The origins of the Rapa Nui people are not entirely clear and many theories have been built around them.
For the original people of Rapa Nui, their mythology and oral traditions explain their history.
These traditions suggest that King Hotu Matu'a and 100 people coming from nearby Polynesian islands were the first settlers of Rapa Nui.
According to the myth, the legendary hero laid out the social organization, the system of kinship and descent, along with the building patterns of monuments and houses. The Rapa Nui culture is linked to the Polynesian culture, but, in isolation, this people developed unique systems of beliefs and stone constructions as found nowhere in the world.
The social basic unit is the hua´ai, that is, the extense family, composed at least of three generations, which patrilineal descent.
Its language is the Vaná a Rapa Nui, and its ceremonial writing, the Rongo Rongo, belongs to the Polynesian family.