Between the years 300BC-400BC, a group of inhabitants landed ashore the island of Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui. Once ashore, these settlers began collecting resources and learned to survive with no help from the outside, stranded on an island in the middle of the Pacific. They created methods to hunt, fish, make clothing, and cook food properly. In addition, the people of Rapa Nui also separated into different groups or tribes. These tribes coexisted on the island for some time – until civil wars broke out across the island. The inhabitants of Rapa Nui disappeared from the island without a trace. The cause of their disappearance is unknown although experts believe the inhabitants of Rapa Nui were irresponsible with their resources. …show more content…
When their resources ran dry, the tribes fought each other for supplies in order to survive. It is believed that disease, war, their lack or resources and natural causes ultimately led to the downfall of their existence. The inhabitants of Easter Island were a very cultured people, creating a plethora of trinkets and giant statues which they called “Moai”. On average, the Moai weighed approximately 13 tons each and were built in the shape of human faces. These statues were believed to have resembled the appearance of loved ones who passed away. Until recently, historians have been unaware of the fact that each of these faces have bodies that match many of the statues. The Moai stand on platforms that are called “Ahus” (Shrapnel 17). The ahus were used during the early and middle periods of the Rapa Nui’s civilization as burial chambers. For years, historians have questioned how the people chose where these statues would go and how they were transported (Shrapnel 18). The accepted theory states that they chopped down one of their most valuable natural resources, palm trees, in order to move these gigantic statues. They made “canals” or “tracks” around the island with these trees. The Moai were then manually pushed across the island. Archeologist are baffled by the meaning and purpose behind the giant Moai. Interestingly enough, these statues are placed in and around special ceremonial areas created by the Rapa Nui. The Rapa Nui created several of the ceremonial spots across the island, most famous being a structure known as an Ahu. The walls of these Ahu are not extremely large and surprisingly do not replicate design and architecture of Incan civilization. Within the Ahu, clusters of Moai are scattered around the vicinity. These Moai are believed to be the burial grounds of powerful Rapa Nui that had died. The most famous of these Ahu are Ahu Vinapu and Ahu Tahira. (Imagina Easter Island) Ahu Vinapu is the oldest and possibly the most well-known structure in the Vinapu ceremonial complex. The most notable landmark in the Ahu Vinapu is the large red rock monolithic column that was built in front of the ahu. This is indicative of the many pre-Inca columns that were uncovered in the Andes. The large column was dug up in 1956 by an American archaeologist named William Mulloy. William was able to conclude after a thorough, detailed examination that it was most likely the representation of a female Moai. He believed this because of the details of the statues skinny arms and hands, small breasts and distinctive navel. (Imagina Easter Island) Ahu Tahira has six Moai that have now been toppled over with three of their headdresses laid out in front of them. The statues were once considered sacred and in times of danger the people would use the torsos of the sculptures for shelter. This helps in showing how respected the Moai were by the people who built them. The platform’s back wall is what makes the Ahu Tahira unique among the rest of the statues. They resemble the ones that remain in the Inca ruins in that they are made of large stones that are not held together with mortar. They are also finely carved which is another quality that both these statues and the one in the Incan ruins have. These similarities helped in the creation of the theory that there was communication between the people of South America and of Polynesia. This theory suggests that the exploration voyages made by the Polynesians went past Easter Island and that they made it all the way to the mainland. (Imagina Easter Island) Aside from the similarities between the statues, there is more evidence to support this theory of these exchanges of culture.
Before the Europeans sailed between the two regions (1000 AD) Squash and sweet potatoes were present in both South America and Polynesia. There is also biological evidence supporting this theory. Scientists discovered and ran tests on chicken bones from Samoa and from Southern Chile. They found that the bones consisted of the same DNA sequence which suggests that Polynesian chickens were introduced in the fourteenth century in South America. That being said, there has been no evidence showing that Polynesian people stayed for extended periods of time in South America or vice versa. This suggests that the meetings between the two regions were brief and did not take place all that often. (Imagina Easter …show more content…
Island) Easter Island’s early inhabitants were a very intelligent, civilized group of people. The island is located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean more than 3700 km from the coast of Chile. It is known that the island lacked an abundance of natural resources, including the nutrients necessary to sustain the health of the people. They’re hunting grounds on land were limited and there was not much game (Pratt 26). In order to find extra food, the Rapa Nui needed to rely heavily on the ocean to provide them with one of their most common sources of protein, fish. Capturing fish was not an easy task. The Rapa Nui made boats and used multiple different techniques in order to retrieve food. For example, the islanders were incredible swimmers. They would dive down to the sea bed to collect Moray Eels and lobsters using instruments such as lassos and bait. They also used nets and spears tipped with sharp stones to pierce through the bodies of larger fish. In addition, the Rapa Nui used a technique that we still use to this day, line fishing (Orliac). They would make sharp hooks out of stones, wood, and bones in order to capture their prey. The Rapa Nui regularly resorted to eating marine birds, but their fishing skills allowed them the opportunity to obtain additional essential nutrients whilst making efforts to survive on the island (Orliac). Not only were the people of Easter Island incredible fisherman, but they also were also talented at supplying themselves with food on land. The settlers were believed to have migrated from the Marquesas Islands, which were located west of Easter Island. From there, they brought over many sustainable resources they harvested for food (Heyerdahl 14). These resources included bananas, taro, sugarcane, mulberry, chickens and rats. They were able to farm considering the high quality of the dirt in the area, as well as the perfect conditions which included regular rainstorms and plenty of sunlight. They struggled to keep the rapidly breeding rats under control which fed on the palm trees they used for shade and to move their large Moai. They made small weapons out of bones and sharp stones from around the island in order to help control the population of rats (Routledge 32). Once they caught their food, they needed ways to cook it in order to make sure they did not become ill.
To become ill, stranded on the island with no means of medication most of the time resulted in death. The most commonly cooked food was called “Umu Rapa Nui”, which means Easter Island curanto. Curanto is a Chilean influenced food that was cooked on the island inside of a hole in the ground. Inside of the hole, there would be a fire with made with firewood and extremely hot rocks inside. Leaves were placed on the rocks, followed by meat such as fish or chicken placed on top of the leaves. The meat was then covered with more leaves and rocks. Taro was then placed atop the first layer, which was again covered by leaves and dirt in substitute of rocks. The process of heating the food was slow and took a very long time. Large quantities of these dishes were cooked at one time. In turn, once the Umu Rapa Nui was finished cooking, it became a communal food source for many people on the island. (Maziere
78-79) Rapa Nui is evidently surrounded by salt water. In order for them to survive, they needed to find purified water. The only place they could find purified water was inside the dormant volcanoes scattered across the island. There, they drank and carried water in bowls made from palm trees. This was their only source of fresh water and what allowed them to sustain their civilization for such a long period of time (Pratt 12). Towards the middle and end of the Rapa Nui civilization, the people eventually split into either two tribes or multiple families, historians have not confirmed. On the island, the people experienced over population, there resources began to lack, and many were dying from disease which were the result in the overpopulation of rats. This overpopulation of rats also contributed to the depletion of their natural resources such as the palm trees because this was the rat’s main food source (Flenley 98). Originally, these groups were able to coexist on the island for quite some time, but later, when all the resources ran dry, they needed to fight for their own survival. Once all the palm trees were gone and their resources were officially diminished, during the fights, the two tribes resorted to cannibalism as a food source in order to keep their bodies energized. From this point on, conflict was all the people of the Rapa Nui would experience (History). During the seventeenth century, historians believe there were times of conflict involving the famous Moai. They named it “the Huri Moai Era”, which consisted of arguments and war between the different tribes on the island. Moai were pushed over and smashed against the ground which resulted in the creation of the Tangata Manu ritual, also known as the birdman ritual, which sprang up following the many tribal battles involving the toppling Moai. This phase lasted from around seventeenth century and continued until the arrival of Catholic missionaries in 1864. (James Green) There was an instance in the history of the Rapa Nui were the people saw hope. Historians believe that in the midst of the most famous, well known, questioned myth of the island, the people came close to reuniting. That is the myth of “The Birdman”. The people believed The Birdman was a mighty, ultimate half bird, half man being. He was elected through a process of tasks decided upon at certain cultish events at a location named the Orongo. The birdman was similar to a King or ruler of the island. He was that of a communist, one who held all societal power and the islanders feared him. For a long while, the elected “Birdman” was the ruler of all, until his power eventually ran dry. The Birdman was elected through a contest called The Egg Hunt”. During this contest, participants were challenged to gather the first egg of the season from an islet called “Motu Nui”. The participants need to climb down the cliffs of Orongo and swim to Moto Nui. There, they would wait for the arrival of the birds. They waited for an egg to be laid. Once an egg was laid, the first contestant to swim back to Motu Nui with the egg was declared Birdman for one year (Bradshaw Foundation). Over time, the birdman became less and less powerful in society. Historians believe that natural causes caused his decline. In turn, the power of over the island needed to go to somebody else, so the people of the island believed. A group of warriors known as the Matatoa took over the societal power and wore the same emblem as The Birdman. Rather than this helping the people of the island, instead of stronger focus on older religion and worshiping, this new surge of power encouraged additional warfare. Their numbers continued to deplete and the people of the Rapa Nui again were at war (Bradshaw Foundation).
gatherers to the end of their existence. They were victims as so many others of colonization and
The Revitalization Movement and Salvation Rituals of the South Pacific Melanesians had a particularly interesting effect on colonization. Elements of Christianity make this movement syncretic and highlight the universality of the ideas of salvation and new beginnings. The Melanesian Cargo Cults first became known to the modern world shortly after World War II. The Australian government at the time was already heavily involved in the colonization of New Guinea and its surrounding islands, one of which was Melanesia. With the arrival of Australian colonizers came missionaries and fortune hunters alike. As with many regions of colonization, the Melanesian people soon found themselves under economic and social
Before European contact with Turtle Island, the Native Peoples fully occupied the lands, maintaining extensive trade networks, roads that tied different nations together, and successfully adapted to the specific natural environments across the continent.15 In her book, An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz writes of the Natives also adapting the environment to their needs,
Foreign exploitation began, when Cook replaced the traditional island subsistence-sharing economy by the for-profit barter and afterward the money economy. Firearms, and sandalwood lumbering where just a few items that brought foreign economic and political control of the ruling ali’i, who were tricked by many greedy Western merchants. The Great Mahele of 1848 and the Kuleana Act of 1850 contained a major land redistribution act, which was forced onto the monarchy by Westerners(Blaisdell, p.44). Bringing fee simple ownership to Hawaiians, these land divisions actually alienated the land from them. The Mahele divided the lands between the chiefs, king and government. The Kuleana act supposedly guaranteed to the makaainana fee simple title to small plots of land, which would eventually separate the individual from the group. (Trask, p.10) Hawaiians depended on the land, they were not use to “private property”, which led to many problems, and the chiefs and the government were heavily indebt to the Western merchants.
The first similarity between the regions of America and Africa was the spread of new crops. In America, crops such as bananas and sugarcane had found their way to the region and became heavily cultivated. Evenmore so, livestock had spread like wildfire through the americas, particularly domesticated animals such as cows, sheep, and pigs, and this was due to the fact that the Americas were largely free of natural predators. Similarly, Africa had received crops such as corn and maize had reached the
The ginormous volcano at Akrotiri on the island of Thera during the Bronze Age was devastating, and is speculated to be related to the fall of the Minoan civilization. Starting in 1867, archeologists discovered pottery, a buried city and frescoes. These discoveries are the most significant as the pottery and the buried city helped historians learn about the art, trade and societal aspects of Akrotiri, and the frescoes found revealed more information about Akrotiri’s art and religion.
In the Great Basin culture area, lived a once great peoples, The Kawaiisu. This tribe lived along the Sierra Nevada, and nearby Piute and Tehachapi mountains, which sometimes causes them to be categorized as Californian, also due to their similarities. As there are no extensive accounts of archeology in the Kawaiisu area, neither excavated nor published, two types of remains can be found of this aboriginal past. Scattered through the region are pictographs and “bedrock mortar holes. A test site was home to 300-500 mortar holes as well as approximately 16 house rings and many artifacts. Numerous settlement sites have been exposed and the examination of the rock art has led to be part of the Kawaiisu mythology. Regarding their history, the earliest mention of the Kawaiisu people was found in the diary of Francisco Garces, then being referred to as “The Cobaji.” He wrote that they were a generous people and were declared as “not stingy like the people of the West.” In the mid 1800’s miners and travelers started flooding the area, which brought forth occasional clashes between the natives and newcomers. The physical penetration of the land was not usually a part of these dispute...
It originates from Medellin, which is located in the Antioquia region. It is a plate made up of rice, ground meat, pork rinds, plantains, fried eggs, chorizo, arepa, avocado and red beans. In this dish one can see the history of Colombia. For instance the pork rinds and chorizo came from the Spanish conquistadors. The avocado came from the Brazilians. The chorizo, pork rinds, and plantain are all fried in oil, a cooking method taught by the African slaves. In addition, one can see how the region influenced the dish as it has red beans, a food that is well known in the Antioquia region where Ls Bandeja Paisa originated from. In conclusion, one can learn a lot about a culture through its food and
It was around Crisis Era Year 40, that the first group humans that departed from Shina Ania, arrived in this mysterious continent. When they arrived, they found that it had plenty of natural resources. Thus, settlement was not difficult and able to flourish as a society. Their goal was to gain information and reported back to people in Shina Ania and give Suyoi further place to explore. However, Lucifer's 50 Year War had erupted, throwing the plan off course. The war resulted Demons from the Under World to escape and invade Planet Booga, causing destruction on the planet
Otherwise, your stomach would be growling until your next one after this! The Hawaiians have developed a unique diet of fish, shellfish, and edible plants. These foods include taro root, sugar cane, sweet potatoes, yams, a fish called mahimahi, and much more. The abundance of edible plants you can find in Hawaiian originally brought by the first Polynesian voyagers and settlers to arrive at Hawaii in ancient times. Later immigrants from Japan, Portugal, China, and The Philippines arrived in Hawaii during the 1800’s as laborers for the sugar plantations, and they brought food from their homeland too. This impacted the Hawaiians’ own cuisine because they started to add parts of the immigrants’ foods to their own like they did with hula. Soon, popular modern dishes were created, like malasadas, saimin, and spam. Malasadas are doughnuts covered in sugar that was inspired by Portuguese sweetbread. Saimin is noodles in a broth mixed with meat, vegetables, and seasoning, created when the Hawaiians were introduced to Asian forms of noodles. Finally, spam is canned meat that has grown very popular with the locals, particularly as spam musubi, a slice of the meat on a block of rice wrapped in seaweed called nori.
Initially it was Spanish territory, but the French and English also assumed control of the island at various points in history. Pirates and privateers used the island as a safe refuge to restock their supply of fresh water and supplies(Hartog, 55).
The history of Hawaii is a tragic tale of western imperialism and the power struggle between nations. Hawaii started off as groups of Polynesians who sailed across the ocean and stumbling across the islands
Over the course of the novel, The Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri, Gogol is constantly moving, and by the time he is in his late twenties, he has already lived in five different homes, while his mother, Ashima has lived in only five houses her entire life. Each time Gogol moves, he travels farther away from his childhood home on Pemberton Road, symbolizing his search for identity and his desire to further himself from his family and Bengali culture. Alternatively, Ashima’s change of homes happens in order to become closer to family, representing her kinship with Bengali culture. Ashima has always had difficulty with doing things on her own, but by the end of the story she ultimately decides to travel around both India and the States without a real home as a result of the evolution of her independence and the breaking of her boundaries; in contrast, Gogol finally realizes that he has always stayed close to home, despite his yearning for escape, and settles into his newly discovered identity - the one that he possessed all along.
According to one legend about creation, sexual union between the god- beings Wäkea (male) and Papa (female) first formed the islands. Their union produced a child named Häloanaka, who did not survive and was buried. From the child’s body grew the first kalo plant. The next child, named Häloa, became the first human to live in the islands, and from him the Hawaiian people descended. (02).
Leadership can be traced back to many ideologies over the history of time. There have been individuals that have achieved great success and accomplishments through inspiring others to believe and follow their leadership. This paper will explain some of the theories that philosophically explain how those great people inspired others to believe in their vision and goals.