The "Stolen Friend"

 

In 1868, a British frigate named the HMS Topaze, commanded by Commodore Richard Powell, stopped at Easter Island.  While there, his crew dug up a partially buried solid basalt moai and took it back to England.  It was offered to Queen Victoria, who requested that it be put on display in the British Museum, where it still is today.  The Polynesian name for this moai is Hoa Hakananai’a, which means “stolen friend”.  The debate is still going on as to whether it should be returned to Easter Island or remain at the museum. 

We visited Orongo, which is the sacred ceremonial site from which the moai was removed.  It lies on a thin piece of land high on a bluff with a 1,000’ drop to the Pacific Ocean on one side, and a drop down into a volcanic crater lake on the other side.

The Birdman cult competitions took place here every year to choose the ruling clan for that year on the island. You can read about this fascinating practice here. This activity took the place of the moai culture which ceased to exist by about 1500.   By the time the British arrived, the population of the island was at a low point, and the Catholic missionaries had converted those who were left to Catholicism.  The Birdman competition was outlawed by the Catholic Church, and ended around 1866.  Thus when the British arrived, there was no one who could really prevent them from removing the moai. 

Orongo was restored from its ruinous state and there is a nice little visitor’s center there with all sorts of information on the ancient culture.  Here are some of the images of Hoa Hakananai‘a that are on display. 

We walked out of the visitor’s center and onto a path that took us past the many reconstructed houses that were used only during the Birdman ceremony.  Supposedly there were 54 houses, one for each clan.  Here is a photo of one that was restored and left open so one could see inside.  You can see that they are basically deeply cut into the earth with a stone roof on top. 

The Hoa Hakananai’a moai was taken from one of these, and then the house was demolished.  Our guide said that it was lying face down in the house when it was being worshiped before the competition. On its back were carvings representing the Birdman.  The British had to dig it out to be able to transport it. 

The heaviest concentration of rock art on Easter Island is also located in this area, with about 100 petroglyphs.  Clearly, this was a major ceremonial center. 

Many consider this moai the most important sacred artifact from the island.  However, I have a few questions.  Who carved it, and how did they get it up to this isolated place?  And when did this happen?  Robert Schoch says that it is a pre flood artifact, making it over 10,000 years old.  Notice the fine carving on the basalt.  Since basalt is the hardest stone on Easter Island, what did they use to carve it?  More basalt?  There are only 13 moai there carved from basalt, and are considered to be the oldest.  But how old? 

I asked our guide about where the basalt was sourced.  He said that there are some basalt outcroppings on the island.  Robert Schoch writes that if there was a basalt quarry, it has not been found.  He states that it may be under water off shore, which means that it was flooded at the end of the last Ice age.  

What a mysterious place!