had the idea of eating these coconuts and found them delicious.
The coconut tree then spread to all the Tuamotu islands and the inhabitants of Anaa claimed that this tree was native to their island, because they could not know that it came from Vaiari and that it had come out of the head of an eel.
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