the group was created in 1998 with tomas tepano (tahitian ukulele and vocals) and peteriko pate (lead guitar and vocals) who came together and produced a song called "hokulea", in honour of an expedition commanded by kitín muñoz, who sought to discover the routes of polynesian migrations. this song was a huge success in the small community of rapa nui. they decided to create a new sound by adding drums and electric bass to typical rapanui folk music. they integrated five new band members. (tuki (electric bass), pota (peteriko's son) (drums), bear (electric guitar), turo (percussion) and ceto) who soon accompanied tomas and peteriko on a trip to santiago, chile to record their first album called "moevarua", with "hokulea" included as a track (now recorded professionally).