" THE ORIGINS OF EASTER ISLAND"

By Rose Marie Kuschel R.
June 19^th, 2007.

Easter Island, also known as “Rapa Nui,” is located in the South Pacific at 3.600 kms. west of Chile with a latitude close to that of the city of Caldera, located at the North of Santiago, the capital city of Chile. Easter Island is a province of the Valparaiso Region and has a population of 3.791 inhabitants, 3.304 of which actually live in “Hanga Roa”, the capital of the island.

There are several opinions about why this place received the name of Easter Island. Some early settlers called the Island “TE PITO O TE HENUA” meaning “Navel of the World” due to its extreme isolation. Other legends claim that the island was first named “TE PITO O TE KANGA A HAU MAKA”, meaning “ The little piece of land of Hau Maka” because of the small area that is no more than 163 km2. However, it was the Dutch Admiral Jacob Rogeveen who came upon the island on Easter Day in 1722 and named it that way. Today, the land, people and language are all referred to as Rapa Nui.

There has been much controversy and confusion concerning the origins of the first settlers on the island. Some scientists proposed that the first inmigrants were descendents of Peruvian families due to the similarity between Rapa Nui and the Inca stonework. Others have suggested that Easter Island is a piece of land belonging to a lost continent. On the other side, archeological evidence indicates that the discovery of the island was made by Polynesian at about 400 AD. Some legends claim that HOTU MATUA arrived on the island in one or two large canoes with his wife and a lot of other people belonging to their numerous family. Upon their arrival, an impressive and enigmatic culture began to develop. However, recent studies suggest that the island was settled as recently as 1.200 AD. This seems to be supported by the latest information on the island’s deforestation that could have started around the same time. Any earlier human activity seems to be insignificant from the scientific point of view because all those legends are related to a religious belief or to a personal point of view and therefore, don’t have enough scientific background to believe in.

The first missionaries who visited the place in the 1860’s, reported that the island originally had a very organized class system and that the most visible element in their culture was the production of “MOAI”, enormous stone statues that were part of the ancestral worship. All the moai were erected along the coastline to indicate a homogeneus culture and centralized government based on “ARIKI”, the king of the island who had god – like powers. Unfortunately, as years passed the population of the island exceeded the capabilities of the small ecosystem and resourses became scarce. It was necessary to destroy and deforestate large areas of land for agriculture and therefore, the moai had to be removed to provide more space to work the land. As a result, the advanced social order of the island declined into a Civil War and cannibalism. During this time, all the Moai that hadn’t been removed, where destroyed as a consequence of the war and chaos.

Besides those internal problems, the island was approached many times during the 19^th century by Europeans who killed many natives and invaded their territory in such a way that the islanders became hostile for any attempt to gain land and fought with all their strenght to avoid being attacked by foreigner visitors. However, a series of misfortunes continued to destroy almost the entire population during a period of 15 years. In 1862, Peruvian ships landed on the Island looking for people to work in their mines. They captured and killed around 1.500 men and women, about half of the island’s population. With the help of a Bishop from Tahiti, the slaves were finally let free a year later, but most of them had already died of several harmful diseases including Tuberculosis, Smallpox and Dysentery. When they returned to the island, the remaining islanders were soon infected by those diseases and the island’s population was reduced to the point that all the dead were not even burried. Survivors started a new war against each other for the newly available land of the already dead, bringing further famine and more destruction. In 1867, Tuberculosis infected the whole island, killing thousands more islanders. By 1871, around 500 people lived on Easter Island and six years later, there were just 111 people alive. Thankfully, from that day on the island slowly started to recover from disaster.

Easter Island was annexed to Chile in 1888. Since the surviving Rapa Nui descendants were given Chilean citizenship, the islanders were finally left in peace and could re – embrace their ancient culture. With the help of the Chilean Government, the moai were re – erected and now are competing to be one of the new seven world wonders. Recent events have shown a tremendous increase in tourism on the island, mainly because it remains as one of the most unique places you will ever see.

So, if you are still wondering whether or not it would be a good choice to visit Easter Island,never forget that this is the perfect place to enjoy the most wonderful sorroundings mixed with an important historical background that will certainly amaze you.