by Ronnee Ruselle

The Easter Island statues known as the Moai are fascinating to people the world over. The island's story is a sad one about the destruction of the island, it's people and their history.

Colonization

Easter Island also known as "Rapa Nui" and "Isla de Pascua" is a tiny island located in the South Pacific between Chile and Tahiti. It is considered to be the most isolated island with a population in the world.

It's a volcanic island that was colonized 1300 years ago when Polynesian King Hotu Matua landed there after a long trip in canoes with 300 of his people.

It is said that they came from a land in the direction of the rising sun, where it was so hot that people sometimes died from the heat. When the island was first found by Westerners, they thought the island must have always been treeless and wondered how the Rapa Nui people were able to survive. In time it was discovered that when the original islanders arrived, they had actually found a lush island that was covered with giant palm trees that they used to build boats, houses and to move the huge statues or Moai that the island is now famous for. The plants that they brought with them such as yams, bananas and tobacco grew well in the volcanic soil and the population grew to around 10,000. Obviously it must have seemed to them a paradise that could sustain them forever.

The beautiful waters of Rapa Nui and petroglyphs on rocks.

But it did not last. Research has shown that the population dropped to around 700 people, cannibalism and war broke out and perhaps the Rapa Nui people's lack of knowledge in relation to conservation led to the downfall of their way of life forever.

The Moai and disaster

After they arrived, different clans were formed and they all shared the passion for the Moai carvings, competing to have the biggest and the best until over 1000 statues had been carved and they stood on all corners of the island. Although it's unclear why the statues became such a huge part of their lives, it is believed that they may have originally been created in commemoration of past leaders.

Easter Island Moai with red topknots.

Each Moai was carved directly from the soft volcanic rock with tools that were made of harder volcanic rock until there was a thin sliver of rock holding it to the rest which would then be cut away when it was time to transport the statue to it's location. They were lowered down on ropes to the logs cut from the giant palms. As missionaries destroyed nearly all the tablets that were the written records of the Easter Islanders, there is no hard evidence to tell how the statues were moved to their ahu (the platforms that held them). It is believed that the giant statues were most likely transported by rolling them along on top of two logs that were placed on top of two other logs that were laid perpendicular to them.

Easter Island Moai.

The Easter Islanders became obsessed with the carving of their statues to the point where they logged the island empty of the giant palm trees they needed to move them. This was too much for the island's ecosystem to sustain, causing soil erosion and a lack of crops. No more boats could be made that could take them off the island and they could only make small rafts and canoes made of reeds so even fishing was limited to the small amounts that they could scrape together.

The people began to starve. This caused war between the different clans, where they would tear down the Moai of opposing clans. Cannibalism began and the collapse of their entire culture after 300 years.

A new beginning, a new ending

The Rapa Nui people adopted a new cult - the Birdman. Every year the leader of the island was determined by whoever could scale down the steeps slopes of Rano Kau, a volcanic crater. He then had to swim out to one of three islets through shark infested waters and bring back an unbroken egg from the nest of a sooty tern. Whoever achieved this was honoured as Birdman of the year and was granted unique privileges. The culture began to rebuild itself but in 1862 constant visits from slave traders nearly wiped out the population by taking all of the healthy islanders away.

Easter Island Moai.

Then missionaries arrived on Rapa Nui when their society was in ruins and the people were vulnerable. They had no problem converting them to Christianity. They forced the islanders to cover themselves up and to cease tattooing. They destroyed their artworks, buildings, sacred objects and their tablets known as the Rongo-rongo which were their records. This is particularly sad as the Easter Islanders used the Rongorongo script; the only written language in Oceania. The loss of these tablets means that we are prevented from truly understanding their life and culture. The missionaries then moved the islanders off their lands and onto a 'section' of the island so that they could then use the rest of the island for raising cattle.

Today there are no islanders left of pure Rapa Nui blood as it died out. But there are some who have a connection to the original people of Easter Island. It now is under Annexure to Chile.

It's a fascinating place to visit and you can get a great tour of the island and see the extraordinary Moai and other wonderful remnants of the original island culture in intimate tour groups of around 8 people or less. You can enjoy archaeological sites and an open air museum which shows the lost culture of the Rapa Nui. The people are reported to be among the friendliest in the world and the landscape is remarkable with volcanic craters and lava formations as well as beautiful beaches and brilliant blue water.

It is considered to be a very spiritual location. The end of the Rapa Nui culture and the destruction of their records and lifestyle is a loss to the world, but hopefully mankind will learn from this example and stop further destruction to the planet in other locations.

Easter Island Images from: www.wikipedia.org