By Claudia Berardi After more than 70 years away from their homeland, the Ivi Tupuna (ancestral remains) that were taken to Norway by Thor Heyerdahl during his 1955-1956 expedition have returned to Rapa Nui. This milestone is not only a cultural and diplomatic achievement, but also a deeply spiritual act
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 wreck of “El Dorado” 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
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
Vaitea Vaitea is the name given to the area in the center of the Island where there is abundant water coming from the Rano Aroi volcano. Each trip by road to Anakena Beach crosses through the forests of Vaitea, mostly eucalyptus trees, where Islanders will stop to collect wood for
American satellites tracked in Rapa Nui It was the year 1966. A US Air Force base with 120 men under the command of Colonel John Ashley was installed on Rapa Nui with the name of Ionosphere Research Center ITT, which was authorized by the then Chilean president, Eduardo Frei-Montalva as
French Expedition of 1872 Pierre Loti dibujó y registró en sus cuadernos de guardiamarina sus impresiones, datos de la población y paisajes, logrando llevar a Francia un testimonio real de la cultura Rara Nui. Pierre Loti drew in his midshipman notebook impressions, population data and landscapes, succeeded in bringing France
“Iorana, welcome Manutara and thank you for coming to Rapa Nui” are the first lines of a song written by Parapina Araki when the legendary seaplane, coming from east to west, descended over Vinapu and alighted on the sandy strip at Mataveri. Manutara is the Easter Island seagull which each
Nga Rongoa Ancestral Medicine on Rapa Nui Within the philosophical world view of the Rapanui, good health is based on the union of man and nature, between life and death, in the present, the past and the future. Any mishap or disease has its origin in supernatural forces and is in
Guerillas of “Che” Guevara in Rapa Nui Political asylum On February 26, 1968, while I was Governor of Easter Island, I received a radio-telegram – we didn’t have telephones then – from the then Minister of Interior, Edmundo Pérez-Zujovic, who informed me that the Chilean government had accepted a petition
