Since the square root of nothing happened today, I thought I’d take a minute and go back over two of Easter Island’s stories that I neglected to tell.
The first involves a competition held on the island during the peak of its culture. This was where men vying for the job of leader on the island, stripped down to the costume shown above. They went to the eastern edge of Rapa Nui’s Rano Kau volcano where they built temporary homes overlooking the small islands of Moto Nui and Moto Iti, to serve them prior to the competition. Here they collected reeds from the mouth of the volcano which they made into an elongated basket about as long as they were tall.
Once the competition was on, they climbed down the crater’s exterior edge to the sea with the basket. Then they swam on these baskets, because I guess that was only way they could keep afloat, one and one half kilometres to Moto Nui to collect the egg of some now extinct tern, which got placed in a cloth pocket strapped around their heads.
This egg had to make it back to the main island to the staging area intact and the first one to do so became leader.
The next story concerns the reassembly of the moai at Tongariki. The 15 moai here, stretching over 200 metres, are on platforms protecting their graves, backs to the pounding surf.
What I neglected to mention was that this site was restored between 1992 and 1996 at a cost of over $2 million, paid for by the Japanese government. I’m not sure how they got involved, but the result is probably the most popular tourist stop on the island.
The first involves a competition held on the island during the peak of its culture. This was where men vying for the job of leader on the island, stripped down to the costume shown above. They went to the eastern edge of Rapa Nui’s Rano Kau volcano where they built temporary homes overlooking the small islands of Moto Nui and Moto Iti, to serve them prior to the competition. Here they collected reeds from the mouth of the volcano which they made into an elongated basket about as long as they were tall.
Once the competition was on, they climbed down the crater’s exterior edge to the sea with the basket. Then they swam on these baskets, because I guess that was only way they could keep afloat, one and one half kilometres to Moto Nui to collect the egg of some now extinct tern, which got placed in a cloth pocket strapped around their heads.
This egg had to make it back to the main island to the staging area intact and the first one to do so became leader.
The next story concerns the reassembly of the moai at Tongariki. The 15 moai here, stretching over 200 metres, are on platforms protecting their graves, backs to the pounding surf.
What I neglected to mention was that this site was restored between 1992 and 1996 at a cost of over $2 million, paid for by the Japanese government. I’m not sure how they got involved, but the result is probably the most popular tourist stop on the island.
No comments:
Post a Comment