Mysteries of
Easter Island
Smashwords Edition
by Brian Lawrenson
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Author: Brian Lawrenson. © 2011 Brian Lawrenson.
The photos in this edition are the copyright material of Brian Lawrenson and www.bigstockphoto.com. They may not be copied, sold or reproduced.
Smashwords Photo Edition ISBN: 978-1-921814-31-0
Published: September 2010 Revised October 2011
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Mysteries of Easter Island
There are only three ways to get to Easter Island; you can either sail there, fly from Santiago in Chile on LAN Chile, or fly from Papeete in Tahiti.
The island is located in the Pacific Ocean, some 3,200 kilometers (2,000 miles) to the west of Chile. This makes it one of the most isolated places on earth. Easter Island is called Isla de Pascua in Spanish, and in Polynesian, Rapa Nui. Today, it is locally called Rapa Nui. Although Rapa Nui is a Chilean territory, tourism on the island is run by the Rapa Nui themselves.
The island was formed by volcanic actions in pre-history, and its geology is based upon volcanic rock. It is best known for the giant stone monoliths, known as moai, that dot the coastline. It was these that we’d come to see.
The island remains one of the most unique places on earth, it is a living museum that showcases a sad, lost civilisation. The landscape is amazing, with volcanic craters, a few beaches, lava formations, small areas of forest or vegetation and, of course, the statues. The island isn’t large, perhaps 24 miles long and 12 miles wide, roughly triangular in shape, with four peaks and three dormant volcano sites. While its peaks may not be very high, the island is surrounded by seas that are 3,000 meters deep.
Our flight on LAN Chile from Santiago took 5 hours and forty minutes. We were picked up at the Mataveri International Airport by Edith, from the Tauraa Hotel. The airport, built by the Americans to provide an emergency landing site for the Space Shuttle, has a huge runway, which looks out of place in comparison to the rest of the island. The terminal though, is very Polynesian in character. It is functional, dated and in need of upgrading. We were amused as many of the locals returning home or perhaps visiting carried an assortment of bundles and cartons, leaving us wondering what people used before cardboard boxes. Almost everything has to be imported by air and shopping in Chile is the only real option for the locals. But the warmth of the greeting made up for the hustle and bustle. Edith, our host, greeted us with the traditional floral lei, a friendly hug and a waiting van.
Over the years, we’d already visited many of the islands of the South Pacific, and we recognised all the signs of a Polynesian culture as we were driven into town. However, the local Rapa Nui people turned out to be some of the most laid back, friendly and warm people that we’d met on our travels.
So who are “we”? Well, I’m Brian a traveller, writer and author of a number of eBook for people that love to travel. Jill is my spouse and life travelling companion. Together we’ve visited over 70 countries but this was our first visit to Easter Island. Since our visit in 2008, we believe that the Chilean Immigration have imposed a fee of $95 on all tourists.
The town of Hanga Roa, a 5-minute drive from the airport, is spread out with perhaps a 4 x 3 street grid. This is the only town on the island. The houses, some simple, others quite modern, were surrounded by palm or banana trees. The shops were few, and mostly of a corner-store variety. There was one market area and a nearby supermarket. There are two or three car or scooter rental places, one gas station and a number of churches. In town the roads are tar sealed, but beyond that the roads are unsealed - gravel. There is an area near the shops where the street has curbs and a footpath. Parking is pretty unregulated.
At the time of our arrival in 2008, there were no international style hotels, but a number of smaller family-run hotels and guest houses that were comfortable, convenient to town and affordable.
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But first, there can be no discussion about Rapa Nui and its people, without understanding a little of its history.
In 1722, the Dutch explorer Jocob Roggeveen was the first European to discover the Island. He named it Easter Island, as it was discovered on Easter Day. At first,Roggeveen and his crew thought that the moai were idols, as people bowed before them. The first encounter didn’t end well, as a confrontation occurred which resulted in the sailors opening fire and killing a number of the natives.
In 1774, Captain Cook, a British explorer, sent a party ashore who reported, upon their return, that a number of the statues had been toppled.
The visitors mainly sought fresh food, water, and wood. There was no safe anchorage. Observations from records of their visits indicate that by this time, wood was very scarce, and the locals were only building small canoes. Roggeveen described the islanders as living in squalid reed huts or caves, being in a perpetual state of war between the tribes, and having to resort to cannibalism to supplement the meagre food supplies available on the island.
There has been much controversy and confusion about the origins of the Easter Islanders. The renowned explorer, Thor Heyerdahl, believed that the people who built the statues were from Peru, because of similarities found in their stonework. Although, Heyerdahl produced significant evidence to support his claims, once they were compared in detail against other alternatives, his concept has now been scientifically disproved.
Erich von Daniken put forward theories that the island was once inhabited by people that were under an extra-terrestrial influence, but no scientific evidence has every been found to support this theory.
Archaeological evidence, however, indicates that people of Polynesian descent populated the island in or around 400 AD. Evidence has also been found of writings in Rongorongo script, which is really the only written language in Oceania (the Pacific) by the native inhabitants. Pottery, carvings, tattooing, music and dance follow the Polynesian style. The Rongorongo tablets are believed to record ancient hymns, genealogies and practices brought by the original inhabitants of the island.
It seems likely that there was more than one period of migration, because evidence points both to migration from the Marquesas, 3,200 kilometers (2,000 miles) away, and the Cook Islands. The Rapa Nui language, for example, appears more closely related to that of Cook Islands. Captain Cook had an islander crew-member who was born in Bora Bora, Society Islands. He was able to communicate with the Rapa Nui.
Some of the early legends related to the “short ears” and “long ears”. The long ears were regarded as the people from the Marguesas. These people come from an island group to the west of Easter Island, and are recognised as being on the migration path as the Melanesian culture expanded through the Pacific. The term relates to long earlobes that result from decorations being inserted into, and hanging from, the earlobe. Many of the moai demonstrate these long ears. When Cook landed there after his visit to Easter Island, he recorded that his crew had found the local people to be very light skinned. Others reported both light and dark skinned inhabitants of Easter Island. These observations may add some support to the theory of the short ears verses the long ears, and the possibility that two periods of migration took place
In the first 800 years, the island supported the population, and society prospered. According to records made by the missionaries in the 1860’s, a ruling hierarchy with its warriors class developed, and the various sons of the founder assumed leadership roles. Gradually, the society became divided into mata (clans). Each clan could trace their heritage to the sons of Hotu Matuá who, legends say, was the paramount chief that colonised Rapa Nui. There were at least ten mata. Later, each mata was divided into subgroups or family groups called Ure. The clans with the highest social status occupied the western side of the island.
As the power of the clans grew, so the power of the once paramount chief or king - the ariki mau - declined. This is believed to be the start of the era of the statues, about 1000 AD. As much prestige and pride were attached to the construction of the moai, the clan chiefs ordered more of the statues to be produced. This meant that more and more labour became involved in the building and transportation of these statues, and less in producing food.
By the mid 1600’s, the population of the island had grown to its peak of about 10,000, after which the island could no longer support this population. Shortages of water, wood for fuel, and food soon became an ecological disaster, and it became a fight for survival. The once thriving, wealthy and ordered society broke down and a bloody civil war began, which eventually saw some of the society descend into cannibalism.
It is believed that all of the moai that were standing along the coastline were torn down by the islanders, and those that are standing today were the result of a more recent archaeological effort. The timing of when the statues were pulled down is unclear, as no written records were kept. But Captain Cook, on his visit to the island in 1774, reported that some of the moai still stood, together with their topknots, but some were toppled. In 1804, a Russian visitor reported only about 20 statues still standing. By 1838, it is recorded that the only statues to remain upright were those on the slopes of Rano Raroka, in Hoa Hakananai’s in Orongo, and at Ariki Paro and Ahu Te Pito Kura. These are on both the east and west extremities of the island where the clan groups were particularly strong.
The Birdmen cult started about the time of the visit of the first Europeans, 1760, and continued until 1878. The first church was built by the Roman Catholic missionaries who arrived in 1864. Did the missionaries have an influence on the decline of the Birdmen? We’ll come back to look into this, the Birdman topic, later.
In the 1860’s Peruvian slave traders visited the island, and during a number of visits, over 1400 islanders, mainly productive men, were kidnapped. This was half of the island’s population. These included the paramount chief and his heir. After protests by the Catholic Church, some of the islanders were returned, but many died on the return journey, and the smallpox that they brought with them wiped out almost the entire population of the island. Some of the remaining islanders were evacuated with the missionaries when they left in 1871, and records exist that show that by 1877 the population was reduced to just 111 individuals. This dramatic reduction of the population also had a devastating impact on the preservation of their culture.
The native people living on the island today are the descendents of these few. By the time that the island was annexed by Chile in 1888, the population had grown considerably, and today there are believed to be some 4,000 native Rapa Nui living on the island, and a number who have migrated to mainland Chile.
The early period of rule by Chile was very oppressive. The main complaint seems to be about land rights. Almost all native lands once owned by the clans were purchased for a pittance by the sheep traders or missionaries. A national park that occupies about a third of the island was declared in 1935, and much of the remaining land was owned, and still is owned or occupied by Chilean interests. Some land has been handed back but this remains a source of aggravation to the people of Rapa Nui. The British Williamson-Balfour Company rented most of the island for a sheep farm until 1953. It was not until 1966 when the Rapa Nui were given Chilean citizenship that any form of say over their governance was afforded to the Rapa Nui people. They have a hope for future independence but there is an economic reality that is associated with this. Tourism is their only income. Today, the island is governed as a province of Valparaiso. This means Spanish language, Chilean law and limited land rights.