Tuituiini'a and Toamutumutu

The two calves, Tuituiini'a and Toamutumutu, were the kings of Toahotu on the west coast of Tahiti it. But because of the comments made by their parents, they prefer to leave their land. Check out this legend tahitian, reported by the famous storyteller Te Arapo.

Tuituiini'a and Toamutumutu

Tuituiini'a and Toamutumutu, the two calves

“Tanehuifenua of Vairao married Tinirauarii of Toahotu where they lived for some time. They then went to Hi'upe, on Taravao.

Tinirauarii gave birth to Tuituiini'a, a calf. The couple went above Vai'ufa'ufa where they left the calf. Puturua and his wife Piitorea, the adoptive parents, took the child and took him to a piha, a seaside spring in Vai'ufa'ifa and raised him.

A few years later, Tinirauarii again gave birth to a female whale, Toamutumutu, whom they also entrusted to Puturua and Piitorea. Tinirauarii became pregnant again and this time gave birth to a caterpillar, which she named Tehematavaa. She gave birth once again, but to a bird child, named Pereamanu.

When the children grew up, they heard a conversation emanating from their parents, especially their father:

“I tire myself unnecessarily feeding imbeciles, I am not at all happy, I would have much preferred to raise pigs, they could at least have plowed the ground”.

Hearing this, the whales turned into grief and refused to feed. They had to leave. They appealed to the elements of wind and rain. A cyclone then hits the town. The source of Vai'ufa'ufa filled and overflowed to go towards the sea. The whales slipped to the place called Tepapa where Toamutumutu wanted to rest, but his brother asked him to continue their journey. They stopped at Vaiaparaoa. The brother stopped at Tetayantai, or Mitiapa, and the sister at Tetavaiuta, where they rested, breathing hard.

Hearing these breaths, the parents realize that they are fleeing. In the early morning, the calves left for Taipa'aeinataihoro and Taipoararua, their parents and other people will follow them. Toamutumutu wanted to turn back while his brother wanted him to continue, hence the name Taiuruti'a (they think long and hard before deciding to make the right choice). In the early morning, they finally reached the sea, the parents then sang:

Tuituiinia and Toamutumutu e,
E ore ta'u vaa e tere i nia i Haapana (my canoe no longer sails to Haapana)
E fenua hupehupe (it's a lazy land)
E fenua ta'ata ino (this is a land where people are bad)
Tohora e rere I Teuruhi (whales that go towards Teuruhi)
E arii no Tarahu'arau (Kings of Tarahu'arau)
A rere, a rere I Teuruhi (Go, go to Teuruhi)

The whales leave for Opoa at Raiatea. When they had finished their offerings on the Taputapuatea marae, they decided to go to Uporu, on the island of Tahaa.

As they traveled to Taputapuatea, they heard of an all-powerful warrior who had just arrived on the peninsula of Tahiti. They returned to Taiarapu to fight him, and as they tried to reach the top of Vaiarava, the rooster's crow froze them. Witness the two stones still visible in Teahupoo, called “Te ure a Vaiarava”, as well as the whale-shaped stone located in Opoa (Raiatea).

The calves were the ari'i of Toahotu but because of the words of their parents, they preferred to leave their land. They were replaced by the ari'iAutaia, the new king of Toahotu, which angered the father who destroyed the Tuputupu marae.