The Different Theories of Easter Island’s Collapse Easter Island, or as some would call it “Rapa Nui,” was one of the most isolated islands in the world that was inhabited by humans. The island does not have a lot of wood and other resources and yet, when the first travelers discovered the island, it was full of huge carved stones statues. Around the twentieth century they discovered that when the first settlers came to the island, it was rich with resources and bountiful land. The first settlers also had a complex society with a hierarchy and sophisticated religious rituals. According to Barzin Pakandam, from the London School of Economics, The inhabitants of Rapa Nui are the descendants of a group of Polynesian settler colonists. It was estimated that at first there were only twenty to thirty settlers that arrived on the island. They arrived on large conjoined sea-faring canoes built for long distance travel. The settlers brought many traditional Polynesian staple foods with them including chickens, rats (considered a delicacy), taro, yam, sweet potato, bananas, gourds, paper mulberry, turmeric, and arrowroot. Archaeologists and historians assume that the origins of the Islanders are the archipelago chain of the Mangareva’s (Pakandam, 2009, p. 9). First, researchers were interested in how these settlers carved the statue and transported them all over the island, but they changed their focus to the theories of how the islanders was driven to collapse. The researchers came up with different theories as to why the islanders were driven to collapse and they are still debating which theory is the right one. One of the first theories as to why the islanders were driven to collapse was that the islanders overexploited the natural re... ... middle of paper ... ...ted investigations of sediment archives in the crater lake of volcano Rano Raraku which contradict this hypothesis. On the basis of pollen data they found no evidence for a significant impact of rats proceeding anthropogenic woodland destruction” (2008, p. 24). Another scientist also found evidence that the rats were not abundant and was valued as currency for the Polynesian people. Brown (2006 [1924]) found that the Pacific rats were valued as currency by the islanders in the past, this report shows that rats were not abundant, but few on the island, and so the islanders will look at the animals as a valuable food source, not as a major environmental problem (2006 [1924]). Meith also conducted some research based on the intensive analysis of soils and sediments at several sites, and he also disagrees with the hypothesis of a major rat overpopulation (Mieth, 2010).
Ii, John Papa., Mary Kawena Pukui, and Dorothy B. Barrère. Fragments of Hawaiian History. Honolulu: Bishop Museum, 1983. Print.
In the chronological, descriptive ethnography Nest in the Wind, Martha Ward described her experience on the rainy, Micronesian island of Pohnpei using both the concepts of anthropological research and personal, underlying realities of participant observation to convey a genuine depiction of the people of Pohnpei. Ward’s objective in writing Nest in the Wind was to document the concrete, specific events of Pohnpeian everyday life and traditions through decades of change. While informing the reader of the rich beliefs, practices, and legends circulated among the people of Pohnpei, the ethnography also documents the effects of the change itself: the island’s adaptation to the age of globalization and the survival of pre-colonial culture.
Kirby, Brendan. "Point Clear : Shrinking island in a sea of growth ." Mobile Press-Register 26 March 2001.
In The Lorax, the trees produce a fabric that could be used on anything and everything. With all the resources of trees gone the species that once were dependent on it were forced to migrate elsewhere. Their population did not become extinct. Something that caught my eye about the people on Easter Island was that exploiting their resources was part of their culture. They used up their resources to build and they went overboard with it. At one point they could’ve realized that they had enough statues/monuments and left the land fallow to regain its nutrients. Unlike the Lorax, once the people of Easter Island ran out of its resources and were not able to hunt for food they resulted to cannibalism. This would later lead to human extinction on the
Roderick Nash. ISLAND CIVILIZATION A VISION FOR HUMAN OCCUPANCY OF EARTH IN THE FOURTH MILLENNIUM. 2001. .
A small company of thirty-four New England missionaries came to Hawaii between 1820 and 1930, were the first modern immigrants. (Lind p.59) Missionaries were powerful agents of cultural destruction, coming to Hawaii to settle and teach their ways and beliefs. Bloodthirsty priests and despotic chiefs had ruled one reason for missionaries arriving and settling in Hawaii, due to the fact that they believed ancient Hawaiians. (Trask p.14) Bringing along cultural havoc by establishing a western style educational system, which included the first textbook as the Bible. The most critical change was in the use of language as a tool of colonization. Language had once been inseparable from the Hawaiians and their history by communicating their heritage between and among many generations, now came to be used as the very vehicle of alienation from their habits of life.
The Hawaiian culture is known throughout the western world for their extravagant luaus, beautiful islands, and a language that comes nowhere near being pronounceable to anyone but a Hawaiian. Whenever someone wants to “get away” their first thought is to sit on the beach in Hawai’i with a Mai tai in their hand and watch the sun go down. Haunani-Kay Trask is a native Hawaiian educated on the mainland because it was believed to provide a better education. She questioned the stories of her heritage she heard as a child when she began learning of her ancestors in books at school. Confused by which story was correct, she returned to Hawai’i and discovered that the books of the mainland schools had been all wrong and her heritage was correctly told through the language and teachings of her own people. With her use of pathos and connotative language, Trask does a fine job of defending her argument that the western world destroyed her vibrant Hawaiian culture.
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.
Bollig, L. (1927). The Inhabitants of The Truk Islands: Religion, Live and a Short Grammar of A Micronesian People. Munster i W.: Aschendorff.
Jovik, Sonia P. and James O. Jovik. (1997). “History.” Atlas of Hawaii. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, p.408.
Weisburd, Stefi. "Volcanoes And Extinctions: Round Two." Science News 131.16 (1987): 248-250. Health Source - Consumer Edition. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.
Stony sentry’s, carved years ago by Polynesian craftsmen, gaze over one of the most remote places in the world. With their land enlarged by overuse, islanders now draw on a revival of their culture to attract visitors. I intend to tell about this small island off the coast of Chile named Easter Island.
Unearthing Cultural Resonance: Contextualizing and Staging a Significant Moment in Ola N Iwi. Mana, integral to the identity of Polynesian peoples and associated with “chiefs [and always tied to the power of the gods]”, is one of several Hawai’ian cultural concepts that Victoria Nalani Kneubuhl’s Ola N Iwi (The Bones Live) explores, illuminating the depth of island culture. The play introduces the various meanings and manifestations of mana, ranging from subtle hints to characters explaining the concept itself in their own words. This exploration highlights the broadness of mana and its weight in Polynesian communities, paving way for a deeper analysis of cultural implications and portrayals within the narrative.
This piece of evidence supports the idea that the moai of Easter Island connects the people to their beliefs and the things that they care
In approximately 800 A. D. a group of around forty Polynesians voyaged across the Pacific Ocean in two large double canoes. Possibly seeking new lands to settle, this small band of intrepid travelers eventually discovered a small (64 sq. mile) island that they decided to make their new home. The island they encountered was triangular shaped and offered numerous features that made it attractive for settlement. Two, out of the three volcanic craters that anchored the corners of the island, contained fresh water. In addition, the soil of the island was found to be rich and fertile and a large palm forest covered many parts of the island. The Polynesian explorers had set out from their home with an abundant supply of goods, and were ready to colonize