Tangata manu

[1] Each contestant would then appoint one or sometimes two hopu, adult men of lesser status, who would actually swim to Motu Nui carrying provisions in a bundle of reeds called a pora under one arm.

The race was very dangerous, and many hopu were killed by sharks, by drowning, or by falling from cliff faces, though replacements were apparently easily available.

On his reaching land, he would then climb the steep, rocky cliff face and present the egg to his patron (if it were still intact), who would have already shaved his head and painted it either white or red.

The new tangata-manu was entitled to gifts of food and other tributes and his clan would have sole rights to collect that season's harvest of wild bird eggs and fledglings from Motu Nui.

He then would go into seclusion for a year in a special ceremonial house; he would be considered tapu for the next five months, and in that time would allow his nails to grow long and wear a headdress made of human hair.