Rapa Nui is said to have been inhabited starting around 600 A.D., when a group of colonizers arrived, most likely from the Marquesas Islands in the Eastern Pacific.
The settlement of the island is enshrined in a myth, the hero of which is the ariki Hotu Matu’a, the first king and founding figure of the culture of Rapa Nui.
This prehistoric period saw some noteworthy developments such as the invention of rongo rongo, a system of hieroglyphic script which experts have been unable to decipher. Another phenomenon of this period was the veneration of ancestors, centered around the moai, which are said to have been built beginning around the year 1,000 A.D. Approximately 900 moai were built from volcanic rock and erected on large ceremonial altars called ahu. They were thought to possess the special power of mana, the source of wealth, prestige and legitimacy for the ruling class.
The people of Rapa Nui over-exploited the island's resources to the point that by the 15th century, the culture reached a crisis point and both the traditional ideological system and the ruling class collapsed. Many moai were demolished and the veneration of ancestors was abandoned.
This was the situation encountered by the 1722 expedition led by Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen, who brought back news of the existence of Rapa Nui to Europe.
Contact with the west was catastrophic for the people of Rapa Nui. Almost one-third of them were taken as forced labor to Peru. A few succeeded in returning, bringing with them epidemics which reduced the island's population to just 111.
In 1888, Rapa Nui was brought under Chilean sovereignty and Compañía Explotadora de Isla de Pascua (Easter Island exploitation company) was set up, dedicated to sheep farming. The constant abuses by the Compañía led the Chilean government in 1953 to give control of the island to the Chilean Navy.
THE POWER OF BIRD MAN: TANGATA MANU
The general crisis of Rapa Nui brought about the rise of new warrior rulers. Their power and authority were not hereditary but attained through ritual competitions.
The most important was the bird man ceremony or tangata manu, which took place in early spring each year. Members of different families competed to get the first egg laid by the manutara (sooty tern or sterna fuscata).
Those chosen to compete would meet in the ceremonial center of Orongo, from where they had to climb down the cliff and swim to the small island of Motu Nui, get the egg and bring it intact back to Orongo. The winner was appointed Tangata Manu, reincarnation of Make Make, god of creation, and given certain privileges. Visit Easter Island with Explora to learn more about Rapa Nui history.
