Project Description
Taha’a, the vanilla island has several treasures including its beautiful legends. Among them, there is the one telling the story of Fa’imano and the birth of Hiro…
At the time when Taha’a was still called Uporu, lived a very beautiful young woman, Fa’ imano. She lived in Faaaha with her husband and their children. One day, a large Polynesian canoe docked in the North of the island… It was Moeterauri, intrepid navigator and high ranked warrior who had just left his island of Bora Bora to go towards the South.
However, his canoe’s sail lacked an essential part made out of a rare wood, which he thought he would find on Uporu. He started to search for this wood and went towards the South of the island, by crossing through the pass to the high valley, while following the Tevainui river…
There he saw the charming Fa’ imano who was having a bath. He stopped, admired her and approached her. Fa’imano and Moeterauri fell for one another and had a love affair for 2 nights. Before leaving, the navigator told Fa’imano:
“From our union a son will be born, he will have red eyes and will have a birthmark in the form of a “veri” along the spine. You will call him Hiro-ma-ho’ata, in the name of these two nights we shared.”
As expected, Fa’ imano gave birth to Hiro, a famous navigator of Taha’a. “Te fanaura’a“, the place where Fa’imano gave birth is facing the Mount Mou’a Roa. Nowadays, it is still possible to see there, at the foot of a “tumu maep” (Tahitian chestnut tree), the up right stone against which she leant, stones against which she put her feet, and the stone where she broke her waters.
(Source : Tahiti Tourisme)
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