RAPA NUI, Chile – The Rano Raraku volcano hill in Rapa Nui looks like a place frozen in time.
Buried in grass and volcanic rock, nearly 400 moai – the monolithic human figures carved centuries ago by the Rapanui people of this remote Pacific island – remained untouched until recently. Some are buried from the neck down, the heads apparently observing their surroundings from underground.
Around them there was a pervasive smell of smoke from still-smoldering vegetation – a remnant of a forest fire that broke out in early October. Over 100 moai were damaged by the flames, many of them blackened with soot, although the impact on the stone remains undetermined. UNESCO recently allocated nearly $100,000 for assessment and remediation plans.
In this Polynesian territory that now belongs to Chile and is widely known as Easter Island, the loss of any moai would be a blow to ancient cultural and religious traditions. Each of the moai – nearly 400 on the volcano and more than 500 others elsewhere on the island – represents an ancestor. A creator of words and music. A protector.
Rapa Nui Elders Council President Carlos Edmunds recalled his emotions when he first heard about the fire.
“Oh, I started crying,” he said. “It was like my grandparents had been burned.”
You have to look closely at a map of the Pacific to find Rapa Nui, a small triangle covering about 63 square miles. Home to around 7,700 people, around half of whom are of Rapanui ancestry, it is one of the most isolated inhabited islands in the world. The quickest way to get there is a six-hour flight from Santiago, Chile, covering 2,340 miles. Much further, to the northwest, are the most populated islands of Polynesia.
The remoteness has shaped the community’s worldview, spirituality and culture. Its small size also plays a role: it seems that everyone knows each other.
Rapa Nui was formed at least 750,000 years ago by volcanic eruptions. Its first inhabitants were sailors from Central Polynesia who gradually created their own culture. The moai were carved between the years 1000 and 1600.
The first Europeans arrived in 1722, soon followed by missionaries. Current religious activities combine ancestral and Catholic beliefs.
The arrival of foreigners had disastrous effects: hundreds of Rapanui were enslaved by Peruvian raiders in 1862 and taken to South America, where many died in cruel conditions.
In 1888, Chile annexed the island and leased it to a sheep business. It was not until the 20th century that the islanders began to regain their autonomy, although there were no Rapanui annals written to tell their ancient history.
Without these books to preserve their heritage, the Rapanui imprinted the memory of their people in activities and traditions passed down from generation to generation. The hand of the fisherman throwing a hook carries the wisdom of his ancestors. The women’s hairstyle evokes the pukao, a reddish stone hat placed on the heads of the moai.
