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
El Dorado Wreck occurred On the morning of Wednesday, June 11, 1913, the small American steam schooner “El Dorado” of the Sanders & Drinkwater shipping company had been sailing along the west coast of America for two months, not realizing that the Humboldt current had diverted the route of navigation
“Matusalem” Masú Hey Masú Hey’s family name really should be Edmunds. His father, Enrique, is the son of Henry Percival Edmunds, the English administrator for the Williamson & Balfour sheep company between 1903 and 1930, and of Sofía Hey, the mother of the first four of nine children Edmunds had
ORO MATUA Sebastián Englert Priest of Rapa Nui Sebastián Englert, a Capuchin priest and researcher of the Rapanui culture, lived on Easter Island from 1935 until 1969, shortly before his death. The fourth of 17 children in the Bavarian Englert family in the village of Dillingen in Germany, he was
Marine Reserve in the bay of hanga roa According to the experts and the international NGOs that are dedicated to marine conservation, the oceans should be managed as ecosystems and not as a cornucopia that the fishing industry can harvest at will. In the entire world, there are around 4
Te Mana o Te Vahine me Te Tane There is a feminine form, just as there is a masculine form. The first serves to nurture and to give birth; the other to plant and to guard. With both of them, the tribe and the families of all nations survive, in
Testimony from the Past The current Governor of Isla de Pascua is the granddaughter of Rafael Cardinali, an Italian who arrived to the Island during the First World War looking for opportunities and founded the Cardinali clan, a name that is today considered Rapanui. Carmen Cardinali, school teacher and businesswoman
Ara o te, the moai road Halfway up the side of the Rano Raraku volcano and buried up to their chests, more than a hundred giant statues (Moai) never reached the sanctuary (Ahu) for which they were destined. Carved out of the quarry, they were lowered by ropes to an
The Toromiro, a sacred tree planted around ceremonial centres and used to carve the Moai Kava Kava, was declared extinct more than 50 years ago. The last wild specimen was seen in the crater at Rano Kau during Thor Heyerdahl’s expedition in 1956. Many attempts to recover this endemic species
María Haoa Ive had a very sad life. My mother, Estela Haoa, abandoned me when I was born. She was only 17 when she got pregnant. I was raised by grandparents, Adela Haoa and Isaias Fati, whom I always considered as my true parents. My biological father never recognized me
