Aitutaki (informally known as "Aitu") was a tribe from Survivor: Cook Islands.
Aitutaki was one of four tribes made up of five castaways that started the game in Survivor: Cook Islands. In keeping with the season's racially-divided format, the tribe was comprised of only Hispanic-Americans. On Day 7, tribes Manihiki and Puka Puka ceased to exist, shuffling all of the castaways into this tribe and Rarotonga.
While it was originally made up of the Hispanic-American castaways, the Aitutaki name is more commonly associated with the alliance called the Aitu Four, consisting of Yul Kwon, Becky Lee, Ozzy Lusth, and Sundra Oakley, the castaways left in Aitutaki when the tribe was virtually decimated after the mutiny twist, but all was able to reach the merge. Aitutaki's tribe color was red.
Members
Original Tribe
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- Billy Garcia, a heavy metal musician from New York City, New York.
- Cecilia Mansilla, a risk consultant from Thousand Oaks, California.
- Cristina Coria, a police officer from Los Angeles, California.
- J.P. Calderon, a professional volleyball player from Santa Monica, California.
- Ozzy Lusth, a waiter from Fresno, California.
Post-Tribe Switch
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- ► Becky Lee, an attorney from Washington, D.C.
- ► Candice Woodcock, a pre-med student from Fayetteville, North Carolina.
- ► Cao Boi Bui, a nail salon manager from Christiansburg, Virginia.
- ► Cecilia Mansilla
- ► Jessica Smith, a roller girl from Chico, California.
- ► Jonathan Penner, a writer from Los Angeles, California.
- ► Ozzy Lusth
- ► Sundra Oakley, an actress from Los Angeles, California.
- ► Yul Kwon, a management consultant from San Mateo, California.
Post-Mutiny
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Tribe History
The Hispanic-American Tribe
The Aitutaki tribe initially kept a low profile, with a middling finish in the first Immunity Challenge and an uneventful several days. Ozzy Lusth quickly took the role of the tribe's leader and provider, with J.P. Calderon becoming his second-in-command of sorts. Billy Garcia was quickly branded the tribe outcast, as his personality clashed with the others on his tribe.
However, the group grew increasingly restless with Billy's antics, and Ozzy eventually suggested that the tribe throw the upcoming Immunity Challenge. Cristina Coria vehemently disagreed with this decision and made her opinion known on the subject. It was one of many issues on which Cristina and Ozzy disagreed. Eventually, however, the group resolved to intentionally lose the challenge. After Aitutaki came in last that day, Billy exchanged kind words with the Rarotonga tribe's Candice Woodcock, saying, "I'm next," to her, and she immediately said, "We love you," to him; however, Billy actually thought that she solely loved him.
Before Tribal Council, Cristina attempted to sway Cecilia Mansilla to vote against the dominant Ozzy. At Tribal Council, however, it became apparent that their original choice was best when Billy professed to have fallen in love with Candice based on their brief exchange following the Immunity Challenge. Whether these feelings were mutual or not, Billy was next to go in a unanimous 4-1 vote.
The New Aitutaki Tribe
On Day 7, a Schoolyard Pick resulted in the four tribes being mixed into two, Aituaki and Rarotonga.
At the Schoolyard Pick, the new Aitutaki tribe was comprised of the gender-based teams selected by Cecilia and Jonathan Penner.
- Cecilia's team was chosen as follows:
- Cecilia chose Jessica.
- Jessica chose Sundra.
- Sundra chose Becky.
- Becky chose Candice.
- Jonathan's team was chosen as follows:
- Jonathan chose Yul.
- Yul chose Ozzy.
- Ozzy chose Cao Boi.
Original Aitutaki members Cecilia and Ozzy remained at their camp while Cristina and J.P. became members of the new Rarotonga; Cecilia was quick to take on the role of hostess in welcoming the new members to the tribe. She also revealed to Candice the nature of Billy's infatuation with her, much to the amusement of her ally, Jonathan Penner. The new Aitutaki tribe lost the next Immunity Challenge, resulting in Candice being sent to Exile Island at the discretion of her former Rarotonga allies, Adam Gentry and Parvati Shallow, who hoped to keep her safe from the vote at the next Tribal Council. At camp, Jonathan formed an alliance with Puka Puka allies Yul Kwon and Becky Lee, and, by proxy, Candice. The group sought out a fifth member to join their alliance, but their two choices, Jessica Smith and Cao Boi Bui, were both seen as flaky and unreliable. Cecilia and Ozzy, meanwhile, linked up with the tribe's lone former Manihiki member, Sundra Oakley, in hopes of swaying the uncertain Cao Boi and Jessica to vote along with them.
In spite of Cecilia, Ozzy, and Sundra's votes for Becky at that evening's Tribal Council, it was Cecilia who was sent home, 5-3. This gesture disappointed Ozzy, for he lost his only original tribemate, though his new tribemates comforted him, stating that despite the loss of Cecilia, he is not on the outs. Ozzy hoped they were telling the truth but still didn't feel comfortable, and feared that he may just be kept around longer because he provides fish to the tribe.
Aitutaki would be safe from Tribal Council during the next two votes, allowing for positions to shift and settle. Ozzy quickly took on the role of the tribe's provider and became a force to reckoned with during challenges, assuring his indispensability. Cao Boi became the tribe's eccentric hunter, and came under fire for an incident in which he unwittingly disturbed a nest of newborn boobies. Meanwhile, Sundra quietly slid into the position of the power alliance's fifth member, though her name was still occasionally put up for discussion when the subject of who to eliminate rolled around.
On Day 15, host Jeff Probst shocked the contestants by announcing a Double Tribal Council. With his head on the chopping block, Cao Boi formed strategy he dubbed as Plan Voodoo, a strategy to flush out the holder of the Hidden Immunity Idol and force them to play it. The plan was surprisingly well-thought-out: by orchestrating a tie between Candice and Jonathan, the two players Cao Boi considered most likely to hold the Hidden Immunity Idol, one would be forced to play it and the other would be eliminated. Cao Boi's plan had one fatal flaw: the holder of the idol was Yul, the confidante to whom Cao Boi had so lovingly described his plan. Weary of the nail salon owner's maneuvering, Yul convinced the others to vote Cao Boi out of the game. Only Jessica, Cao Boi's closest friend on the island, had gone along with Plan Voodoo. As per stipulation for winning the previous Reward Challenge, Aitutaki also earned the right to kidnap one member of the Rarotonga tribe from that night's vote. They chose to save Nate Gonzalez, who returned with them to camp. This gave Aitutaki another advantage at the next challenge, letting Nate participate at the next Reward Challenge or forcibly sit him out. Aitutaki decided to sit him out from the challenge, and in effect, his own tribe suffered a blow-out loss.
However, Aitutaki faltered at the next Immunity Challenge. In attempts to save themselves, Jessica and Ozzy tried to orchestrate an alliance with Candice. At the same time, Yul debated eliminating Jonathan, whose stigma being untrustworthy had followed him since the beginning of the game. He broached the subject with Becky and Candice, but in the end, the group voted out unaligned Jessica, 6-1. With Jessica gone, the two tribes were now even with six members each.
Mutiny
Candice turns her back on the Aitu Four.
On Day 19, the Aitutaki tribe was shaken up as Jeff Probst introduced the prospect of a Mutiny to the tribes. Probst gave the castaways five seconds to decide whether or not to switch tribes. Much to the shock and dismay of their former tribemates, both Candice and Jonathan opted to return to their original Rarotonga tribe, leaving a stunned Aitutaki at four members, while increasing the other tribe's roster at eight (half of Aitutaki's remaining numbers).
Despite Candice and Jonathan's gesture, Aitutaki rallied and won the next Reward Challenge, sending Candice to Exile Island as punishment for her betrayal. This also gave them the chance to enjoy family mementos and photos, causing many—especially Sundra—to become emotional and bonding them as a tribe. Aitutaki would go onto win the next three consecutive challenges, earning a feast with the locals and two more immunities.
On Day 25, Aitutaki and Rarotonga merged into the new Aitutonga tribe.
Gallery
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Trivia
- By Day 16, four of the original five Aitutaki members had been voted out of the game. Only Ozzy Lusth remained after the Double Tribal Council, when Cristina Coria was voted out from Rarotonga.
- The Aitutaki tribe's island was teeming with rats. When the tribes merged, the remaining Aitutaki members moved to the Rarotonga beach to get away from them.
- Aitutaki is the first and currently only tribe in the show's history to not have an original member as a representative in the jury, as four of its five original members were wiped out before the jury phase of the game, while Ozzy made it to the Final Three.
- Billy Garcia is the only original member of the tribe to not be from California.