The Rapa Nui mythology, also known as Pascuense mythology or Easter Island mythology, is the name given to the myths, legend

Legend

A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...

s and beliefs (before being converted to Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

) of the native Rapanui

Rapanui

The Rapa Nui or Rapanui are the native Polynesian inhabitants of Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, in the Pacific Ocean. The easternmost Polynesian culture, the Rapa Nui people make up 60% of Easter Island's population, with some living also in mainland Chile...

 people of the island of Rapa Nui (Easter Island

Easter Island

Easter Island is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian triangle. A special territory of Chile that was annexed in 1888, Easter Island is famous for its 887 extant monumental statues, called moai, created by the early Rapanui people...

), located in the south eastern Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

, almost four thousand kilometers from continental Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

.

General description

The Rapa Nui have a mythology more differentiated, with respect to other Polynesian mythologies

Polynesian mythology

Polynesian mythology is the oral traditions of the people of Polynesia, a grouping of Central and South Pacific Ocean island archipelagos in the Polynesian triangle together with the scattered cultures known as the Polynesian outliers...

, due to the island's isolation from other Polynesian islands. The Rapa Nui present a particular cultural identity

Cultural identity

Cultural identity is the identity of a group or culture, or of an individual as far as one is influenced by one's belonging to a group or culture. Cultural identity is similar to and has overlaps with, but is not synonymous with, identity politics....

, based on very singular and local explanations on the creation of humanity and the Island of Rapa Nui. Like so much island cultures, the mythology of the island of Rapa Nui has a substantial marine

Marine (ocean)

Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology...

 component.

Myths of Rapa Nui

• Make-make
  Makemake (mythology)
  Makemake in the Rapa Nui mythology of Easter Island, was the creator of humanity, the god of fertility and the chief god of the "Tangata manu" or bird-man cult .He is a frequent subject of the island's Petroglyphs.-In Astronomy:The trans-Neptunian...
  
   (god)
• Hotu Matu'a
  Hotu Matu'a
  Hotu Matu'a was the legendary first settler and ariki mau of Easter Island. Hotu Matu'a and his two canoe colonising party were Polynesians from the now unknown land of Hiva...
  
  
• Tangata manu
  Tangata manu
  The Tangata manu , was the winner of a traditional competition on Rapa Nui . The ritual was an annual competition to collect the first Sooty Tern egg of the season from the islet of Motu Nui, swim back to Rapa Nui and climb the sea cliff of Rano Kau to the clifftop village of Orongo.-Myth:In the...
  
  
• Hanau Epe
  Hanau epe
  The Hanau epe or Long-ears were a group of semi-legendary people who are said to have arrived at Easter Island. According to some theories , they were a South American indigenous people, but most evidence suggests that the original Easter Islanders were Polynesian in origin.Sebastian Englert states...