The temple priests served as advisors to the ruling chiefs. They were the keepers of the great genealogical chants that linked the chiefs to the gods. They knew of the kapu, the rigidly defined prohibitions that reinforced the sacred status of the chiefs, and all that possessed their mana(spiritual power.)

Regarding the temple altar, Cook reported, "An alter, composed of a piece of carved wood.and on each side the figure of a Woman carved in wood.on the head of one was carved a cap-like helmet worn by the ancient warriors and on the other a round cap. These two images were about three feet tall and called Goddesses but that they worship them may be doubted, as they had no objections to our going to and examining them. This they told us was the grave of seven chiefs, and a similar area outside the house contained the graves of seven human sacrifices.*

*Cook's Journal - January 21, 1778