Port of Call LAST UPDATE April 26, 2009
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March 20, 2009 Rapa Nui: Participants Learn about Ancient Traditions from Contemporary Students
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he famous moai, or stone statues representing chiefs, of Rapa Nui
For years, scientists have grappled with the question of where the inhabitants of Rapa Nui, or Easter Island as it is usually called, came from. The island is one of the remotest in the world, yet has been populated for many hundreds of years. The two main theories were that the people migrated from South America, from other islands in Polynesia. Only recently, through DNA testing of ancient bones on Rapa Nui, was it confirmed that the islanders are of Polynesian origin – as the Rapanui themselves have said. Tahitian activist Gabi Tetiahari, a guest educator who came aboard Peace Boat to discuss, among other topics, the indigenous peoples of Polynesia, told participants the story handed down to him from his elders: “One day, our leaders—2,000 years before Jesus—went to Tapuatapuatea and were asked to find new destinations for [the Polynesian] people. They built a canoe and the [King] Hoto Matua asked to go to Rapa Nui.” Polynesians traveled by canoes to populate most of the islands in the South Pacific. “This is the history that the Europeans did not know at all” when they came, said Gabi.
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A Peace Boat participant hands out bubbles to children
One reason that Rapanui oral history was considered unreliable by scientists was that much of the population (and history-bearers) was wiped out in the 19th and 20th centuries by a combination of tribal wars and Western meddling. In 1722, when the first European set eyes on the island, it was reported that there were 2,000 to 3,000 people living there. But a rapid series of devastations—violent Peruvian slave raids, epidemics of Western diseases, clan wars—meant that by 1877, there were just 111 Rapanui people left. Over 97% of the population had died or fled, and most Rapanui culture was lost forever. Now, there are nearly 4,000 inhabitants on the small island, and the Rapanui people are trying to keep their native culture of dance, music and mythology alive. Peace Boat participants were invited to Colegio Hermano Eugenio Eyraud, a private school on the island, to learn about Rapanui culture from the students and to share some of their own Japanese culture.
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Traditional artwork made by students; the meaning of the traditional language has been lost
Before Rapanui share their culture with tourists, of course, they must teach their own young people about the ways of their past. For that reason, Colegio Hermano Eugenio Eyraud has two gardens in its courtyard, where students can cultivate traditional plants like taro and banana trees. The students learn how Rapanui subsisted on such plants hundreds of years ago, long before the island boasted the Japanese sushi restaurant and Italian gelato stand of today. Although the classes are taught in Spanish (Rapa Nui is a colony of Chile), the students also have classes in the native Rapa Nui language. Traditional artwork, with motifs similar to those found on the island’s famous stone statues painted onto native wood with inks derived from charcoal and plants, hangs in the school’s library. But despite the painstaking efforts to make the artwork as traditional as possible, the pangs of loss are felt: the paintings are bordered with rongorongo, the indecipherable, ancient language of Rapa Nui. The meaning of the phrases, copied from other ancient art, will likely never be revealed.
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A student of Colegio Hermano Eugenio Eyraud plays with a hula hoop brought by Peace Boat
After showing participants the gardens, artwork, and classrooms, it was time for recess. Once again, it was proved to participants that no matter how different a country might seem from their own, the playtime culture of children is the same the whole world over. Children ran and played with each other and curiously eyed participants before happily snatching up the bubbles and hula hoops that Peace Boat participants brought. Although there was an obvious language barrier, the islanders and Peace Boat participants were able to communicate through smiles and hand gestures well enough that they soon formed games that everyone could take part in. After the recess, the older children put on a performance for participants. A schoolteacher told how ancient Rapanuis used to make clothing by pounding the wood of the sacred mahute tree so thin that it was as soft and pliable as a well-worn paper bag, but much stronger. Wearing costumes made of this material and decorated with shells and feathers, young women put on a beautiful storytelling dance for participants. Afterward, a group of young men played music using traditional instruments, and a faster, more flirtatious dance was performed by a boy and a girl. Participants would see much more of this style of dance later in the evening, when several Rapanui came onboard the ship to perform their traditional dance.
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A participant dressed in traditional Japanese clothing stands with Rapanui students dressed in a traditional dance costumes
Despite a light drizzle, participants were eager to share their own culture with the students. Several ladies wore yukata, the traditional Japanese summer kimono, and led the students and participants in bon odori, an ancient dance that is still performed at festivals throughout Japan. Keeping with the Japanese festival theme, participants also shared games such as ring-toss and target shooting with the students, who were thrilled to learn that they would be able to keep the games after the participants left. After the Japanese shared their festival culture with the Rapanui, the two groups mingled again under shelter as they taught each other their dances and compared skills on the hula hoops. As with all of the Peace Boat cultural exchange tours, it felt as if the time to depart came much too soon. Participants waved goodbye to the Rapanui students, certain that the culture of the island would live on in their memories for years to come.