History of Easter Island

Easter Island is one of the youngest inhabited territories on Earth, and for most of its history it was the most isolated inhabited territory on Earth. Its inhabitants the Rapanui have endured famines, epidemics, civil war, slave raids and colonialism; have seen their population crash on more than one occasion, and created a cultural legacy that has brought them fame out of all proportion to their numbers.

First settlers

Early European visitors to Easter Island recorded the local oral traditions of the original settlers. In these traditions, Easter Islanders claimed that a chief Hotu Matu'a [Resemblance of the name to an early Mangarevan founder god "Atu Motua" ("Father Lord") has made some historians suspect that Hotu Matua was added to Easter Island mythology only in the 1860s, along with adopting the Mangarevan language. The "real" founder would have been "Tu'u ko Iho", who became just a supporting character in Hotu Matu'a centric legends. See Steven Fischer (1994). "Rapanui's Tu'u ko Iho Versus Mangareva's 'Atu Motua. Evidence for Multiple Reanalysis and Replacement in Rapanui Settlement Traditions, Easter Island." The Journal of Pacific History, 29(1), 3-18. See also "Rapa Nui / Geography, History and Religion". Peter H. Buck, Vikings of the Pacific, University of Chicago Press, 1938. pp. 228-236. [http://pvs.kcc.hawaii.edu/rapanui/rapa1.html Online version] .] arrived on the island in one or two large canoes with his wife and extended family. [ [http://pvs.kcc.hawaii.edu/rapanui/hotu.html Summary of Thomas S. Barthel's version of Hotu Matu'a's arrival to Easter Island] .] They are believed to have been Polynesian. There is considerable uncertainty about the accuracy of this legend as well as the date of settlement. Published literature suggests the island was settled around 300-400 CE, or at about the time of the arrival of the earliest settlers in Hawaii. Some scientists say that Easter Island was not inhabited until 700-800 CE. This date range is based on glottochronological calculations and on three radiocarbon dates from charcoal that appears to have been produced during forest clearance activities. [Diamond, Jared. "." Penguin Books: 2005. ISBN 0-14-303655-6. Chapter 2: Twilight at Easter pp.79-119. See page 89.] Moreover a recent study which included radiocarbon dates from what is thought to be very early material suggests that the island was settled as recently as 1200 CE. [Hunt, T. L., Lipo, C. P., 2006. Science, 1121879. See also [http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/1121879v1 "Late Colonization of Easter Island"] in "Science Magazine". [http://www.anthropology.hawaii.edu/projects/rapanui/hunt_lipo2006.pdf Entire article] is also hosted by the Department of Anthropology of the University of Hawaii.] This seems to be supported by a 2006 study of the island's deforestation, which could have started around the same time. [, rendezvoused off Hanga Roa before sailing on to Coronel and the Falklands.

In December another German warship the commerce raider SMS|Prinz Eitel Friedrich visited and released 48 British and French merchant seamen on the island, supplying much needed labour for the archaeologists.

Today

Since being given Chilean citizenship in 1966, the Rapanui have re-embraced their ancient culture, or what could be reconstructed of it. [Diamond, Jared (2005), "Collapse: How societies choose to fail or survive", page 112.]

Mataveri International Airport is the island's only airport. In the 1980s, its runway was lengthened by the U.S. space program to 3,318 m (10,885 ft) so that it could serve as an emergency landing site for the space shuttle. This enabled regular wide body jet services and a consequent increase of tourism on the island, coupled with migration of people from mainland Chile which threatens to alter the Polynesian identity of the island. Land disputes have created political tensions since the 1980s, with part of the native Rapanui opposed to private property and in favor of traditional communal property.

On July 30 2007, a constitutional reform gave Easter Island and Juan Fernández Islands the status of "special territories" of Chile. Pending the enactment of a special charter, the island will continue to be governed as a province of the Valparaíso Region. [ [http://www.bcn.cl/leyes/pdf/original/263040.pdf Chilean Law 20,193] , National Congress of Chile]

Notes