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Was Collapse Inevitable on Easter Island (Rapa Nui)? Reconstructing a Civilisation's Failure is a Marsden Programme Troy Baisden is involved in.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Sunday 12 April: Easter on Easter Island


Many people have asked about Easter on Easter Island. It's one of the
big holidays scheduled around traditional Polynesian culture, but it
is an important holiday to the people. It seems to be an important
weekend for families to spend together. It seems the main things going
on were the usual activities in town, plus an organized soccer game,
and earth-oven feasts (which I believe are similar to hangi in New
Zealand).

Some of us checked out the main service at 9 am in the Catholic
church. The church itself is a very interesting feature of Hanga Roa,
the main town. It stands at the top of the hill on one of the two main
streets, and displays a combination of traditional Christian and Rapa
Nui motifs. The sharp green glyphs on the front of the church are the
Rongorongo script, a unique and mysterious form of writing that seems
to have been invented by the islanders around the time the moai-
building era ended and Europeans first arrived.

The church is always overcrowded on Sundays, with tourists flowing out
the doors. As you can see in today's photos, Easter was no different.
I've also included a snapshot that shows the inside of the church,
including wood carving which are done in the same style as much of the
native woodcarving which is on display (and for sale) all over the
island.

Radio New Zealand's Easter Monday show called to ask me about Easter
on Easter Island - you can listen at this link.
http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/emm/emm-20090413-0810-Happy_Easter_from_Easter_Island-048.mp3

 
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