CHILE: Easter Island
Rapa Nui, in the central Pacific Ocean, was named `Easter Island` by the
Dutch Admiral, Jacob Roggeveen, who `discovered` it on Easter Sunday, 5th
April 1722. The Rapa Nui people who are believed to have migrated from
Polynesia around AD 300, call it Te pito o te Henua, `navel of the world`. A
volcanic landmass covering some 100 sq km, the island is world famous for
giant stone statues, or moais. At Ahu Tongariki, fifteen of the bulky
figures stand in regimental line-up on a stone platform. Others are
scattered across the treeless slopes, or lie where they were originally
carved, in a mountain quarry. Their significance is not fully understood.
Perhaps they were local tiki-gods, or tribal totems, marking the territory
of the island clans. Rapa Nui also counts hundreds of petroglyphs picked in
the rocks. They include representations of the "Tangata manu" from the
ancient bird-man cult, which was suppressed by Christian missionaries in the
1860s. This was an annual competition between the clans when contestants had
to swim out to a tiny islet and return safely with the first egg laid by the
sooty terns, which nest there in thousands. The winner was given the title
Tangata manu with great power in local society, while his clan was awarded
sole rights to collect that season`s eggs to supplement their fish and taro
diet. The island was annexed by Chile in 1888, where it is known as Isle de
Pascua. The Rapa Nui National Park with its enigmatic statues was inscribed
on the World Heritage List in 1995.