Maraamu is a tribe from Survivor: Marquesas. Their tribe color is yellow.
The first tribe to suffer an extensive challenge losing streak, Maraamu suffered from political strife and overall dysfunction, though a tribe switch on Day 10 did create a relatively more cohesive and successful unit. The tribe, however, eventually entered the merge with only three members.
Members[]
Tribe History[]
The Motley Crew[]
On paper, it would seem that the yellow Maraamu tribe was the physically stronger tribe than the rival Rotu tribe. The Maraamu camp also had access to many natural sources of food. Their beach was abundant with fruit-bearing trees, and the tribe eventually discovered a nest of crabs a short distance away from camp. However, due to communication issues in challenges and dysfunction at camp, the tribe immediately went from eight to five members after the first nine days. Peter Harkey was the first person voted out due to his kooky demeanor, despite creating fire using a yoga breathing technique.
Hunter Ellis, perceived by the tribe as the tribe's strongest member, became the leader of Maraamu and had allies in Patricia Jackson and Gina Crews. After losing their second Immunity Challenge on Day 6, Rob Mariano expressed resentment over Hunter's position in the tribe, and recruited Sarah Jones, who was Hunter's alliance target for elimination, Sean Rector, and Vecepia Towery, into an alliance. The four took over the tribe by eliminating Patricia, the oldest and physically weakest member from Hunter's side.
Outnumbered, Hunter and Gina were grew frustrated of the majority alliance's confidence and dysfunction. When Maraamu suffered their third consecutive immunity loss on Day 8, Hunter was voted out, 4-2, leaving Rob the undisputed leader of Maraamu.
The Underdogs[]
After the Day 10 tribe switch, Rob, Vecepia, and Sean went to the new Rotu, while Gina and Sarah welcomed the newcomers from the old Rotu: Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien, Paschal English, and Neleh Dennis. Upon reaching camp, the tribe of five bonded very well, despite initially coming from opposite tribes.
With Maraamu losing their fourth straight Immunity Challenge on Day 11, the former Rotus majority deliberated who between Gina and Sarah should go home. Ultimately, however, Sarah, who had ties with Rob, Sean and Vecepia at the new Rotu, was voted out, over Gina, who had bonded better with them. For the first time, an active starting tribe was down to four members.
At the next Reward Challenge, while it would seem that Maraamu stood no chance against the more athletic Rotu, rallied to win their first challenge, winning the opportunity to raid the losing tribe's camp. Maraamu's win proved critical leading to the next Immunity Challenge, where the tribes were tasked to create a distress signal. Maraamu utilized their haul to the fullest extent, with their distress signal being deemed better by the judge, thus winning Maraamu its first immunity win. Now in an up streak, Maraamu also won the next Reward Challenge; their third consecutive win. Maraamu's winning streak came to an end when Rotu won the next Immunity Challenge, sending Maraamu back to Tribal Council. In an emotional vote, Gina, the last original Maraamu, was voted out, 3-1, reducing the tribe to a paltry three members.
The next day, Kathy, Neleh, and Paschal found an eerie discovery, a skeleton. They surmised they stumbled upon a paepae, an ancient burial ground.
On Day 20, the remaining members of Maraamu moved to the Rotu camp for the merge.
| Episode | Challenge | Challenge Type | Sit-Out | Result | Eliminated (Vote) |
Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Outrigger Fire Quest | Immunity | None | Lost | Peter (5-2-1) |
1st Voted Out Day 3 |
| 2 | Float Your Boat | Reward | None | Lost | Patricia (4-3) |
2nd Voted Out Day 6 |
| Marquesan Menu | Immunity | None | Lost | |||
| 3 | Raft Rescue | Reward | None | Lost | Hunter (4-2) |
3rd Voted Out Day 9 |
| Coconut Maze Race | Immunity | Gina | Lost | |||
| Tribes Switched, Day 10 | ||||||
| 4 | Life's a Tapestry | Immunity | None | Lost | Sarah (4-1) |
4th Voted Out Day 12 |
| 5 | Tiki Towers | Reward | None | Won | Tribe Immune | |
| Distress Signal | Immunity | None | Won | |||
| 6 | Jungle Relay | Reward | None | Won | Gina (3-1) |
6th Voted Out Day 18 |
| The Maze | Immunity | None | Lost | |||
| Tribes Merged, Day 20 | ||||||
| Original Tribes | Switched Tribes | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Episode | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | |||||||||||
| Voted Out |  Peter |
 Patricia |
 Hunter |
 Sarah |
Tribe Immune |
 Gina |
Tribes Merged | |||||||||||
| Vote | 5-2-1 | 4-3 | 4-2 | 4-1 | — | 3-1 | ||||||||||||
| ►► | Vecepia | Sarah | Patricia | Hunter | On Rotu | |||||||||||||
| ►► | Neleh | On Rotu | Sarah | — | Gina | |||||||||||||
| ►► | Kathy | On Rotu | Sarah | — | Gina | |||||||||||||
| ►► | Paschal | On Rotu | Sarah | — | Gina | |||||||||||||
| ►► | Sean | Sarah | Patricia | Hunter | On Rotu | |||||||||||||
| ►► | Rob | Peter | Patricia | Hunter | On Rotu | |||||||||||||
| ► | Gina | Peter | Sarah | Sarah | Sarah | — | Kathy | |||||||||||
| ► | Sarah | Peter | Patricia | Hunter | Kathy | |||||||||||||
| Hunter | Peter | Sarah | Sarah | |||||||||||||||
| Patricia | Peter | Sarah | ||||||||||||||||
| Peter | Patricia | |||||||||||||||||
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Maraamu's beach featured white sand and an abundance of food sources, including fruit-bearing trees and crab breeding spots, but it only had a small stream as its potable water source. In contrast, Rotu's beach was rocky with limited food sources, but it had a waterfall providing fresh water.
- The tribe's name is pronounced "mah-dah-AH-moo". Several of the Maraamu tribe members had difficulty pronouncing the name.
- Maraamu is the first tribe to vote out a man at the first Tribal Council.
- The original Maraamu tribe lost every challenge in which it competed.
- Maraamu is the first pre-merge tribe to attend Tribal Council four times in a row.
- After Gina Crews was voted out, Maraamu became the first tribe to contain none of its original members at some point during its existence.
- It would be followed by Mogo Mogo in All-Stars, Nuku in Game Changers, Soko in Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers, and Manu in Edge of Extinction.
- Maraamu is the first of six tribes to have no members remain in the tribe for its entire existence. It would be followed by Mogo Mogo, Ta Keo in Cambodia, Nuku, Soko, and Manu.
- After Ulong, Maraamu was ranked the second most dysfunctional tribe in Survivor history by Survivor Oz.[1]
References[]