Kōhau motu mo rongorongo, the Old Rapanui name for the writing system shortened to Kōhau rongorongo (lines [for] chanting out) or simply rongorongo (to chant/recite), accounted for a variety of types of texts incuding the annals kōhau ta’u (lines of years), and timo (vengeance) and pure (fertility) tablets. The reading of rongorongo at the annual Tangata manu (Birdman) ceremony in Orongo was the chief sacred duty of the uhunga tā (scribes).

The earliest recorded Latin transliterations associated with rongorongo come from a Rapa Nui man named Ure Vaeiko, taught to read by the last master of rongorongo himself, king Ngaʻara, who reigned from 1835–1859. Considering recital to the enquiring U.S. naval paymaster sacrilegious, Ure Vaeiko on only one occasion recited for transcription a handful of memorized chants under pressure. The most reliable and unambiguous of these (Atua Matariri and Eaha to ran ariiki kete) can be found in the Excerpt, along with other verses of traditional origin.