Famous for the towering stone statues known as moai , the island of Rapa Nui holds immense cultural value to its native Rapa Nui clans, a society of Polynesian origin who arrived on the island around 400 A.D. With more than 100,000 visitors annually, tourism sustains the “Easter Island” economy—but management of tourism ...
What happened on Easter Island and why is it significant?
In this story, made popular by geographer Jared Diamond’s bestselling book Collapse, the Indigenous people of the island, the Rapanui, so destroyed their environment that, by around 1600, their society fell into a downward spiral of warfare, cannibalism, and population decline .
What is the significance of the Easter Island heads?
They stand with their backs to the sea and are believed by most archaeologists to represent the spirits of ancestors, chiefs, or other high-ranking males who held important positions in the history of Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, the name given by the indigenous people to their island in the 1860s.
How did Chile get Easter Island?
Annexation to Chile
Easter Island was annexed by Chile on 9 September 1888 by Policarpo Toro, by means of the “Treaty of Annexation of the island” (Tratado de Anexión de la isla), that the government of Chile signed with the Rapa Nui people.
Are the Easter Island heads in Chile?
Easter Island (Rapa Nui in Polynesian) is a Chilean island in the southern Pacific Ocean famous for it’s stone head statues called Moai. When you first see a Moai statue you are drawn to its disproportionately large head (compared to body length) and that is why they are commonly called “Easter Island Heads”.
Was there cannibalism on Easter Island?
With no trees to anchor the soil, fertile land eroded away resulting in poor crop yields, while a lack of wood meant islanders couldn’t build canoes to access fish or move statues. This led to internecine warfare and, ultimately, cannibalism.
What continent is Easter Island in?
Because Rapa Nui, the westernmost territory of Chile, is located in Polynesia, it would be best to answer that geographically Easter Island is part of the continent of Oceania although politically it belongs to South America.
Why were Easter Island statues built?
Moai statues were built to honor chieftain or other important people who had passed away . They were placed on rectangular stone platforms called ahu, which are tombs for the people that the statues represented.
What happened to the Easter Island?
The island was victimized by blackbirding from 1862 to 1863 , resulting in the abduction or killing of about 1,500, with 1,408 working as indentured servants in Peru. Only about a dozen eventually returned to Easter Island, but they brought smallpox, which decimated the remaining population of 1,500.
Does anyone live on Easter Island?
Think about it like this: About 5,000 people (many of them native Rapa Nui) live on the island year-round. In 2007, about 40,000 tourists a year visited Easter Island. Now that number is upwards of 1,000. ... For travelers, visiting the island, know that—like most islands in the world—things are not cheap.
What island controls Chile?
Chiloé Island (Spanish: Isla de Chiloé, pronounced [tʃiloˈe], locally [ʃiloˈe]) also known as Greater Island of Chiloé (Isla Grande de Chiloé), is the largest island of the Chiloé Archipelago off the west coast of Chile, in the Pacific Ocean.
How does Chile celebrate Easter?
Most Chileans attend Mass and are given bales of corn-leaves, straw, or palm leaves that have been blessed by a priest. They then take these bales home and use them to bless their houses. From Monday through Wednesday, people gather at churches to take Communion during Holy Week.
What is unique about Easter Island?
Easter Island is the world’s most secluded inhabited island
The only way to get there is by plane , as it doesn’t even have any harbours. The shortest flight is five hours from Santiago, and you can also fly there in seven hours from Tahiti. So what are the benefits of being so far away?
Did the Easter Island heads have bodies?
As a part of the Easter Island Statue Project, the team excavated two moai and discovered that each one had a body , proving, as the team excitedly explained in a letter, “that the ‘heads’ on the slope here are, in fact, full but incomplete statues.”
Is Easter Island real?
Easter Island, Spanish Isla de Pascua, also called Rapa Nui, Chilean dependency in the eastern Pacific Ocean. It is the easternmost outpost of the Polynesian island world. Its mixed population is predominantly of Polynesian descent; almost all live in the village of Hanga Roa on the sheltered west coast. ...
Why does Easter Island have no trees?
When it rains on the island , also known as Rapa Nui, the water rapidly drains through the porous volcanic soil, leaving the grass dry again. That’s one reason why the island at the end of the world has stayed almost entirely bare, with no trees or shrubs.
When did Easter Island lose its trees?
Easter Island was covered with palm trees for over 30,000 years, but is treeless today. There is good evidence that the trees largely disappeared between 1200 and 1650 .
What language is spoken on Easter Island?
| Rapa Nui | Language family Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Oceanic Polynesian Eastern Polynesian Rapa Nui | Writing system Latin script, possibly formerly rongorongo | Official status | Official language in Easter Island (Chile) |
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What did Easter Islanders eat?
Easter Islanders Ate Little Seafood – Archaeology Magazine. POCATELLO, IDAHO—An analysis of teeth from 41 individuals whose remains were found on Easter Island suggests that the Rapa Nui ate a diet of plants such as yams, sweet potatoes, and bananas, and terrestrial animals, including Polynesian rats and chickens .
Is Easter Island a wonder of the world?
Moai Statues — Easter Island
The Moai statues on Easter Island are man-made statues that were carved and placed there by the Rapa Nui people sometime between 1100 and 1700. ... The statues on Easter Island are a wonder because of how they were created . Ninety-five percent of each statue was made from volcanic ash.
Why do some statues face towards the island?
The story goes that the people who built the Moai believed that they were the only people in the whole world. Any invaders or bad people that would be coming would have to come from within the island – not by sea! So the Moai face inwards to protect the community .
How did Easter Island statues get there?
Easter Island – The Statues and Rock Art of Rapa Nui. Using basalt stone picks, the Easter Island Moai were carved from the solidified volcanic ash of Rano Raraku volcano . ... Once completed, the statues were then moved from the quarry to their intended site and erected on an ‘ahu’.
What are the lessons of Easter Island?
The lesson for us all
Like Easter Island the Earth has only limited resources to support human society and all its demands . Like the islanders, the human population of the earth has no practical means of escape.
Is there a McDonalds on Easter Island?
There are no fast food franchised like McDonalds , Taco Bell or KFC on Easter Island, but they do they Club Sandwich which sell huge hotdog and hamburgers with toppings that the locals like.
Can you buy a house on Easter Island?
Decades ago, the property was acquired by the government, and then traded between private owners. By law, only Rapanui can own land on Easter Island . But the law is not strictly enforced.
Can you move to Easter Island?
Easter Island is a beautiful island. However, it is not the easiest place to make a living. Everything revolves around tourism. People make a living by working in shops, restaurants, selling their crafts, or as guides to tourists.
What is largest island in South America?
The Isla Grande of Chiloé is South America’s largest island and among its most striking cultural anomalies.
How is La Semana Santa celebrated in Chile?
The day-long celebration involves a mass, followed by a procession in which the parish priest is drawn in a decorated carriage accompanied by mounted cowboys, bicycles, carts, and crowds of shouting people.
Is Stonehenge in Easter Island?
Stonehenge is located near Salisbury, Wiltshire , England within the Salisbury Plain — not the Pacific Ocean’s Easter Island.
Which country owns the most islands?
Website worldatlas.com claims that out of all countries on the planet, Sweden has the most islands with 221,800, the majority of which are uninhabited. Even the capital of Stockholm is built across a 14-island archipelago with more than 50 bridges.
What island lies off the coast of Chile?
The Chiloé Archipelago (Spanish: Archipiélago de Chiloé, pronounced [tʃiloˈe], locally [ʃiloˈe]) is a group of islands lying off the coast of Chile, in the Los Lagos Region. It is separated from mainland Chile by the Chacao Channel in the north, the Sea of Chiloé in the east and the Gulf of Corcovado in the southeast.
How old are Easter Island heads?
When were they built? This is a question of much debate among scholars in the field, although there is a consensus they were built sometime between 400 and 1500 AD. That means all the statues are least 500 years old , if not much more.
