The legendary first chief of Easter Island is said to have been Hotu Matu‘a, who supposedly arrived around 800 to 900 AD.  Legend insists that this man was the chief of a tribe that lived on Marae Renga, the ancestral land of the Rapa Nui. Some versions of the story claim that internal conflicts drove Hotu Matu‘a to sail with his tribe for new land, while others say a natural disaster, possibly a tidal wave, caused the tribe to flee.

Rano Raraku is a volcanic crater located in the Rapa Nui National Park. It was a quarry that supplied the stone from which about 95% of the island's known monolithic sculptures (moai) were carved. Rano Raraku is a visual record of moai designs and technological innovation, where 397 moai remain. Rano Raraku is in the World Heritage Site of Rapa Nui National Park. The interior contains one of the island's three freshwater crater lakes, which is bordered by nga'atu or totora reeds.