The great god Makemake, the creator of the atmosphere, bequeathed to the manu-tara, a seabird commonly known as a sooty tern or frigate bird, three precipitous islets just offshore a cliff immediately below the village of Orongo, and designated these islets to be their habitat. Since that time the manu-tara have come to these wave-washed islets every spring to nest and hatch their eggs. All this is according to the Manu-tara of Orongo legend, which is still known on Easter Island. The legend also says that the manu-tara fly to the islets from Hiva, which was what Easter Islanders called the homeland of their ancestors. The eggs of the birds that nested on the islands were thus seen as symbols of life, fertility, and power. As the name "frigate bird" suggests, theses birds are very aggressive and often snatch the eggs of other birds. This aggressiveness seems to have been admired by Easter Islanders, who considered it a sign of courage. The avatar of Makemake, a bird man with the head of a bird and the body of a man, was called a tangata-manu. For people living on an island as isolated as Easter Island, the birds soaring over the churning surface of the sea must have appeared to possess god-like powers. They thus seemed to consider them gods of rescue, able to direct the islanders to land and to places where they could catch fish. A tangata-manu was worshipped for his strong mana, or spiritual power. The ritual for becoming a bird man was extremely arduous, and required participation in an egg hunting race. The bird man cult is thought to have originated in the 16th century, and seems to have been unrelated to the moai cult. It appears to have had a deeply religious tone, and the race was probably held so men could reach the exalted state of a bird man. In Spring, when the first manu-tara came to the islands, representatives of each tribe (the chief or his deputy, called a hopu) descended a precipitous cliff to the ocean, where they faced rapid currents and voracious sharks. They swam to the islands with the aid of small one-man rafts, but many are said to have died en route. Upon reaching the islands, to get the first egg, they had to wait in small caves, sometimes for days. The man getting the first egg then cried out to the crowd waiting on the cliff, saying "Oh king, shave your head." He then swam back to Orongo. In recognition of his courageous deed, the man getting the first egg, or the master of the hopu, received mana from Makemake and became the tangata-manu (bird man) for the year. The bird man received mana powerful enough to enable him to take the lives of others. He then had his head and eyebrows shaved, his eyelashes plucked, and his body painted before embarking on a taboo-laden regimen in a special house. Not even the new bird man's wife could enter the house, and for a year he was basically prohibited from leaving the house. During this time the bird man's tribe raided and plundered other tribes. It is said that several sacrificial offerings were carried out at a ceremony held in Mataveri. Cannibalism, which was perceived as a way of obtaining the mana of others, seemed to be an important part of the ceremony. The bird man ceremony continued until 1866, at which point the list of tangata-manu contained 86 names. This is somewhat surprising because the ceremony had been conducted since the 16th century. One possible explanation, however, is that the nature of the tangata-manu in the last 86 years of the ceremony was different from what it had been in previous years. The middle of the 18th century saw the beginning of an ongoing round of disputes that were largely caused by food shortages brought on by an increase in the population of the island. As a result of these disputes even descendants of Hotu Matua, the first king of the island, began losing political power as the tribal warriors became more powerful than the royal family. Around this time, the bird cult came to be used as a means of peacefully resolving power struggles among the warriors of each tribe. The tangata-manu was worshipped not only as a religious figure, but also as an absolute monarch with authority to reign over the island for a year. While the bird man ceremony was being held, all skirmishes between tribes were suspended, which made this religious ceremony something of a political contest. That the ceremony essentially became a means of selecting the island's supreme ruler probably explains why it became necessary to begin keeping records of the tangata-manu. Why was this arduous ceremony, which involved people throughout the island, suddenly abolished in 1866? There are various opinions on this issue, but no conclusive answers. It is logical to assume, however, that selection of absolute monarchs, which had been the focus of almost everyone, was no longer required. In 1862 a band of Peruvians raided Easter Island to capture slaves and in the process kidnapped the king and his successor. The tangata-manu of that year thus had to assume the role of king, which made the ceremony more important. Three years later, in 1865, king Gregorio, who was a boy, returned from Peru and the problem of the missing king came to a close. In addition, by 1886 most bird men had been converted to Christianity and Father Roussel held great religious power. On top of this, Captain Dutrous-Bornier from Tahiti became a man of considerable authority and the people of the island probably no longer had a need for a charismatic leader like the bird man. In this way, the spiritual world of Rapa Nui faded away and was incorporated into the realm of western civilization.