Easter Island

Easter has many symbols such as Easter Bunnies and Easter Eggs but Easter took this symbolism a step further. Well, not really. So famous and revered was this Christian festival that it has etched itself on World Map to show us how connected spirituality can be to this World. Easter Island may have a totally different concept to our imagination of what an Easter Island may be with scampering Easter Bunnies and delightful rich Easter eggs, yet it is in this imagination that our hearts bring forth the joy of Easter and relive the happiness of children. For whosoever wishes to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, then he must possess the heart of a child said Jesus Christ. This heart is evoked when comes the Easter Bunny, the Easter egg and yes, if mention is made of Easter Island. Lets try and relate the magic of this Island to its Easter concept and journey through the Islands history.

WHY THE NAME VITAL STATISTICS

In its native language, Easter Island is known as Rapa Nui or as Isla de Pascua in Spanish. It is situated in the south of the Pacific Ocean that belongs to Chile. Strangely it is one of the most isolated yet inhabited islands in our world! The Dutch discovered this Island on Easter Sunday in the year 1722 and thus named this Easter Island so! Consisting of a population of 3,791 of which the major part of the population live in its Capital Hanga Roa, this Island is made up of three volcanoes Poike, Rana Kau and Terevaka. It is well-known for it many moai or stone statues. It is 6 hours behind standard time.

THE BEGINNING

Tradition has it that this Islands ancestors believed that a Polynesian Chief (Hotu Matua) and his family arrived on this Island. However, History records that this Island was inhabited around AD300-400.

ITS SETTLERS

Austronesian Polynesians are supposed to have settled in the Island may have arrived from the Marquesas Islands. Records show that these Polynesians share a similar culture with the South Americans in especially the food of Sweet Potato which is staple diet of South America. However there is no substantial proof. Most of the inhabitants on this Island are of Polynesian origin.

WHAT GROWS THAT SHOWS ON THE ISLAND

Trees are rarely seen on this Easter Island today and even rarer are its groves. Though this Island had a forest of palms it is surmised that the Polynesians wiped out the forests to erect their famous stone statues. Due to various other geographical factors that affected the Island, chicken and rats began to form the staple diet. Other forms of food included bananas, taro, sweet potato, sugarcane and paper mulberry. There was a rumor that cannibalism survived in this Island. All of this took place between the 10th to 17th centuries.

Between the 16th and 19th centuries, the Birdman Cult existed. This was introduced by the surviving inhabitants who had begun new traditions. This new cult was based on a supreme God named Make-make. Here the competition had the swimmer of each clan dive into water infested by sharks and return with an egg laid by manutara, from Motu Nui, another islet. The first swimmer to return with the egg was called the Birdman of the year. This tradition continued even after the arrival of Europeans and ended in 1867.

EUROPEAN INFLUENCE ON THE ISLAND: The Dark Ages

Jacob Roggeveen was the first European, who discovered the Island on Easter Sunday of 5th April 1722. Later Jean Francois de Galaup La Perouse paid a visit to Easter Island in 1786. Then began the debauched slavery where these people were transported to Peru. Most of them died by the diseases brought by the Western settlers! There were only around 111 inhabitants by 1877! Easter Island became a part of Chile in 1888 by Policarpo Toro.

Today, the descendents of Rapanui, who had been forced to live on the outskirts of Hanga Roa, now live free and have celebrate their ancient culture through their yearly cultural festival called the Tapati.

Tourism of late has begun to develop in this Easter Island and the inflow of Chilean population is now mixing the Polynesian identity. The Islands airport is Mataveri International Airport. Its single runway has been lengthened to accommodate an emergency landing site for the U.S. Space Shuttle!

THE MYSTERY IN THE HISTORY OF THE ISLAND

The stone statues of this Island have caused many an European brow to be raised in disbelief. The work of these statues gave rise to speculations of aliens from another planet with superior tools to have created such fabulous works of art.

Stone chicken houses known as tupa that connected a small entrance for chickens from a stone-walled yard. These houses were supposedly graves in the beginning.

The mysterious script known as Rongorongo can be seen on the Tablets and have yet to be deciphered despite been attempted by many linguists. What is interesting is that this script has been likened to the script as seen in the Indus Valley civilization in India as well as Mohenj-daro, but such works later have been called dubious. Rongorongo has been translated to mean peace-peace in the attempt to arrive at such between the long ears and short ears peace treaty! But yet again this is pure speculation.

The mystery continues unsolved and therefore magnetic.

So the Easter Island, has its mystery that remains unsolved to the eyes of the Scientists who trust logic and facts more than intuition and spirituality. It shares its mystery in script as much as Christ shares his mystery on the cross bearing INRI. Many theories are given, but the truth more profound, lies on the cross, in those stone statues and the in the words of Rongorongo. The closest that Easter and this Island share is the meaning of bringing Peace to the World through Death and Resurrection of Christ and through Rongorongo, the surmised language of Peace! Is it not strange then that this Island was discovered one Easter Sunday Perhaps the truth lies in this connection. If only our hearts would see and believe.