[note 1] In 1888, he signed a treaty of annexation ceding Easter Island to Chile in a ceremony officiated by Captain Policarpo Toro.

[6][7][8] After this social upheaval, a Council of State was established under the leadership of French adventurer and sheep rancher Jean-Baptiste Dutrou-Bornier who asserted more and more control and expelled the Catholic missionaries.

He installed his wife Koreto as the unrecognized "Queen" of the island and unsuccessfully petitioned France for protectorate status.

His business interest was inherited by the Anglo-Jewish-Tahitian Prince Alexander Ariipaea Salmon who managed a sheep ranch which constituted much of the land on the island.

At the instigation of Bishop Tepano Jaussen of Tahiti, Atamu was appointed by Father Hippolyte Roussel as King in 1883 to represent their interest alongside two to‘opae (councillors) and two judges.

[3] Unlike his predecessors, Atamu was not considered a member of the traditional royal patrilineal line and held little political power.

[3] In 1887, Captain Policarpo Toro was sent by the government of Chile to purchase Salmon's sheep ranch and negotiate the annexation the island from the Catholic mission authority in Tahiti.

Personal pretension, supported by Chilean officers who needed a responsible intermediary to deal with the population, might have contributed toward the restoration of power to this fictitious and ephemeral royalty.