Riro Kāinga

Riro ʻa Kāinga
Bust of Siméon Riro Kāinga at Hanga Roa
King of Rapa Nui
Reign	1892–1898/1899
Predecessor	Atamu Tekena
Born	Mataveri
Died	1898/1899 Valparaíso
Spouse	Véronique Mahute
Issue	4
Father	Ngure a Pariko
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Siméon or Timeone Riro ʻa Kāinga Rokoroko He Tau (died 1898/1899) was the last ‘Ariki or King of Rapa Nui (i. e. Easter Island) from 1892 until his death. He ruled the island during a brief period of indigenous autonomy between Chile's initial annexation in 1888 and the reassertion of colonial authority in 1896. He died unexpectedly under the suspicion of poisoning during a diplomatic trip to Chile to discuss the island's sovereignty with the colonial authorities.

Riro Kāinga was born at Mataveri, the son of Ngaure or Ngure, the son of Pariko. His father was a follower of Torometi, a native strongman and supporter of French adventurer, Jean-Baptiste Dutrou-Bornier. He was baptized Siméon or Timeone into the Roman Catholic faith by the French Picpus missionaries on 9 March 1879. He was a member of the Miru clan.

After the 1892 death of Atamu Tekena, who had been appointed as King by the Picpus mission, Riro was one of the candidates for the vacant throne against Enrique Ika a Tuʻu Hati. Although both were of royal descent, his opponent was more closely related to Kerekorio Manu Rangi, the last undisputed ‘ariki mau who had died in a tuberculosis epidemic in 1867. His cousin Maria Angata Veri Tahi 'a Pengo Hare Kohou, a Catholic catechist and prophetess, organized many of the women on the island to support him. He was probably around seventeen or twenty-one years old at the time and was elected mainly because of his good looks and Angata's strong influence.

Following his election, Riro adopted the epithet Rokoroko He Tau which had been used by Kerekorio. Angata arranged his marriage to Véronique Hitiairangi Renga Mahute (1874–1947), a Tahitian-born Rapa Nui woman adopted by a Rapa Nui couple who had returned to the island in 1888. They had four children: three sons and one daughter together. His descendants adopted the surname Rikoriko to signify their clan.

His predecessor Atamu Tekena had ceded Easter Island to Chile on 9 September 1888 under Captain Policarpo Toro. However, the treaty of annexation was never ratified by Chile and the colony set up by Toro failed. The Chilean government abandoned the settlement in 1892 due to political troubles on the mainland, which was embroiled in the Chilean Civil War of 1891, prompting the Rapa Nui to reassert their independence. Like his predecessor, Riro ruled under a council of native leaders and the influence of the Catholic Church represented by Angata and other native catechists. He also appointed his opponent Ika as his prime minister.