Around three hundred megalithic statues stood upright on ceremonial platforms on Rapa Nui, the vast majority along the island’s nearly 60 km coastline. All of these, sculpted until the 17th century, did not face the sea; instead, they gazed vigilantly toward a village, toward some settlement, channeling the Mana (supernatural
A Choir for Rapa Nui Last December, the newly-formed Choir of Isla de Pascua offered its first presentations in the parish church and in the Hotel Hanga Roa. They sang some Christmas carols, songs from “The Sound of Music” and “The Wizard of Oz”, two Polynesian songs which had been
Ubud, Bali 2016 International Conference Early Pacific Migration Scientists from Australia, New Zealand, Russia, USA, Germany, Cook Islands and Rapa Nui, who have for many years been studying the migrations of the Polynesian ancestors across the Pacific Ocean, met between the 6th and the 10th of last November at Villa
Total Lunar Eclipse on Rapa Nui On January 31, at 5:51 a.m., local time, Easter Island will witness the beginning of a total eclipse of a so-called blue moon. Totality will be reached at 8:30 in the morning, when the shadow of the earth completely covers the moon. This phenomenon
Diving, Underwater Hunting and Sharks Testimonio de Testimony of Poki Tane Haoa Hundreds of divers come to Rapa Nui every year in search of some of the clearest waters on the planet which offer visibility at 60 to 70 meters (195 to 230 feet) of depth. Poki Tane Haoa, a
Tonga & Samoa, Cuna y Núcleo de la Expansión Polinésica / Crib and Nucleus of Polynesian Expansion Large migratory waves of Austronesian peoples reached Near Oceania around 3,500 years ago, causing a major cultural impact in the native populations of Papua New Guinea, the Bismarck archipelago and the Solomon Islands.
The moai of Rapa Nui are not simply statues. They are the deified ancestors of Rapanui tribes — men with Mana, the spiritual power that allowed them to protect their people from beyond death. Understanding the moai means understanding the cult of the ancestors: the most widespread belief system in
Let history remain history The first Europeans who came into contact with Te Pito te Henua were three Dutch ships commanded by Jacob Roggeveen on April 5, 1722, the date of Easter. This originated the name with which this unknown island was baptized that had not been recorded on any
The Tavake And its future, a challenge for Rapa Nui One of the loveliest spots on the Island is the Moai (statue) quarry at Rano Raraku. Anyone who has visited it has seen or heard the Tavakes, the red-tailed tropicbird. These majestic white birds, with their bright red tail trailing
The Polynesian peoples descend from the creators of the Lapita culture, a group that established itself across a vast oceanic region from Papua New Guinea to Samoa between 3,800 and 3,000 years ago. From that nucleus, their descendants carried out the greatest maritime expansion in human history, colonising the Pacific
When you think of leaders who have put Rapa Nui on the map of cultural resistance and territorial defense, one name stands out with particular force: Alberto Hotus Chavez. He is not a figure from ancient history books; he is a living man who has spent more than four decades
In ancient Polynesian cultures, sexuality was not a private or taboo matter — it was a sacred act tied to the regeneration of nature and divine power. Sexual relations, fertility, and virginity carried deep cosmological significance: they were the means by which gods and human beings renewed their alliance to
