page_title: Raiatea
section_title: Etymology
hierarchical_section_title: Raiatea / Etymology
caption_attribution_description: The marae of Taputapuatea on the island of Ra'iatea, French Polynesia. An ancient marae mentioned in the traditions of Polynesian peoples, including, for example, the Māori of New Zealand, who regard this place as a sacred marae of their ancestors. This is where the Hawaiian voyaging canoe Hokule'a landed on her first voyage in 1976.
context_page_description: Raiatea is the second largest of the Society Islands, after Tahiti, in French Polynesia. The island is widely regarded as the "centre" of the eastern islands in ancient Polynesia and it is likely that the organised migrations to the Hawaiian Islands, New Zealand and other parts of East Polynesia started at Raiatea.
  A traditional name for the island is Havai'i, homeland of the Māori people. Situated on the southeast coast is the historical Taputapuatea marae, which was established by 1000 AD.
  The main township on Raiatea is Uturoa, the administrative centre for the Leeward Islands. There are also colleges which serve as the main educational location for secondary schools for students from the regional islands of Bora Bora, Tahaa, Huahine and Maupiti.
context_section_description: The Tahitian language name Ra'iātea means bright sky.  "Ulitea" is an obsolete transcription commonly used in the 19th century. The term recurs elsewhere in Polynesia as a local place name - on Rarotonga (Rangiatea), in New Zealand (Rangiātea), and on the Hawaiian islands of Hawai'i and O'ahu (Laniākea).
  The extinct Raiatea starling inhabited the island; there is only one drawing of it in the world - in the Natural History Museum, London.
caption: Taputapuatea marae, an ancient marae mentioned in the traditions of Polynesian peoples, including, for example, the Māori of Aotearoa, who regard this place as a sacred marae of their ancestors. This is where the Hawaiian voyaging canoe Hōkūle'a landed on her first voyage in 1976.
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