Easter Island, or Rapanui (Spanish Isla de Pascua, Rap Rapa Nui,
Dutch Paas eiland) is an island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean,
the territory of Chile (together with the uninhabited island of Sala
y Gomez, it forms the province and commune of Isla- de Pascua in the
Valparaiso region). The local name of the island is Rapanui, or Rapa
Nui (rap. Rapa Nui). The area is 163.6 km².
Along with the
archipelago, Tristan da Cunha is the most remote inhabited island in
the world. The distance to the continental coast of Chile is 3514
km, to Pitcairn Island, the nearest inhabited place, is 2075 km. The
island was discovered by the Dutch traveler Jacob Roggeveen on
Easter Sunday 1722.
The capital of the island and its only
city is Anga Roa. In total, 7,750 people live on the island (2017).
Rapanui is largely known for its moai, or stone statues made
from compressed volcanic ash, which, according to local beliefs,
contain the supernatural power of the ancestors of the first king of
Easter Island, Hotu-Matu'a. In 1888, annexed by Chile. In 1995
Rapanui National Park (Easter Island) became a UNESCO World Heritage
Site.
The locals call the language Rapanui. It is of Polynesian origin, but has changed greatly over the centuries due to Easter Island's isolation, so that today only a few words correspond to other Polynesian languages. The locals find it easier to learn the Tahitian language than Spanish. Many only learn Spanish properly at school and still consider it a foreign language. Many residents active in tourism speak English more or less well. Advertisements for events are often in French, rarely in German.
Moai are stone statues on the coast of Easter Island in the form of a human head with a body truncated at about waist level. They reach 20 meters in height. Contrary to popular belief, they do not look towards the ocean, but into the interior of the island. Some moai have hats made of red stone. The moai were made in quarries in the center of the island. Scientists are still concerned about the question of how the inhabitants of Easter Island made and raised their statues. Many prominent researchers have attempted to raise them in modern times. Thor Heyerdahl laid the foundation, but his theory turned out to be, apparently, untenable, since the statue was damaged during the process of moving. Much more information appeared during subsequent experiments on the transportation and installation of statues, which were conducted by William Mulloy, Jo Ann Van Tilburg, Claudio Cristino and others. The islanders began by building a gentle sloping mound of stones starting from the platform in front of the ahu and leading to the top of the front wall of the ahu, and dragged the statue, with its base first, up the mound. When the base of the statue reached the platform, they raised the head of the statue an inch or two, using logs as a lever, and pushed stones under the head to hold the statue in its new position, an operation repeated until the angle of the statue was nearly vertical."
1 Ahu Akiwi. A place of worship located between Hanga Roa and Tere
Vaka with 5 very well preserved moais (standing).
2 Orongo . Former
and restored place of worship on the Rano Kau.
3 Ahu Tongariki . Like
the Rano Raraku, it is a place of worship located in the southeast of
the island with 15 standing moais.
Furthermore, there are numerous
places of worship and cave paintings that can be visited.
1 Rano Kau, on the southern tip of the island . Extinct volcanic
crater with subtropical vegetation, 1600 m diameter.
2 Rano Raraku .
A slightly smaller volcanic crater, but of great importance, because it
was there that the Moais were knocked out of the rock and transported
from there in all directions.
3 Mount Tere Vaka. Another extinct
volcano, the highest elevation of the island (511 m) with a good view.
4 Poike, in the far east. The third extinct volcano, there is also the
smallest Moai (1.13 m height).
5 Rapa Nui National Park (Parque
Nacional Rapa Nui) .
6 Tau Kiani Botanical Garden, Ara Piki.
South Sea beach Anakena, located on the north coast. With coconut
palms, white sand, right next to 2 Ahus (former places of worship).
Father Sebastian Englert Anthropological Museum (Museo Antropológico
Padre Sebastián Englert)
Iglesia Santa Cruz. A church where
Catholicism and the Rapanui tradition merge (chants, sculptures) - every
Sunday at 10.00 a.m. there is a church service, a visit to which is
highly recommended.
By plane
Only from Chile from Santiago by the Chilean airline "LAN
Airlines". Or from Tahiti in case of a transit flight of the same
airline to Santiago via Easter Island.
Arrival by plane is only possible with the Chilean LAN. There are
daily connections to IPC (Isla de Pascua) from Santiago de Chile, as
well as 1 to 2 times a week from/to Papeete (Tahiti) and, depending on
the season, to Lima (Peru).
Every now and then a cruise ship
passes by, but then stays at a reasonable distance in the roadstead and
takes its passengers to the small harbor basin in individual tender
boats. But this can be a very special experience even in moderate sea
conditions.
There are neither the microbuses nor colectivos
typical of the Chilean mainland on the island. Instead, numerous taxi
drivers vie for the attention of tourists in the town. However, it is
only a 20-minute walk from the airport to the center of Hanga Roa.
To get to know the various sights on the island, it is advisable to
rent a bicycle (13 euros per 24 hours) or a jeep (approx. 50 euros per
24 hours). There are numerous rental companies in the center of Hanga
Roa. Nearer destinations (Rano Kau, Tere Vaka, Ahu Akiwi) can also be
easily reached on foot. Many companies also offer guided tours around
the island in minibuses.
A round trip to Anakena beach costs
around 15 euros by taxi, which is very expensive for a 2x30 minute
journey, but is the only way to get there by car.
Hiking, especially in the cooler (20 degrees) winter, on the trail of
the diverse and interesting culture and history of the Rapanui
Diving
with various companies, including to coral reefs
Guided tours around
the island
Horseback riding tours in various areas
Swimming and
sunbathing on the only beach, Anakena (swimming is only allowed there!)
Surfing in the numerous bays (beware of reefs)
In general, prices are very high compared to South America, which is due to the island's isolated location. The dishes are mainly fish, often prepared in the Polynesian style, but Chilean empanadas are also common. Sweet potatoes, avocados, guavas and bananas are among the plants that grow well on the island and are used in many dishes. Po'e - a type of banana sponge cake - is offered at many stalls. The island's only brewery sells and exports its products under the name "Mahina".
"Island-typical" shows for tourists, mostly on Saturdays, Mondays and Thursdays. Numerous bars and a disco in the village center.
In Hanga Roa there are numerous accommodations starting at 25 euros per person per night (the upper limit is almost open). The only campsite on the island is also located there (a little south of the center on the coast). Otherwise, camping is prohibited for outsiders anywhere on the island, including Anakena. To camp more cheaply or on private property, you should know the locals well personally.
The early history of Easter Island is difficult to reconstruct
because there are no written records at all. The settlement history
itself is controversial. Both a mono- and a multiple settlement theory
have been put forward.
Thor Heyerdahl divided the island's
history into an early period in the 1st millennium AD and a middle
period between 1100 and 1600 AD. In his opinion, there was immigration
from South America in both periods. Further settlement is said to have
taken place in the late period from 1680 onwards from Polynesia. This
theory was not tenable and has been refuted using modern research
methods, particularly genetics.
Based on the legend of Hotu Matua
and supported by archaeological, genealogical and linguistic findings,
the assumption of settlement as part of the Polynesian expansion from
the west was popular for a long time. It is said to have occurred
relatively late in two waves: the first settlement in the 5th or 6th
century, the second wave of settlement in the 14th century. Today, it is
generally accepted in anthropology that Easter Island was settled from
the west, as part of the Polynesian migration, with only one wave of
settlement from the greater Mangareva, Henderson, Pitcairn area. Modern
genetic research provided proof in the 1990s. Erika Hagelberg from the
University of Cambridge examined the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of twelve
skulls that came from graves in Ahu Vinapu and Ahu Tepeu and were in the
depot of the Natural History Museum in Santiago de Chile. The comparison
with the mtDNA from historical bone finds from other
Polynesian-populated islands on the one hand and with the South American
peoples on the other hand proved beyond doubt the Polynesian ancestry of
the Rapanui. There was also no evidence of further gene transfer,
perhaps caused by a second wave of settlement from South America and
mixing with the indigenous population, as Thor Heyerdahl had suspected
in later years. When the initial settlement took place is disputed, but
since Easter Island lies on the outermost edge of the Polynesian
Triangle, it can be assumed that it was only settled relatively late.
Linguistic comparisons have shown that Rapanui split off from the
eastern subgroup of the Proto-Polynesian language family. Based on the
date of the split, settlement can be assumed to have taken place in the
first millennium AD. Based on palynological studies at Rano Kao, it can
be assumed that interventions in the ecology of the island that could
have been caused by humans cannot be dated to earlier than 500 AD. The
earliest date determined using the radiocarbon method to date that could
be linked to building activity and thus to an already established
civilization is 690 AD (± 130 years). Radiocarbon dating in a time frame
of 800 to 1000 AD is far more common, and is also more widely
distributed and occurs in both ceremonial complexes and settlement
remains. The anthropologist Terry L. Hunt of the University of Hawaii
assumes - based on stratigraphic excavations at Anakena - that the
initial settlement of Easter Island did not take place until around 1200
AD.
There are now further genetic studies that confirm the origin
of the Rapanui from the Polynesian settlement area. However, a very
small percentage of the samples examined also show DNA of American (or
European) origin. These studies are based on blood samples from living
Rapanui. Even with careful selection of the test subjects, they only
provide evidence of the current situation and not of the conditions in
pre-European times. However, this result also ultimately confirms the
previous findings about the Polynesian origin of the Rapanui, because
the Y chromosome markers typical of Polynesians could be detected in
each of the samples. The theory that peoples from the American continent
settled Easter Island can be disproved with the means of modern genetic
research. However, the evidence of genetic traces of American origin
allows the possibility that there could have been contact between the
continent and Easter Island in pre-European times, but probably only as
an occasional or even one-off event.
The spread of the sweet
potato (kumara) as a staple food on Easter Island suggests possible
contact between Polynesia and the mainland. Originally from South
America, the sweet potato was a common food crop in the arid regions of
South America. Its natural transport to the Pacific islands is
impossible, so it must have arrived there with the help of humans.
Although it is grown on Easter Island, it is also found on other
Polynesian islands far from South America. It is thought that the sweet
potato was first introduced to regions such as the Cook Islands, the
Society Islands, and the Marquesas before spreading to the Polynesian
Triangle. The plant was imported, but not the cultivation method. It is
possible that the sweet potato was introduced either by the first
settlers or later, since the Polynesians were experienced sailors with
advanced navigational skills. Trade networks across the Pacific between
distant islands were common. Planting pits for sweet potatoes on Easter
Island date back to the 13th century AD.
Archaeological finds of
starch grains in obsidian tools from Anakena in the north of Rapa Nui
provide further evidence of early contact with South America. The finds
come from the oldest layer of the approximately 1000-year-old settlement
of Ahu Nau Nau. Analyses showed that the starch grains came from crops
from the Pacific region, including yams and taro, but also from sweet
potatoes, cassava and canna from South and Central America.
A strictly stratified society developed with ten independent tribes
(máta) associated with different parts of the island, although there
were no defined boundaries. The Rapanui lived in scattered settlements
not far from the coast. There were no centralized towns or villages.
After the new settlement had consolidated, the population grew
rapidly. Initially only the coastal region was settled. The Rapanui diet
gradually changed fundamentally as the naturally available resources
were exhausted. People compensated for this development by intensively
growing food. This can be proven archaeologically by analyzing the
contents of garbage pits. New areas for cultivation were gained by
slash-and-burn, which fertilized the soil with ash and charcoal, albeit
only temporarily. Intensive cultivation of food released a surplus over
time. This provided the means to release privileged people - nobility,
priests and specialists in arts and crafts - from daily food production.
Statistical analysis of radiocarbon data from the Easter Island ahu
shows that a brisk building activity began in the 11th to 12th centuries
AD, and lasted until the middle of the 17th century. In this half
millennium, the Rapanui built more than 300 ceremonial platforms along
the entire coast and (estimated) around 1000 large stone figures. Over
time, the buildings became more sophisticated and the statues larger.
Island-wide building activity reached its peak from the 15th to the
first half of the 17th century AD. During these 250 years, most of the
largest and most elaborate ceremonial buildings were built. Older and
smaller ahu were built over and enlarged, often several times, and
smaller statues were used as filler in the new buildings and replaced by
larger moai. These activities, which encompassed all of island life,
were accompanied by the highest productivity in agriculture and possibly
the largest population.
Religion was dominated by ancestor
worship. The power and influence of the ancestors permeated every single
aspect of culture and everyday life. The Ariki, the tribal leaders,
legitimized themselves through their long, unbroken line of ancestors.
Their ancestors were manifested in the stone Moai, which performed a
permanent guardian function with a view of the settlement in front of
the Ahu. The authority of the Ariki was absolute and comprehensive and
was not questioned.
However, towards the end of this period,
radical social changes occurred that were accompanied by a religious
change. A new caste was established, that of the warriors (matatoa), who
increasingly also aspired to political power. The authority of the Ariki
waned and with it the omnipresent influence of the ancestors. Another
religion, the birdman cult and the associated worship of Makemake as the
only deity, became increasingly important.
Towards the end of the
period, signs of degeneration are increasingly evident:
After the
soil was cultivated in a way that was gentle on the surface until the
end of the 13th century, radical deforestation with increasing soil
erosion is evident from 1300 AD at the latest. This led to the
abandonment of settlements.
From the 13th century onwards, the
interior of the island was increasingly populated, without access to the
sea, the important source of food.
After 1425, highly intensive
farming was evident using innovative methods (small-scale cultivation
protected by walls, stone mulch), but this was abandoned again with the
collapse of tribal society in the first half of the 17th century.
From around 1500 until the arrival of the Europeans, there were
increased raids and tribal wars using new types of weapons (mata’a =
short spears with sharp obsidian tips). Cannibalism probably also
spread. The warrior caste gained influence.
As can be seen from
archaeo-biological studies of waste heaps in the settlements, the number
and diversity of seabirds as a source of food decreased rapidly after
1650 AD. Instead, stone chicken coops were increasingly built.
From
the middle of the 17th century, the construction of monumental
sculptures came to a standstill.
From the end of the 17th century, at
the latest in the first half of the 18th century, the cult platforms
were systematically destroyed by the islanders and the statues were
knocked over. There was a complete decline of the traditional culture
based on ancestor worship.
There is a lot of debate about where
the roots of this cultural decline lie. The majority of researchers
today assume that the problems were caused by the islanders themselves.
A popular theory, published by Jared Diamond, is that the
overexploitation of natural resources led to a disruption of the
ecological balance on the isolated island.
It is undisputed that
there were tribal conflicts in Easter Island history that led to
profound social, religious and economic changes. The orally transmitted
legends and numerous archaeological excavation results indicate this:
the introduction and spread of obsidian spearheads, the destruction of
houses of the tribal elite, refuge in caves, simplification of burial
rites and a change in religion with a move away from ancestor worship
and a move towards the birdman cult. There is disagreement among
researchers as to when this happened. There is controversy as to whether
this upheaval began in the second half of the 17th century (the year
1680 is often cited as the turning point for the demographic and social
collapse), and was therefore caused by the Rapanui themselves, or
whether it was only the arrival of the Europeans at the beginning of the
18th century that gave the impetus.
Other theories assume that a
drought lasting several years and the Little Ice Age were the cause of
many of the changes, or the Polynesian rat, which was introduced by the
first settlers and destroyed the palm forests that were important for
the island's ecology.
The first European to probably see Easter Island was the pirate
Edward Davis, who set off from the Galápagos Islands in 1687 to sail
around Cape Horn on his ship Bachelors Delight. He sighted the island by
chance and believed he had found the legendary southern continent, but
did not land.
Easter Island received its current name from the
Dutchman Jakob Roggeveen, who landed there with three ships on Easter
Sunday, April 5, 1722, on behalf of the West India Trading Company. He
called it Paasch-Eyland (Easter Island), after the day of its discovery.
Carl Friedrich Behrens from Mecklenburg took part in the expedition, and
his report, published in Leipzig, drew Europe's attention to the
previously unknown island.
The Catalan Manuel d'Amat i de
Junyent, governor of Chile and viceroy of Peru, was striving to
consolidate Spain's influence in South America (against England) and to
expand it into Oceania. He commissioned Don Felipe González to sail to
the Strait of Magellan and, among other things, to annex the "Earth
Davis" for the Spanish crown. González landed on Easter Island on
November 15, 1770 with the ship of the line San Lorenzo and the frigate
Santa Rosalia, erected several crosses at prominent points as a sign of
Spanish claim and gave it the name San Carlos. However, in the following
years Spain lost interest in Amat's oceanic visions and did not renew
its claim to Easter Island.
During his second South Sea
expedition, James Cook visited Easter Island from March 13 to 17, 1774.
He was not enthusiastic about the island and wrote in his logbook:
"No Nation will ever contend for the honour of the discovery of
Easter Island as there is hardly an Island in this sea which affords
less refreshments and conveniences for Shipping than it does."
-
James Cook: Logbook
Nevertheless, the stay provided important
information about the geological structure, the vegetation, the
population and the statues (most of which had already been knocked
down). We have the German naturalist Johann Reinhold Forster and his son
Johann Georg Adam Forster, who took part in the Cook expedition, to
thank for this. Reinhold Forster also made the first sketches of the
Moais, which, when published as copperplate engravings in the romantic
exaggeration typical of the time, caused a sensation in the salons.
Commissioned by King Louis XVI. of France, Jean-François de La
Pérouse set out on a circumnavigation of the world with the two frigates
Boussole and Astrolabe (commandered by Paul Antoine Fleuriot de Langle).
His tasks included drawing accurate maps and researching the peoples of
the South Seas to help educate the French heir to the throne, Louis
Joseph Xavier François de Bourbon. On the morning of April 9, the two
ships anchored in the bay in front of what is now Hanga Roa, and the
following morning La Pérouse landed on the coast of Easter Island with
70 people - crew, marines, and scientists. He himself stayed in the
vicinity of the landing site, while Captain de Langle crossed the island
with several scientists and a gardener. The expedition report contains
precise information about the settlement structure, cultivation methods,
ceremonial sites, and the way of life of the inhabitants. La Perouse
also had two maps drawn: an overall view of Easter Island, which not
only shows the coastline but also precisely shows the terrain formations
in the interior of the island, and a topographical view of the area
around Hangaroa Bay (Cooks Bay) with details on the distribution of
agricultural land, vegetation, settlement structure and caves, paths and
trails.
Other European visitors in the first half of the 19th
century were: Otto von Kotzebue on March 28, 1816, Frederick William
Beechey on November 16 and 17, 1825 and Abel Aubert Dupetit-Thouars on
February 25, 1838, who did not set foot on the island, as well as
several whalers.
Diseases such as influenza and syphilis brought
by the European explorers killed many of the inhabitants of Easter
Island.
From 1862 onwards, Peruvian blackbirders raided the
island in several waves in search of cheap labor. Mainly younger
islanders of both sexes were abducted to Peru, where they had to work in
the fields and in the households on the large haciendas. Most died of
infectious diseases against which they had developed no defenses on
their isolated island. The reliable estimates of the total number of
people abducted from Easter Island vary. They range from 900 to 1400.
Since the Blackbirders had also ravaged Mangareva and some islands
in the Marquesas and the Tuamotu archipelago, which were part of the
French protectorate, the French diplomatic mission in Peru insisted on
an end to the human trafficking and the return of the Polynesians to
their homeland. In addition, there was public outrage in Europe and
Peru. In addition, forced labor proved uneconomical, as the Polynesian
workers quickly became ill and died. So the deportation of the
Polynesians finally stopped, and in the autumn of 1863 the few survivors
were returned to their homeland on the orders of the Peruvian
government.
The few returnees to Easter Island, about a dozen
people, brought smallpox with them, and a large part of the population
died in the epidemics that followed - tuberculosis was also rampant at
about the same time. The French ethnologist Alphonse Pinard (1852–1911)
counted only 111 living Rapanui in 1877.
As a counterweight to the Anglican London Missionary Society, the
Catholic religious order Congrégation des Sacrés-Cœurs de Jésus et de
Marie (order code: SS.CC.) had established itself in the South Sea
mission with French support. The first missionary to arrive on Easter
Island on January 2, 1864 on the Chilean ship La Suerte was Brother
Eugène Eyraud (* February 5, 1820; † August 19, 1868). He built a wooden
hut from materials he had brought with him at what would later become
Hanga Roa. Eyraud was not welcome and was harassed by the residents, so
he only stayed until October 10, 1864. Nevertheless, he wrote an
enthusiastic report to the order's leadership, which encouraged the
order to resume missionary work on Easter Island.
Father
Hippolyte Roussel SS.CC. was chosen as the leader. He was an energetic
and experienced priest who had previously worked successfully as a
missionary on the Tuamotu Archipelago and on Mangareva for many years.
On March 23, 1866, Roussel and Eyraud arrived on Easter Island with four
local helpers from Mangareva. Half a year later, on November 6, 1866,
they received reinforcements from Father Kasper (Gaspard) Zumbohm
SS.CC., of German descent, and from Brother Théodule Escolan, who
arrived on the schooner Tampico, captained by the Frenchman
Jean-Baptiste Dutrou-Bornier. Despite initial resistance, their work was
successful, and in 1866 or 1867 the last birdman ceremony took place at
the Orongo cult site. All of the approximately 650 Rapanui were baptized
between February and August 1868. On the Assumption of Mary, August 15,
1868, a final major baptism ceremony took place. Five days later,
Brother Eyraud died of tuberculosis. Father Roussel stayed until 1871.
The former French officer Jean Baptiste Dutrou-Bornier, a descendant
of Jean-Félix Dutrou de Bornier (1741-1816), a member of the French
Estates General in 1789, had brought the missionaries Zumbohm and
Escolan to Easter Island on his schooner Tampico in 1866. On this
occasion he got to know the conditions there and planned to raise cattle
on this sparsely populated, grass-covered island, far from European
administration and jurisdiction. He had found a solvent partner in the
Scotsman John Brander, a large landowner on Tahiti who was related by
marriage to the ruling Pomaré family. In April 1868, Dutrou-Bornier
returned to Easter Island. He was accompanied by a German named
Christian Schmidt, and they brought two boxes of firearms.
Dutrou-Bornier first tried to establish good relations with the
missionaries and the chiefs and built a house on the foundations of a
ceremonial site near Mataveri that had become irrelevant with the
Christianization. He founded his farm with 450 sheep imported from
Australia, as well as cows, goats and horses. At the same time, he
recruited workers for John Brander's company in Tahiti. An estimated 200
Rapa Nui followed his promises, and he persuaded the emigrants to sell
him their land. In this way, he planned to gradually take possession of
the entire island. In 1880, some of the Rapanui who had emigrated to
Tahiti were able to buy some land near Pamatai, in the hills above
today's Tahiti-Faa airport, and founded a colony there that lasted until
the end of the 1960s.
Dutrou-Bornier hired the Rapanui Torometi,
who, with other assistants, organized an armed "protection force" and
intimidated and terrorized the other islanders. There were attacks,
shots were fired, huts were set on fire and the missionaries were
threatened. It is not known whether and how many people were killed and
wounded during these unrests, which were certainly also influenced by
old tribal rivalries. The Rapanui were driven out of their settlements
and banished to a small area on the west coast (in the area of today's
Hangaroa), which they were not allowed to leave under threat of
punishment. The rest of the island was uninhabited pastureland for sheep
and cattle. When conditions became unbearable, the islanders murdered
the despot Dutroux-Bornier in 1876, and a year later John Brander died
of natural causes. Easter Island remained in the possession of the
Brander family after a lengthy legal battle between the heirs in French
courts.
From September 20 to 25, 1882, the German gunboat Hyäne
visited Easter Island as part of an extensive South Sea expedition.
Lieutenant Commander Wilhelm Geiseler was commissioned by the Imperial
Admiralty to carry out scientific research for the ethnological
department of the Royal Prussian Museums in Berlin. The expedition
provided, among other things, detailed descriptions of the customs and
traditions, language and writing of Easter Island, as well as precise
drawings of various cult objects, Moais, house plans and a detailed map
of the Orongo cult site.
On November 1, 1868, the British warship
HMS Topaze under Commodore Richard Ashmore Powel reached Easter Island
and anchored off the island until November 6, 1868. Landing parties led
by the ship's officers and with the participation of the ship's doctor
John Linton Palmer undertook excursions to various regions of the island
over the next few days, accompanied by locals. They reached Vinapu, Rano
Raraku, Ahu Tongariki and the cult site of Orongo. In Orongo they broke
open one of the stone houses and, with the help of islanders, removed
the Moai called Hoa Hakananaia, one of the most important cult statues
on Easter Island. It is now in the British Museum in London. Palmer
submitted a report of his findings to the Royal Geographical Society.
In 1886, the USS Mohican, a steamship of the U.S. Pacific Squadron
under the command of Commander Benjamin F. Day, which had only been
commissioned a year earlier, visited Easter Island on a research mission
from the Smithsonian Institution. The Mohican arrived off Easter Island
on December 18, 1886 and anchored in the bay of Hanga Roa. It stayed
until December 30, 1886, and the purser William J. Thomson and the
ship's doctor George Cooke in particular explored the island. Thomson's
detailed report can definitely be described as scientific documentation.
It was published in 1891 and is illustrated with numerous, detailed
drawings and the first photos of the island. It also contains a
multi-page vocabulary of Rapanui English in the appendix. The Mohican
brought numerous relics to the United States. The list includes 44
items, some of which are individual pieces. They are now in the National
Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C. The most spectacular
artifacts are probably two Rongorongo tablets, a small Moai made of
basalt and a Moai head from Ahu O Pepe.
Against the backdrop of its territorial, economic and military
expansion in the second half of the 19th century, the Republic of Chile
annexed the island on September 9, 1888. The Chilean government had
followed the proposal of corvette captain Policarpo Toro (1856-1921),
who, because of his experience in the War of the Pacific, believed that
it was of strategic value as a naval base and supply base.
A
treaty was concluded in Spanish and in Rapanui, which Toro and 20 tribal
chiefs signed on board the warship Angamos. The texts of the treaty in
both languages differ and are interpreted differently today. Chile is
of the opinion that the island has thereby submitted to Chilean
sovereignty. From the Rapanui perspective, the chiefs' intention was to
retain sovereignty over the island, but at the same time to allow the
Chileans to use the land for cattle breeding and livestock farming. In
return, they expected the Chileans to look after the island, bring
prosperity and protect the country and its people from attacks. They did
not want to give up sovereignty or ownership of the land. However, there
was no official registration of land ownership, only traditions and
verbal agreements.
In 1895, the Chilean government leased the
island to businessman Enrique Merlet, who continued to raise livestock.
In 1903, he sold his ownership claims to the British trading house
Balfour Williamson. In 1911, a scientific commission led by the
German-Chilean Walter Knoche reached the island to set up a
meteorological and seismic station and to conduct interdisciplinary
biological, ethnological and archaeological research for the first time.
From around 1900, leprosy, probably introduced from Tahiti, spread
across Easter Island. A leper colony was therefore set up away from
Hangaroa, in which – according to the stories of the residents – the
company also isolated undesirable people who only contracted the disease
there.
During the First World War, the island played a
significant role in the naval war. Coming from Tahiti, a squadron with
the armored cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, the light cruiser
Leipzig and escort ships met with transport ships coming from the
Atlantic to take on fuel and food. The stay off the island lasted from
October 12 to 19, 1914. On December 23, 1914, the German auxiliary
cruiser Prinz Eitel Friedrich sank the French merchant ship Jean just
off the bay of Hangaroa. The crew of the sunken ship was left behind on
the island. When the German auxiliary cruiser Seeadler, owned by the
"sea devil" Felix Graf von Luckner, sank off Mopelia (Society Islands)
in 1917, the crew sailed to Easter Island on the captured British ship
Fortuna. The ship drifted onto the cliffs while attempting to land and
sank. The crew escaped to the island and lived there for four months
until they were finally interned in neutral Chile.
When the
elderly islander Angata, who was said to have clairvoyant abilities and
came from the leading Miru clan, dreamed in 1914 that God had given the
entire island back to the Rapanui, an uprising broke out. The islanders
no longer wanted to accept that they were forbidden to enter most of the
island. When Angata also claimed that God had made the insurgents
bulletproof and therefore nothing could happen to them, the conflict
escalated. The uprising was ended with the arrival of the Chilean
corvette General Baquedano on August 5, 1914, and four leading
insurgents were temporarily taken into custody, but soon released again.
Only Daniera Teave Korohua, Angata's son, was deported to Chile.
Comandante Almanzor Hernández recognized the unbearable conditions and
criticized the administration of the sheep farm. The restrictions on the
Rapanui remained unchanged, but the government appointed an
administrator independent of the company.
Chilean martial law
prevailed on the island until 1967. The inhabitants were subject to a
restrictive military administration headed by a military governor
appointed by Chile. Although officially Chilean citizens, the islanders
had no right to a Chilean passport and were not allowed to leave Easter
Island. Their stay was limited to a fenced and guarded area around
Hangaroa, the rest of the island could only be entered with the
permission of the governor. Independent, democratic structures in the
local administration were not permitted until the end of the 1960s.
As part of a research project at the University of Chile, the
German-born Capuchin Father Sebastian Englert came to Easter Island in
1935. He remained there as a pastor until his death on a lecture tour in
1969. Father Englert did not see his task solely as missionary work; he
also looked after the islanders' social needs, health care and
education. The man with a wide range of interests is responsible for
important records of archaeological, linguistic, cultural and botanical
findings. His systematic collection of artifacts now forms the basis of
the museum named after him in Hanga Roa.
In the first half of the
20th century, there were several research expeditions to Easter Island.
Worth mentioning are the Englishwoman Katherine Routledge, the Frenchman
Alfred Métraux and the German Thomas Barthel from the Eberhard Karls
University of Tübingen, who found essential approaches to deciphering
the mysterious Easter Island script.
Thor Heyerdahl stayed on
Easter Island from 1955 to 1956. He carried out excavations and
practical experiments and re-erected the first Moai.
On May 22,
1960, the Valdivia earthquake, which had a magnitude of 9.5, devastated
the city of Valdivia on the Chilean mainland. The quake triggered a
tsunami that hit the southeast coast of Easter Island, which faces the
continent. Since the population is concentrated on the west side near
Hangaroa, there were no fatalities. The six-meter-high tidal wave
penetrated up to 500 meters into the land in places and completely
destroyed Ahu Tongariki, which had only been restored a few years
previously. The Moai, which weighed several tons, were hurled 50 to 150
meters inland. With technical, logistical and financial support from
Japan, the Ahu was restored in the following years, so that the complex
is now back in its original state.
In 1967/68, the US military
built a secret station on Rano Kao, which was supposedly intended to
record the state of the ionosphere and, as some on the island suspected,
to monitor French nuclear tests in the Pacific. The American military
personnel, 45 officers and men, ensured a small economic boom and jobs
and training opportunities were created for the Rapanui. The electricity
produced by the US military power plant was available free of charge to
the then 1,600 islanders. Under the socialist President Allende, the
base had to be abandoned in 1970, which only a few islanders welcomed.
The gradual development towards independence of Easter Island began
under the Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. Pinochet showed particular
benevolence for Easter Island. He was the first Chilean president to
visit the island in 1974 and he returned twice, in 1980 and 1987. During
his reign, considerable funds were invested in infrastructure, and in
1984 he appointed the first ethnic Rapanui, the US-trained archaeologist
Sergio Rapu, as governor of Easter Island.
In 2001, the "Rapa Nui
Parliament" was founded to represent the interests of the indigenous
people of Easter Island. This non-governmental organization without
official status became increasingly radicalized in the years that
followed. On December 29, 2010, police officers flown in from Chile
violently evicted members of the Rapanui Parliament from their
headquarters in the center of Hanga Roa and several squatters from a
hotel that had been occupied for months. Members of the Hito clan had
occupied the newly built luxury hotel "Hangaroa Eco Village & Spa"
because they claimed that the land belonged to them and that the
government's sale to the Chilean investor family was illegal.
A
proposal for a new constitution for the Republic of Chile drawn up by
the Constituent Assembly (see plebiscite in Chile 2022) was intended,
among other things, to... lead to the recognition of the right of
self-determination of indigenous communities, including the Rapanui. In
the referendum on September 4, 2022, the constitutional amendment was
rejected by a clear majority with a high voter turnout.
The
global COVID-19 pandemic also reached the remote Easter Island in March
2020. The first case occurred on March 24, 2020. The island was sealed
off and LATAM Airlines was ordered to evacuate all tourists. The
quarantine lasted until August 2022. The first tourists were not allowed
to enter again until August 5, 2022.
The inhabitants of Easter Island have made cult objects out of both stone and wood. The preserved wood carvings were bought or exchanged with European expeditions and became part of the world's collections.
The world-famous, colossal stone statues of Easter Island are called
Moai. Father Sebastian Englert numbered and catalogued 638 statues, the
Archaeological Survey and Statue Project from 1969 to 1976 identified
887, but there were probably originally over 1000.
Despite
extensive research, their actual purpose and the exact time of their
construction are still disputed among experts. It is now assumed that
they represent famous chiefs or universally revered ancestors who acted
as a link between this world and the next.
In October 2022, after
a long dry period, a major fire broke out on Rano Raraku, damaging some
of the Moai standing on the mountainside. The fire also revealed a 1.60
m tall Moai that was hidden in the reeds of the crater lake and was
previously unknown.
On Easter Island, unique in the Pacific, there was a script of its
own, the Rongorongo script. It is a picture script interspersed with
phonetic symbols. It was written in lines in a variant of the
Bustrophedon: each line is upside down compared to the previous one and
is written in opposite directions. It is read from left to right and at
the end of the line the tablet is turned 180 degrees. It begins at the
bottom left. The characters, which are an average of one centimeter
high, show graphic symbols, bird men, people, animals, body parts,
astronomical symbols and devices of everyday use (boat, house, spear,
stone axe, paddle). However, the picture script is not made up of
pictograms that directly depict real objects. Thomas Barthel, probably
the most profound expert on Easter Island symbols, considers them to be
merely a memory aid, i.e. they depict key concepts around which words
and sentences can be added from memory.
The archaeologist Kenneth
P. Emory from the Bishop Museum in Hawaii has a completely different
opinion. Since the few surviving Rongorongo tablets were proven to have
been found between 1722 and 1868, he assumes that they are simply an
imitation of European written documents.
Deciphering the Easter
Island script was long considered a problem, especially since it has no
parallels in the South Seas. Only the systematic comparison with
calendar knowledge and the inclusion of oral traditions brought the
first approaches to interpreting the content. Thomas Barthel suspected
that at least part of a tablet called Tablet Mamari (now in the archives
of the Congregazione dei SS Cuori in Grottaferrata near Rome) contained
a lunar calendar, as lines 6 to 9 on the front show a striking number of
astronomical signs and lunar symbols. This view has since been
confirmed.
Worldwide, only 25 authentic written documents are
known on wooden tablets, the Rongorongo tablets, but also on other cult
objects (Rei-Miro in London, Vogelmann in New York and ceremonial staff
in Santiago de Chile). The surviving Rongorongo tablets are mostly
carved from Toromiro wood. The characters were probably engraved with
obsidian splinters or shark teeth, according to Kenneth P. Emory with
iron tools of European origin. The tablets are now scattered across
museums and collections all over the world.
There have been
countless attempts to interpret them, especially since amateur
researchers have started trying. The serious explanations for the
recorded texts range from genealogies to ritual chants. However, so far
it has not been possible to translate the texts.
On the slope of Rano Kao, dangerously close to a 300-meter cliff, are
the famous Orongo petroglyphs. The main motif is that of the bird man
(Polynesian: Tangata Manu), a hybrid of a human and a frigate bird. The
cult of the bird man gained increasing importance from around 1500 AD.
The reasons for the departure from the old religion of ancestor worship,
which ultimately led to the later toppling of the Moais, are unknown.
Archaeologist Georgia Lee, editor of the Rapa Nui Journal, believes that
this is related to the seizure of power by a warrior caste as a result
of ecological destruction. Others, such as Alfred Métraux, assume that
ancestor worship and the bird man cult existed in parallel for at least
a while.
Every spring, young men swam from Orongo to the offshore
Motu Nui to find the first egg of the sooty tern (Sterna fuscata). The
first to bring back an undamaged egg was declared a birdman, presided
over ritual sacrifices and enjoyed special privileges.
Birdman
figures are widespread throughout the South Seas (Samoa, Sepik region in
New Guinea).
Another motif in the rock carvings at Orongo is
Makemake, a mask-like face with large, owl-like eyes, which represents
the creator god. There are also depictions of animals (birds, whales,
sharks, turtles) and graphic motifs.
The Orongo cult site
includes carefully constructed stone huts with a roof made of sod, which
were not permanently inhabited but were only used for cult purposes.
Rei Miro is a wooden pectoral known only in the culture of Easter Island, mainly carved from Toromiro wood. It has a crescent moon shape, which can also be interpreted as a boat body. The two ends are often designed as human or animal heads with fine facial features. There are holes at the upper ends. Some pectorals have written characters on them. Rei Miro from Easter Island can be found in various museums around the world. Their meaning (cult object, jewelry or insignia of rank) is unknown.
Ao and Rapa are paddle-shaped ritual objects carved from wood that were used as insignia of rank for high dignitaries, but also in ritual dances.
Volcanic activity created numerous caves and crevices. The caves were used as places of worship, as numerous rock paintings prove. The motifs mainly have their origins in the birdman cult. Thor Heyerdahl found numerous small stone sculptures in the caves with a wide variety of motifs: bird-man depictions, Moais, head sculptures, anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figures, and even depictions of sailing ships. The secret caves are assigned to individual families. Knowledge about them was passed on orally to selected members of the next generation. Bone finds prove that burials were also carried out in the caves, but probably only in the later period. According to the tradition of the islanders, the caves also served as places of refuge during the period of cultural decline and the subsequent civil wars. A cult cave with numerous rock paintings that is frequently visited by tourists is Ana Kai Tangata, the so-called "cannibal cave", near Mataveri on the west coast.
Easter Island is one of eight provinces in the Chilean Región de Valparaíso (Spanish: Provincia de Isla de Pascua). Unlike most other departments in Chile, it is not further subdivided into municipalities, but corresponds to a municipality.
On January 19, 1951, Chilean military pilot Roberto Parragué Singer
flew a Catalina flying boat from La Florida Airport to Easter Island in
19 hours and 20 minutes and landed on a makeshift landing strip near
Mataveri. In the 1960s, Chile recognized the importance of the island as
a stopover in a transpacific air network, not least from a military
point of view. After plans for a new building near Anakena were rejected
as too expensive, the existing landing strip was expanded and paved. On
April 5, 1967, the first passenger plane, a Douglas DC-6, landed at
Mataveri Airport with forty American tourists. But the main purpose of
the airfield operated by the Chilean Air Force was to supply the
American base. Mataveri International Airport (IATA airport code IPC)
has existed since the 1950s. When NASA expanded it in 1984 as an
emergency landing site for space shuttles, wide-body aircraft could land
there. This led to a significant increase in tourism, which is now the
island's main source of income. Today, LATAM Airlines operates daily
flights to and from Santiago de Chile, with a flight time of around four
and a half hours.
Since 1967, there has been a central water
supply system with deep wells; until then, the population had to rely on
supplies in the crater lakes or groundwater seeping out on the coast.
Properties in the outlying areas are also connected to the electricity
supply network, which is powered by diesel generators. Paved roads can
be found in the immediate area of Hanga Roa and Mataveri. The routes
from Hanga Roa to Anakena beach and along the south coast to the Poike
peninsula are now also asphalted. All streets in Hangaroa have a name,
but they are not indicated on road signs. The only petrol station is
near the airport. There is also no public transport. A few taxis, rental
cars and rental bicycles are available. Some of the local families keep
horses, which are used as a means of everyday transport, or ride
motorbikes.
All educational qualifications up to university
entrance qualification (Enseñanza Media, equivalent to the German Abitur
and the Austrian/Swiss Matura) can be obtained at the five schools in
Hangaroa. However, a professional or university degree is only possible
on the mainland. As a result of a school experiment supported by UNESCO
with bilingual teaching in Rapanui and Spanish, the island's pre-school
and primary schools are now taught bilingually. This increases the
number of native speakers. Since 2010 there has also been a local
newspaper in Rapanui: Tāpura Reꞌo.
Health care is far better than
in other remote regions of Chile. In 1964 a Canadian scientific
commission (Medical Expedition to Easter Island - METEI) came to Easter
Island on behalf of the UN to conduct a pilot project to investigate the
connection between heredity, environment and disease. When she left the
island in 1964, the modern medical facilities, housed in a few
containers, remained. They formed the basis of the island's health care
system. In 1975, the small hospital building was built, which now houses
a doctor, a dentist, a midwife and a nursing service. An outpatient
clinic is also stationed there. An ophthalmologist regularly comes from
the Chilean mainland and holds consultations.
The other
infrastructure, with a church, post office, bank, pharmacy, small shops,
a few small supermarkets, snack bars and restaurants, has improved
considerably since the 1960s, not least to meet the needs of tourists.
Most of the shops are located on Avenida Atamu Tekena, the main street
of the village. Fresh fish is sold at the harbor in the morning, but the
selection and quantity on offer is small. In front of some houses,
locals sell home-grown fruit and vegetables on stalls. Satellite
telephone, internet and email are a matter of course. Mobile phones
currently only work in Hangaroa and the surrounding area (more or less
without interference), but the network is being continuously expanded.
There is now also a discotheque.
The first official census on Easter Island took place in 1922. The
island had 298 inhabitants at the time, six of whom were not Rapanui.
All published population figures before this time are only partially
reliable, and the information in the reports of European explorers is
nothing more than vague guesses. Jean-François de La Pérouse, for
example, estimated the population in 1776 to be around 2,000 people
(quote: "Overall, the population can be estimated at around two thousand
people").
The number of inhabitants during the heyday of Easter
Island culture, before the arrival of the Europeans, can only be
determined using indirect methods. A guide value can be obtained by
multiplying the building remains by the presumed number of people living
in each house. The archaeologist Patrick McCoy published a first
calculation on this basis in his dissertation in 1976. He determined
that the population was around 7,000 people around 1600 AD.
Using
similar data, archaeologist Jo Anne Van Tilburg came up with a total of
7,000 to 9,000 islanders at the time of the cultural heyday. This would
correspond to a population density of around 50 inhabitants per km², not
a particularly high value. The available agricultural land was probably
more than sufficient to feed everyone.
As a result of the unrest
and conflicts caused by political and religious upheavals in the 17th
century, the population decreased considerably; some researchers
estimate that the population was around 3,000 before the arrival of the
Europeans. Anthropologist Terry L. Hunt from the University of Hawaiʻi
at Mānoa questions this and concludes from the size of the cultivated
areas that there was a permanent population of around 3,000 people, not
reduced by external influences, who could be adequately fed. There were
no tribal conflicts.
The deportation as forced laborers to Peru
and the diseases brought by the returnees caused a further decline in
the population. The conflict of interests between the indigenous people
and the sheep farmers led to 168 residents emigrating in 1871 with the
help of the missionaries, mainly to Mangareva. In 1877 the population
was only 111. After that the population slowly recovered. In 1882
Wilhelm Geiseler determined in an unofficial but probably reliable
census a total of 159 residents, of whom 67 were men, 39 women and 44
children.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the young
population in particular often wanted to emigrate. However, such efforts
were prevented by the Chilean military administration. In 1934, the
Argentine-Israeli doctor and anthropologist Israel Drapkin (1906–1990)
counted 469 residents, of whom 456 were ethnic Rapanui, and recorded
their names and family affiliations. From the middle of the 20th
century, the population increased significantly. Thor Heyerdahl
registered 842 Rapanui in 1955.
Mainly due to immigration, the
population increased from 3,952 in 2002 to 8,601 in 2022. This increase
is the highest in the Chilean provinces. Many dropouts from the Chilean
mainland hoped for greater freedom on Easter Island. As a result, the
demographic composition of the population changed to the detriment of
the Polynesian natives. In 1982, 70% of the residents were ethnic
Rapanui, in 2002 their share was only 60 percent. In 2012, the Rapanui
were already a minority at less than 50 percent. Following protests by
the Rapanui, who felt increasingly "overrun" by immigrants, immigration
to the "Special Area of Easter Island" was restricted and subjected to
strict rules by a decree of the Ministry of the Interior and Security on
March 7, 2018. Tourists are now only allowed to enter with a passport
for a maximum of 30 days, must show a return ticket and a personal
invitation from a resident or a hotel booking.
But there was not
only immigration. Rapanui also emigrated to the mainland. The 2002
census found that 2,269 Rapanui lived outside of Easter Island in Chile.
Tourism on a significant scale has only existed since 1967, when the
first passenger plane landed on the island. Even today, Easter Island
can only be reached by plane with LATAM Airlines from Santiago de Chile
or Tahiti. The number of tourists had increased considerably before the
Covid-19 pandemic, but remained low compared to other holiday islands.
In 2018, the Chilean government reduced the maximum length of stay for
tourists and non-locals from 90 to 30 days, justifying this with the
protection of the island and its limited resources.
Easter Island
only has one port for small boats. There is no regular shipping
connection. Cruise ships are anchored off Hanga Roa. The passengers are
disembarked, which can be unpleasant in the often rough seas.
The
offer for tourists ranges from private accommodation to luxury hotels.
One of the hotels is one of the "Leading Hotels of the World". The
majority of tourists only stay on the island for two or three days as
part of a tour. The high price level is due to the fact that everything
- with the exception of some agricultural products - has to be imported
from the mainland at high prices. Since the population now lives mainly
from tourism, there are knowledgeable local tour guides for all common
languages, including German. The sights can be reached by off-road
vehicle, on horseback and, for experienced hikers, on foot.
The Rano
Raraku, the "birthplace" of the Moai, is probably the most interesting
point on the island for tourists. On the slopes of the volcano and
around the crater lake there are over 300 statues of different sizes and
in various stages of manufacture. Not far from there, on a bay, stands
Ahu Tongariki, the largest ceremonial platform in Polynesia with 15
re-erected statues of impressive size.
The only noteworthy beach on
the island is located near Anakena, made of fine, white coral sand.
Swimming is possible here. Picnics are held for tourists in the coconut
grove. There are two interesting ceremonial platforms near Anakena, the
Ahu Naunau and the Ahu Ature Huki. A smaller Moai is built into the Ahu
Naunau, recycled so to speak.
Te Pito o Te Henua (The Navel of the
World) (sometimes also: Te Pito Kura) is a ceremonial complex around a
spherical stone that is probably of natural origin. Esotericists
attribute unusual properties to the place.
From the crater rim of the
Rano Kao there is a spectacular view of the three Motus off the
southwest coast. The Orongo ceremonial complex is also located right
there.
Puna Pau in the west is the quarry on the slope of a secondary
volcano of the Rano Kao, in which the Moai headpieces were made from red
volcanic slag.
The Museo Antropologico Padre Sebastian Englert,
located just outside Mataveri, is modestly equipped compared to many
other ethnographic museums in Europe or America. Nevertheless, a visit
is recommended because of the original eye of a Moai found near Anakena
in 1978.
In 1989, the Senckenberg Museum in Frankfurt am Main held a
groundbreaking exhibition in which some of the relics of Easter Island
culture, which were scattered all over the world, were brought together
for the first time.
The island was the setting for a number of
films. In 1994, Easter Island came to the attention of the world with
the film Rapa Nui - Rebellion in Paradise, produced by Hollywood star
Kevin Costner and others. Embedded in many landscape shots, the film
shows, in a dramatic way typical of a feature film, the transport and
erection of the Moai, the interventions of humans in nature and the
negative consequences associated with this.
Episode 42: Chile and
Easter Island (first broadcast on January 1, 2002), of the ZDF
television series Das Traumschiff, which has been produced since 1981
based on an idea by Wolfgang Rademann, has Easter Island as its subject.
Another film project, a soap opera by Chile's national television
station Televisión Nacional de Chile entitled: "Iorana, Bienvenido al
Amor", made Easter Island known in Chile. Since the broadcast in 1997/98
(with several repeats), the number of Chilean tourists has multiplied.
The German composer Valentin Ruckebier wrote a ballet suite entitled
Easter Island, which sets words from the Rapanui to music.