Missionaries brought Christianity to Easter Island, but the Rapa Nui people brought their own beliefs to Christianity. I had read that, whatever one's religious beliefs, attending the 9 am Sunday Mass in the island's town of Hanga Roa was unmissable. The church of the Catholic community of Rapa Nui was a simple white building with many Rapa Nui symbols. Congregants were welcomed in multiple languages including German, Spanish and English.
The Mass, in Spanish and Rapa Nui, was a mixture of traditional and non-traditional. For example, all of the musical accompaniment was with guitars and percussion and the dress was casual—not a suit or tie in sight! The church was packed with parishioners who were a mixture of locals and visitors from mainland Chile and other foreign visitors like us. We knew to sit toward the front so we could see the musicians who occupied the first four rows on the right hand side.
The priest was dressed in Catholic vestments and a Rapa Nui headdress that was just beautiful to see. The aim of a church in my mind is to unite people and here we could witness how the old and the new religious cultures of the island merged together in such a peaceful place. The Rapa Nui songs and music were amazing and they gave the celebration such a joyful touch that we felt part of it even though we didn’t understand the language.
Church carvings were a combination of Rapa Nui and Catholic culture - birdman, birds, fish and also Catholic religious icons.
A short jaunt from the church was Hanga Roa's colorful walled cemetery overlooking the Pacific that was so different from other cemeteries we've seen. With the white tombstones and profusion of flowers everywhere, the cemetery had a very cheerful feeling.
The central cross was erected on a pukao and may have topped a moai at one point.
The day before, I had bought a mini, mini version of a moai like this one, complete with the red, scoria rock for the pukao. It brings both Steven and me such pleasure looking at in our family room.
However, it was only once got to the end of the dirt trail, did we discover we were at Ana Te Pahu instead! It was one of the most spacious caves on the island and part of a large underground complex. The cave was used for water storage in the past because rain filtered through the ground and accumulated on the floor, especially during the rainy season.
It was called the Banana Cave because there were so many of those large trees planted inside the cave's natural opening. Edible and useful plants have grown in this lush area since prehistoric times due to humidity and wind protection.
During the inter-tribal warfare period, the caves were also used as hiding places even though that would have been risky if discovered and they were trapped inside. Some small caves were even used as burial chambers. The cave's size also made it an ideal place for people to live and sleep during former times. The passage led to a second cave where the sunlight streamed through a huge hole.
It was beautiful seeing a guide on horseback. We just wished we could hop on back as rain threatened!
After backtracking to the car, we drove a short distance to Ahu Akivi, our original destination! According to oral tradition, the seven moai represented the young explorers sent to the island before the arrival of the colonizers led by Hotu Matu'a. Just like other ahu, this ceremonial center was oriented astronomically, since the moai look straight to the sunset during equinoxes.
Ahu Akivi was a special place for us as there were only a few other people there unlike the far more famous Rano Raraku and Ahu Tongariki, both of which we'd stopped at the previous day.
From here, pukao weighing more than ten tons were moved to very remote places such as Ahu Tongariki, located twelve kms away. Although the cylindrical form of pukao would suggest that they were moved by making them roll, this has never been confirmed. One theory is that the pukao were lifted on stone ramps; another theory suggests that each moai was lifted on the ahu with the pukao already tied with ropes and tree trunks.
The pukao at Puna Pau were different from those we had seen on moai at various ahu because they weren't entirely finished and carving was done after transportation.
What lovely views we had of most of the rest of island from the top of the hill by Puna Pau. We could even see the village of Hanga Roa just over Steven's shoulder.
While all the moai we'd seen up to that point had been along the coastline, there were also villages that began springing up on the interior of the island, particularly in agricultural areas, where there were 25 inland platforms on Easter Island. The single moai at Ahu Huri A Urenga was exceptional as it had two sets of hands, the second carved above the first. Researchers believe this was due because the first set was damaged in transit to the ahu.
Ana Kai Tangata, a seldom visited cave on the coast with the island's only cave paintings, was our last stop of the day. It played a major role in the history of Rapa Nui because of its connection to the ceremony of the Tangata Manu, also known as the Bird Man cult, that I wrote about in my first post on Easter Island.
The site was also used to build vaka ama, small canoes made of sewn planks when the island was running out of wood.
We walked right past the 'Do Not Enter' sign down a steep set of steps so we could see the beautiful red, white and black-colored paintings that adorned the cave ceiling.
Most of them depicted the sooty tern, a migrant seabird that nested every spring in the islets in front of Orongo and was the feature of the annual Birdman Competition. We were so fortunate that the late afternoon light illuminated the ceiling perfectly AND that we had taken a chance on seeing the incredible paintings as we knew we'd never be back this way again.
We wandered along the cliff for some time, just mesmerized by the stunning views of the rocky cliffs, the deep green and navy-colored water and the bright-blue skies. We couldn't imagine a more idyllic view at the end of another perfect day on Easter Island.
Many of the musicians continued to play and sing after the Mass was over so it was permissible to take photos then. The Mass provided a great representation of the Rapa Nui spirit I experienced during our time on Rapa Nui.
Several tourists waited around after Mass to have their photos taken with the priest. I chose not to.
Several persons important to the island's history were buried in the church grounds.
As the cemetery was expanding toward the ocean, it was anticipated that by 2020, the newly deceased will have to be buried elsewhere as it will likely be full.
I found the boat grave particularly appealing!
By the town's tiny pier, colorful boats bobbed up and down in the water. Just a few steps away, and facing inland, was Ahu Tautira, a ceremonial platform with a restored moai.
The island's Parliament was located in Hanga Roa.
From 'town' we headed north where the views were far more pastoral than elsewhere on the island. We saw some of the island's 30,000 cows!
We passed what we in Colorado would say were small hills but they were big by island standards!
After parking the car, we hiked about a mile or so to what we thought would be Ahu Akivi.
I felt like I was about to enter Fred and Wilma Flintstone's home as I carefully made my way inside the cave!
A Polynesian oven was in the center of the cave.
The interior looked far too dark and spooky for me to want to proceed even though we knew it was open for another 200 meters. The sound of the constantly dripping water made me also want to get out quickly, especially since there were no facilities nearby!
When Ahu Akivi was restored by William Mulloy and Guillermo Figueroa in 1960, it was the first full platform excavation and restoration on the island. The moai overlooked their village and their descendants. Remains of a fairly large village were behind the plaza but sadly they were in ruins and very overgrown. As the seven moai, each one over four meters tall, were homogeneous in their design, historians believe they were all commissioned and erected at the same time.
From the back, we could see the repairs that took place to restore the seven majestic statues as well as two examples of cremation pits. On one side of the platform was a man-made ditch that would have run right through the plaza. It was likely used to divert water so it could be collected for later use.
Next, on the way to Puna Pau, we could just spot three huge crosses atop a hill that had been erected in the early '90s as a reminder of the Spanish Expedition to the island, whose half-hearted attempt to convert the island to Christianity involved placing three wooden crosses on top of three hills nearby.
As there was barely any wood on the island at that time, it is likely that the original three crosses didn't stay up long. The Catholic community walks up to these crosses atop Maunga Tangaroa on Good Friday.
Puna Pau was a small volcanic crater made up of red scoria stone and also the quarry where all moai topknots were carved. The pukao were a much later 'addition' to the moai culture and there were only about 100 topknots in existence compared to the 1,000 or so moai scattered around the island. None of the early moai were ever given topknots, which means this quarry was probably only used from the 15th or 16th century onward.
The stone here was a soft volcanic rock with a high iron content which made it relatively easy to carve and gave it its distinctive red color.
Several pukao had petroglyphs that represented canoes and tribal signs.
We had had such a lovely, but way too brief visit, yesterday at Anakena Beach so decided on the spur of the moment to drive back there, NOT to see its moai but just for some R&R on the beach! The water was the most gorgeous shade of turquoise on the northeast side of the island! If you've ever dreamed of what a South Pacific beach would look like, I would think what we saw would come mighty close to heaven on earth.
When we had arrived on Easter Island a couple of days ago, we'd seen a rugby match between the island's team and one from Papeete in Tahiti. Some of the players were having a fun time at the beach bar!
The beach was packed with locals on the Sunday afternoon. It appeared that the ever increasing group of guys were doing a Polynesian version of the Hokey Pokey. I had such fun watching their singing and dancing routine!
I had more fun, mind you, watching this man!
Much later we made our way to Ahu Huri A Urenga after, once again, admiring some of the island's gorgeous wild horses.
The orientation of the platform was also interesting as it served as a solar observatory with the statue facing the exact direction of the rising sun at the winter solstice on June 21st.
Not sure this was exactly 'allowed' but being able to walk up so close to the 'handy' moai was a welcome reprieve after always having to view other moai from some distance.
Manavai, conical stone circles used to protect new plants, dotted the grassy areas.
Next post: Sunrise at Ahu Tongariki and another cave to explore.
Posted on April 23rd, 2018, from Littleton, Colorado.
I love looking at you too!
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