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Rapa Nui or Easter Island is located off the coast of Chile 2,237 miles (3,600 kilometers) away. The closest island to Easter Island is the Pitcairn Islands, which is 1,100 miles (1,770 km) away (Waxman 9).

Image Source: Image by Encyclopedia Britannica on Britannica High School

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Context: How did the Polynesians Get There?

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Context: How did the Polynesians Get There?

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Archaeologists and scientists have discovered the people who first arrived at the island were from Polynesia; however, they do not know what island the people came from. They do know, however, that their voyage was at least 3,000 miles from start to finish. This proves that they had to have been skilled at sailing and navigation (Waxman 10-11). Another source claims that Easter Island or Rapa Nui, it's an indigenous name, is an interesting expression of Polynesian culture and Heritage, and a group of Polynesians arrived at the island in 300 CE. Furthermore, during the 10th through the 16th centuries, the natives built gigantic stone statues called moai. The statues are still studied today ("Rapa Nui National Park," UNESCO).

Image Source: 2021 Image by Thomas Griggs on Unsplash

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Snapshot: How the Statues Changed over Time

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Snapshot: How the Statues Changed over Time

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Rapa Nui holds more than 600 stone statues arranged on stone platforms called ahus facing inland. Furthermore, Archaeologists have done many excavations and experiments in 1955, 1886, 1914, and 1934 on the statues that showed 3 cultural periods in which the statues were built. The periods found of the ahus are Tahai, Vinapu, and Anakena Ahus, 700 - 850 CE. Archeologists used carbon-based experiments to figure this out. Also, Captain Cook observed the first two of the ahus listed; Tahai, Vinapu. Anakena shows a difference in the shape of the statues because they have different busts and are smaller and stubbier. Also, during Anakena there was a statue created of a man kneeling with his hands on his knees that shows similarities to pre-Inca monuments in South America. In the middle period (1050-1680), much of the architecture was destroyed and rebuilt with little solar orientation or masonry fitting. Instead, they focused on stronger platforms to be able to build bigger and better statues. Also, many burial chambers were constructed in the ahus. The statues in the Middle Period are bigger, ranging from 10 to 20 feet, have bigger busts, have more detail, and a red top knot called a pukao or a hat. The biggest statues were 32 feet tall, a still standing one that is 37 feet tall, and an unfinished one that is 68 feet tall. Furthermore, in the Middle period, there was a cult and the center of the cult was a village called Orongo, on top of Rano Kao. The village has many houses made of stone with roof vaults (EB Editors).

Image Source: 12 November 2013 Image by Christian Tørrissen on Wikimedia Commons

"Ahu Ko Te Riku is the only moai on Easter Island that has had its eyes restored to how they probably originally appeared."

Constructed on the ahu of Tahai in the Middle Period

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The voice actor cast of "Moana" represents the culture shown in the movie. Therefore, because the movie Moana is set in the Pacific Islands, than most all of the actors come from the Pacific Island or have Pacific Island Heritage. The actors of Auli'i Cravalho, who is a native Hawaiian, and Dwayne Johnson, who is of Samoan Heritage, grew up with Pacific Islander culture. In addition, many other members of the film have Polynesian heritage as well. For example, the songs which were mainly written by Lin-Manuel Miranada were also composed with the help of Opetaia Foa'i, a Samoan musician (Wong).

Image Source: Image Published of 2024 by Savannah Sanders on The Direct

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Image Source: 2015 Image by Bek Cruddace on Behance

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Snapshot: How and Why did the Polynesians Build the Statues?

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Snapshot: How and Why did the Polynesians Build the Statues?

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The Ancient Polynesians often built monuments made out of stone or wood to honor their deceased ancestors, especially, their chiefs and leaders. Because of this, archaeologists believe that the statues on the island were created ceremonially to honor their ancestors as well. Also, the platforms where the statues stand are called ahus, and ahu in English, also, means a shrine, or sacred ceremonial place (Waxman 15). The Polynesians built the statues with chisels called toki, which they used to chisel out of volcanic rock from a volcano called Rano Raraku (Waxman 17).

Image Source: 2009 Image by Soizic Gaborel on Wikimedia Commons

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Not only is Rapa Nui protected by UNESCO, the National park has, also, been protected by the National Forest Service of Chile, since 1935. Also, in 1935, the island was deemed as a national monument, and in 1976 the islands next to it were declared ones too. The locals also help maintain the park, its visitors, and management ("Rapa Nui National Park," UNESCO). Therefore, All management and conservation of the park has been turned over to the locals of Rapa Nui. Also, all revenue from park visitors now goes to preservation and protection ("Rapa Nui National Park," Global Alliance of National Parks). In October 2022, an unknown fire caused damage to the statues of the park. Most of the damage took place around the Rano Raraku volcano (Enking). Furthermore, Rapa Nui has about 100,000 tourists per year and the tourism is the island's main source of income. Many of the locals make a living from the tourism in the park and many have grown rich because of it. However, the numbers of tourist have had a negative impact on the environment and society of the island("The History").

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I learned so much about the Polynesians and the types of statues on Rapa Nui. I also learned some facts that could be used as trivia questions for example there was many experiments on the island. I would love to visit the park sometime in my life.