"Hanga Te Pau lies halfway between the places Kioe Uri and Piringa Aniva, both of which are also designations for the month of June. In this sense, Hanga Te Pau occupies the correct position in the time-space scheme. Instead of turning to the right (facing the land) in their search for the residence of the king, the explorers turn in the opposite direction. From a chronological point of view, this turning to the left signifies a going back to the two winter months that have passed. Considering the condition in the new land, building a house on the rim of the crater and establishing a yam plantation are indeed suitable activities for the new settlers." (Barthel 2)

If ragi is type of glyph representing pillars for a sky 'house', then also the house of the explorers - according to myth - should be ready for occupying in December (Ko Koró), half a year later. Going back in time should not be necessary, because the two main ragi 'beams' are to be raised at winter solstice.

Planting yams should be done in September (Hora nui), at the end of winter, i.e. the explorers ought to move forward in time, not backwards. Barthel's idea of a coordination between activities (moving left, constructing a house, planting yam) and a 'time travel' (from midwinter to early winter) does not agree with his description of when activities happen.

The 'clock' maybe needed to be re-turned to winter solstice of the old year in order to raise its 'house pillars', but that would be an impossibility, because at autumn equinox old sun 'disappeared'. Planting yams is an activity coordinated with the arrival of summer sun (the opposite of when he 'falls on his face').

Makoi named the place Hanga Te Pau, 'the landing site of Ira'. So that they would remember (? he aringa, literally, 'as face'), the open side of Hanga Te Pau was given this name. Ira got up. They all climbed to the top of the hill. They climbed up on the tenth day of the month of June ('Maro'). They reached the side crater (te manavai) and looked around carefully. Makoi said, 'This is the Manavai of Hau Maka'.

They climbed farther and reached the top. They saw the dark abyss and the large hole (of the crater Rano Kau). They all said, 'Here it is, young men, the dark abyss of Hau Maka.' They made camp and constructed a house.  Kuukuu got up, worked the ground, and heaped up the earth for the yam roots.

Makoi got up and began to familiarize himself with the (new) land. (This took place) on the fifteenth day of the month of June ('Maro'). He went toward the sheer face of the rocks (titi o te opata), was astonished (aaa), came up to the middle (of the outer rim of the crater), and stood at the very edge. He looked down and saw the 'Pu Mahore of Hau Maka' (on the coast) and said, 'There it is, the hole of the mahore fish of Hau Maka!'

He turned his face and looked toward the back (i.e., in the direction of the crater). No sooner had he seen how the dark abyss opened up (below him), when a fragrant breeze came drifting by. Again Makoi said, 'This is the dark abyss of Hau Maka.'

He turned around, walked on in utter amazement, and arrived at the house. He spoke to Ira, 'Hey you, my friends! How forgetful we (truly) are. This place is adequate (? tau or 'beautiful'), the dark abyss lies there peacefully!' Ira replied, 'And what should that remind us of up here?' All arose and climbed up. They went on and arrived; they all had a good look (at the inside of the crater). They returned home and sat down. Night fell, and they went to sleep ..." (Manuscript E according to Barthel 2)

The higher-ranked of the two largest political units on Rapa Nui was the Ko Tu'u Aro Ko Te Mata Nui. This literally translates as The Mast/Pillar/Post [standing] Before the Greater Tribes. Toko te rangi, or Sky Propper, is named by Métraux in his corrected Miru genealogy as the thirteenth king of Easter Island and as one of the lineages or subgroups of the Miru. Although we have no record of the Sky Propper legend on Rapa Nui, other Polynesian legends of the Sky Propper are widely known, and they are formative elements in the basic cosmogenic theory of Polynesian beleif.

Sky (rangi) and Earth (papa) lay in primal embrace, and in the cramped, dark space between them procreated and gave birth to the gods such as Tane, Rongo and Tu. Just as children fought sleep in the stifling darkness of a hare paenga, the gods grew restless between their parents and longed for light and air. The herculean achievement of forcing Sky to separate from Earth was variously performed by Tane in New Zealand and the Society Islands, by Tonofiti in the Marquesas and by Ru (Tu) in Cook Islands. After the sky was raised high above the earth, props or poles were erected between them and light entered, dispelling the darkness and bringing renewed life. One detail which is iconographically of interest is whether the god responsible for separating Earth and Sky did so by raising the Sky with his upraised arms and hands, as in Tahiti and elsewhere, or with his feet as in New Zealand.

The actual props, pillars or posts which separated the sky and earth are called toko in New Zealand, to'o in the Marquesas Islands and pou in Tahiti. In Rapanui tuu and pou are known, with pou meaning column, pillar or post of either stone or wood. Sometimes the word is applied to a natural rock formation with postlike qualities which serves as an orientation point. The star Sirius is called Te Pou in Rapanui and functions in the same way. 

One monolithic basalt statue is called Pou Hakanononga, a somewhat obscure and probably late name thought to mean that the statue served to mark an offshore tuna fishing site. The Rapanui word tokotoko means pole or staff. Sacred ceremonial staves, such as the ua on Rapa Nui, were called toko in Polynesia. 

Based upon the fact that toko in New Zealand also means 'rays of light', it has been suggested that the original props which separated and held apart Sky and Earth were conceived of as shafts of dawn sunlight. 

In most Polynesian languages the human and animate classifier is toko-, suggesting a congruence of semantic and symbolic meaning between anthropomorphic form and pole or post. Tane as First Man and the embodiment of sunlight thus becomes, in the form of a carved human male figure, the probable inspiration for the moai as sacred prop between Sky and Earth.

The moai as Sky Propper would have elevated Sky and held it separate from Earth, balancing it only upon his sacred head. This action allowed the light to enter the world and made the land fertile. Increasing the height of the statues, as the Rapa Nui clearly did over time, would symbolically increase the space between Sky and Earth, ensuring increased fertility and the greater production of food. The proliferating image, consciously or unconsciously, must have visually (and reassuringly) filled the dangerously empty horizon between sea and land, just as the trees they were so inexorably felling once had. (Van Tilburg)

1. To run out (food, water): ekó pau te kai, te vai, is said when there is an abundance of food or water, and there is no fear of running out. Puna pau, a small natural well near the quarry where the 'hats' (pukao) were made; it was so called because only a little water could be drawn from it every day and it ran dry very soon. 2. Va'e pau, clubfoot. Paupau:  Curved. Vanaga.

1. Hakapau, to pierce (cf. takapau, to thrust into). Pau.: pöau, a cut, a wound, bruised, black and blue. 2. Resin. Mq.: epau, resin. Ta.: tepau, gum, pitch, resin. (Paupau) Hakapaupau, grimace, ironry, to grin. 3. Paura (powder), gunpowder. 4. Pau.: paupau, breathless. Ta.: paupau, id. 5. Ta.: pau, consumed, expended. Sa.: pau, to come to and end. Ma.: pau, finished. 6. Ta.: pau, to wet one another. Mq.: pau, to moisten. Churchill.

2. The cult place of Vinapu is located between the fifth and sixth segment of the dream voyage of Hau Maka. These segments, named 'Te Kioe Uri' (inland from Vinapu) and 'Te Piringa Aniva' (near Hanga Pau Kura) flank Vinapu from both the west and the east. The decoded meaning of the names 'the dark rat' (i.e., the island king as the recipient of gifts) and 'the gathering place of the island population' (for the purpose of presenting the island king with gifts) links them with the month 'Maro', which is June. Thus the last month of the Easter Island year is twice connected with Vinapu. Also, June is the month of summer solstice [a mistake: winter solstice], which again points to the possibility that the Vinapu complex was used for astronomical purposes.

3. On the 'second list of place names', Hanga Te Pau is called 'the middle (zenith) of the land' (he tini o te kainga). This may refer to a line bisecting the island, but it can just as easily mean the gathering of a great number (of islanders). The plaza (130 x 130 meters) would have been very well suited for this purpose.

4. The transformation of the 'second list of place names' into a lunar calendar links Hanga Te Pau and Rano Kau. A similar linkage occurs in connection with the third son of Hotu Matua between the 'pebbles of Hanga Te Pau' and his name 'Tuu Rano Kau'. There can be no doubt that Vinapu was dependent on the economic resources of the large crater.

5. In the 'scheme of lunar nights', Hanga Te Pau introduces the second half of the month in contrast to Hanga Ohiro, which introduces the first half. That means that Vinapu and Anakena were calendary opposites. Based on the encoded information gained from numbers 1 and 2, 'Maro' (for the Vinapu area) is contrasted with 'Anakena' (for the Anakena area) - or, to put it differently, the last month of the year is contrasted with the first month of the year.

6. The fact that the year ends at Vinapu and begins anew at Anakena may have meaning beyond the obvious transition of time and may also indicate a historic transition. The carbon-14 dating test assigned a much earlier date to Vinapu (ninth century) than to Anakena. This raises the question of an 'original population', which, according to the traditions, lived along the northern rim of Rano Kau (i.e., inland from Vinapu) and their relationship to the explorers.

7. During his visit in 1886, Thomson wrote about the plaza:

Immediately behind this platform (that is, Ahu Vinapu) a wall of earth encloses a piece of ground about 225 feet in diameter and circular in shape. This is believed to have been the theater of the native ceremonies, and perhaps the spot where the feasts were held. (PH:512-513)

Two names, he tini o te kainga ('a great number of people from the homeland') from the 'second list of place names' and te hue ('the gathering'), a local name from the area of the third-born, tend to confirm the statement by Thomson, and so does a revealing passage about Vinapu in one of the traditions (ME:373; Knoche 1925:266). This passage deals with a festival (te koro o vinapu), during which a young woman appears, disguised as a bird (poki manu, Campbell 1971:224). She is the daughter of Uho, who had married Mahuna-te-raa ('sun with curly hair? hidden sun?') in the 'land of the nocturnal eye' (henua mata po uri). But she longed for her homeland, the 'land of the light and clear eye' (henua mata maeha) until she was able to return to it.

Uho's journey across the sea began on the beach of Anakena, that is, the 'opposite' place from Vinapu. In the foreign land Uho instructs her daughter how to transform herself into a bird. The tale is interesting because it is the only one with the motif of a solar marriage. As such, it is possibly connected with the solar orientation of the Vinapu complex. Furthermore, the RAP. text lists the contrasting qualities of the two regions as mata pu uri vs. mata maeha.

Transferred to the fourfold division of the island, the contrast of 'night darkness' vs. 'daylight' corresponds to the contrast between the region of the night, including the landing site of Ira, which belongs to the third son, and the region of the noon sun, including the landing site of Hotu Matua, which belongs to the first-born. This tale again emphasizes the contrasting values assigned to Anakena and Vinapu. According to an unpublished fragment by Arturo Teao, which was recorded by Englert in 1936, 'Uho' was born in 'Hare Tupa Tuu', that is, in the house of the first-born.

However, having been born in Anakena, she would not have gone on a journey across the sea upon being married, but would have left her home for a region on the other side of the island. Her husband, 'Mahuna Te Raa', may have been a quasi-historic figure connected with the Vinapu complex. Since mata also refers to the political unit of a tribe on Easter Island, the metaphysical contrast arising from the fourfold division of the land also has its political counterpart in the form of  four different tribal attributes:

The first pair (numbers 1 and 2) expresses positive qualities, the second (numbers 3 and 4) mostly negative ones. This again seems to foreshadow the later conflict between the tribal federations." (Barthel 2)