The History, The Mystery of Rapa Nui

I hope I am not confusing you too much with this Rapa Nui/ Easter Island/ Isla de Pascua business.  Let's have a quick semantic explanation.


Rapa Nui:  the name of the language/ native people of the island--which they prefer to be used and will heretofore be used in this blog.


Easter Island:  probably the most commonly known name.  The Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen set foot on the island on Easter Sunday in the late 1700's, and promptly coined it Paasch-Eyland, Dutch for Easter Island.  


Isla de Pascua: The official name of the island, given by Chile.  Spanish for Easter Island. 


Now to the goodies:

The History

and a little bit of mystery

Three volcanoes formed the island, and are still the landmarks of the island, though inactive (we hope).

Now, let's jump right into the mystery.  Rapa Nui is a historically fascinating island because little is known of its history.  There is a big debate about whether Polynesian people settled the island, or whether people from mainland South America were the first people.  There are many clues for both.  To this day, the people have maintained a strong island culture with similar traditions to the other Polynesian islands.  However, there is no explanation for why they have the crops of sweet potato and other vegetables that are native to the continent.  Scientists, archeologists, anthropologists and all others that I will refer to as the elusive "they"  cannot be certain about the origins of the first inhabitants, but I am fairly certain they came from the islands.  The island culture runs too deep on this little island to not have it's origins there.  Plus, clearly a second group of people must have arrived on the island, as we know there was a war between the two tribes (we will get to that in a minute).

 Their's was a highly organized society, with deep respect for ancestral traditions.  In fact, the moai statues are tributes to ancestors, as they stand on watch to guard the island.  During warfare between the Long Ears and the Short Ears (like many tribes in Africa, etc, the original peoples lengthened their ears, as is evident by the long ears of the statues), the Short Ears toppled many of the moai statues.  To me, it makes sense that the "Short Ears" would be the invaders from the mainland.  

There is also the phenomenon of the Bird Man cult.  In the spring of every year, the King held a competition for the families of the island.  Each family "tribe" offered one strapping young man as a competitor.  The young man had to crawl down a sheer rock cliff, and jump into the strong waters of the Pacific to swim to the island pictured above to retrieve the first egg laid on the island.  Oh and of course, he had to swim back and climb up the cliff with the egg strapped to his head.  Without breaking it.  His prize?  A virgin that the King kept in isolation for 8 years in a cave so that she may be as pale as possible.  And honor for the family.  

Most of what they know about the island comes from the oral traditions handed down.  Luckily, the Rapanui people do a very good job of keeping their culture intact.  No land can be sold on the island, only handed through the generations.  This helps keep the small town atmosphere and preserve the land.  Unfortunately, the island has had a few rough spells.  Although the actual cause is uncertain, they speculate that the original people of the island disappeared due to overuse of the land, especially deforestation.  However, the Peruvian slave raids, and the introduction of non-native species (like the rat) didn't help matters.  The true travesty of the situation is the loss of some parts of the culture.  For example, there are many written examples of the ancient language Rongo-Rongo.  However, because of the rapid death of the natives, this language wasn't preserved.  To this day, linguists cannot decipher more than a handful of words.  If we could decipher more, perhaps more of their history would be evident and could answer so many pivitol questions about the most isolated inhabited island on earth.  Like, how did they move the statues from their birth place on the side of the volcano, to the far reaches of the island?  Where did the original people come from?  Did they have contact with other people?  What truly led to their demise? 

Mystery shrouds Rapa Nui.  There is a tangible spirit on the island--it is a special place.  The center stone in the above photograph, known as the Navel of the World, supposedly came from the ship that brought the very first people to the island.  It has a religious significance to the people of Rapa Nui--legend has it that it is always warm, no matter the weather.  I believe it.  I can't put my finger on what it is about the island that gives it such an allure, but I know there are many forces at work.  Literally.  For example, at different points on the island, a car will roll up a hill in neutral.  It is a very freaky feeling to know you are moving just by the mere pull of the earth.  Really, it is a magnetic phenomenon, but freaky none the less.  

I am absolutely mesmerized by this island, its resilient people, its complex history, and its dedication to culture.  I hope you find it just as interesting as I do.  It is so much more than just a postcard from paradise... 

...lorana