WHEN HOME IS the NAVEL of the WORLD an Ethnography of Young Rapa Nui Between Home and Away

WHEN HOME IS THE NAVEL OF THE WORLD An ethnography of young Rapa Nui between home and away

Olaug Irene Røsvik Andreassen

A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

School of Sociology and Anthropology, University of New South Wales

March 2008 ii

ABSTRACT

Rapa Nui (Easter Island) has for centuries been known as an isolated island of archaeological mysteries; yet after a rapid modernisation this is today an international tourist destination, a World Heritage Site and a glocalised community.

This anthropological study based on long-term fieldwork among young Rapa Nui on the island and away, describes how it can be to grow up in and to belong to such a place.

Place is seen as a continually constructed social space and is influenced by Miriam Kahn’s use of Henri Lefebvre’s concept thirdspace. Rapa Nui, as a place, people and community, is here understood as continuously formed by global and local influences. Thus, although historical, global and national influences can seem overwhelming in such a small tourist destination with a turbulent colonial history, this study also sees the opinions and practices of the inhabitants as important agents.

This thesis shows how young Rapa Nui are both influenced by and influencing what Rapa Nui is and becomes. Above all, their guiding principle seems to be a continuing strong attachment to their land –also called Te Pito o te Henua (“The Navel of the World”).

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PREFACE

Illustration i: Volcano Rano Raraku seen from Poike

Text 1: “Right in the centre at the end of the world”

“Sitting in the shade of a miro tahiti tree, Amelia demonstrated kai kai, the traditional cat’s cradle game of patterns formed with a loop of string around the fingers, accompanied by song. A great-granddaughter, just in from school, dropped a pink plastic Mickey Mouse lunch box on the grass and, taking out a loop of string to shape on her own fingers, stood behind and mouthed the words of the songs” (Conniff 1993:70-71).

Manahine slowly worked her way through these words. In an attempt to hike around the island, we had ended up lodging in the old guardian hut on the Poike hill, and Manahine had gotten the random idea of practicing her English with the only piece of text available – some wrinkly pages of an old National Geographic magazine. The article, titled “Easter Island Unveiled”, was about the very same island where she had grown up and where she now was sitting reading in the dim light of a candle. There were a few old electricity poles outside the hut, but they looked as if they had never worked and simply added a nostalgic touch of “end of the world” to the landscape of the Rapa Nui countryside. Manahine had first found my idea of wanting to walk around the island quite absurd as one could go by car instead, but she was probably getting used to the strangeness of her newly acquired anthropologist and agreed to walk as long as no car passed by to offer us a hike. “The Mickey Mouse box!” she exclaimed suddenly. It was not iv

such a surprise that the article was about the island, as Rapa Nui is just the kind of place the public of popular science magazines likes to read about. Yet I got once more the strange impression of being both at the end of and in the centre of the world at the same time when realising that the text passage was actually about the very same Manahine now reading it!i

Cords of belonging to Te pito o te Henua. This feeling of being both in the centre and at the end of the world found additional inspiration in name interpretations of the island and has come to symbolise my understanding of belonging.

Rapa Nui is more known under the name Easter Island, but it is also Te Pito o te Henua.ii This name is probably older than Rapa Nui and Easter Island, but both its origin and specific meaning is uncertain (Mc Call 1976: footnote1). In the Rapa Nui language the word pito can mean navel, centre or umbilical cord, while henua can be land, earth, world or placenta. Te Pito o te Henua is popularly translated as “The Navel of the World”, while it also can mean “The End of the World” (Hotus 2000:141). Both translations sound delightfully poetic for this place which tourists know as “the lonely island of the moai” and which despite its small size and location is known throughout the whole world. Te Pito o te Henua also seems to give a perfect image, maybe more comical than poetic, for writing on belonging.

We enter the world with the umbilical cord and placenta still attached, but as soon as we are out, this physical tie to our mother is cut and disappears in the hospital waste.iii Earlier, in societies like the Polynesian, the placenta (henua, pū-

i Based on participant observation, Rapa Nui 2002. ii Following the example of the Rapa Nui, anthropologist Miki Makihera and linguists Nancy and Robert Weber, I will use Rapa Nui both as noun and adjective here, although most English- speaking authors have been using Rapa Nui for the island, and Rapanui for the people and as adjective – and although Grant McCall might be right in arguing that it would be more Polynesian to use Rapanui in all three cases. iii Apparently, in some hospitals in Chile the nurses ask the pregnant women whether they want to give the placenta to research and some women take the placenta home only to be sure that it will not be sold. Pers. com., Rapa Nui midwife student, Valparaiso, April 2005. v

henua or henua o te poki in Rapa Nui) and the cord (pito) are buried and symbolically returned to the mother land (henua, kāinga). This practice was for instance documented by anthropologist Margaret Mead in Samoa in the 1920s and by Robert Levy in French Polynesia of the 1960s, but without elaborations on its possible symbolism (Mead 1973:12, Levy 1973:144). Anthropologist Bruno Saura later interpreted this ritual as meaning that Polynesians picture themselves as born attached to a life-giving core of land and that the burial ritual symbolises the mutual belonging between humans and the earth (Saura 2002:133). Placenta burial is still practised in parts of Polynesia, but on Rapa Nui it seems to have disappeared with the introduction of hospital births in the late 1950s, although a few recent cases have been observed.iv

Ethnologist Alfred Métraux wrote in the 1930s that in ancient times on Rapa Nui, the placenta and the cord were sometimes put into a calabash and thrown into the sea or buried under a stone (Métraux 1971:102-103). Saura writes that the sea can be seen as symbolising the ultimate ceremonial place (marae), whereas Métraux’s description of the cord being thrown and accompanied by the charm: “May it be lost in a foreign country!” reminds us of Polynesian navigators leaving to settle down on new islands (Metraux, ibid).v This also makes me think of the young Rapa Nui of today who are motivated to leave the island in order to get an education.

In ancient Tahiti, the separate cord burial seemed to have a more religious meaning than the placenta, and this religious connotation was probably the reason why this part of the ritual disappeared with the arrival of missionaries

iv Retired Rapa Nui nurse, pers.com, Hanga Roa, Nov 2004 and young Rapa Nui students, pers.com, Viña del Mar, April 2005. it would be interesting to see if this ritual is coming back in the wake of the current ethnic revival on Rapa Nui, as the recent cases of placenta burial may indicate. v If the cord was buried on land under a stone, the accompanying charm was: “May you stay strong in your land!” (Metraux, ibid). On Samoa in the 1920s, the sea burial was practised with the cords of baby boys in order to make them good fishermen, whereas girls’ cords were buried under a tree close to the house to make them good housewives (Mead 1973:12).

(Saura 2002:127).vi It is uncertain whether this was also the case on Rapa Nui, but at least Metraux wrote that the stones under which cords were buried became tapu (religiously forbidden). Metraux focused mostly on the importance of tying two knots on the cord and thereafter cutting it (by biting it off) – a ritual meant to keep the life force in the newborn’s body. He also wrote that this ritual followed the description of the navel cutting of king Hotu Matu’a’s son in the story of the Rapa Nuis’ arrival to the island, and that the possible naming of the island as Te Pito o te Henua could be linked to this (Metraux, op.cit:64). Today some Rapa Nui say that this name actually means “The Umbilical Cord of the Earth” and picture the island as the top end of a long pillar (like an umbilical?!) from the nucleus of the earth.vii This would surely be poetic support to the idea that Rapa Nui with its monumental moai and a place called “the navel” (Te Pito Kura)viii might always have been known as special island within Polynesia -long before the Europeans named it a world-wonder.ix Yet Saura writes that all Polynesian islands are pictured as having “navels” (simply another name for an island’s geographical centre point) and that the name Te Pito o te Henua for Rapa Nui seems to be rather new (Saura 2002: footnote 5).

This possible “navel symbolism” has to me become a mental picture of the strong feeling of belonging my young Rapa Nui friends express for their island, and this has become my lasting impression of them. Anthropologist Grant McCall has jokingly called the Rapa Nui’s love for their island “topolepcy”, and

vi The separate cord burial only refers to the end part of the umbilical, the part that rests attached when cutting and making the knot at birth, and this end part naturally falls off after a few days. The longest part of the cord is attached to the placenta and gets buried with it. vii Comment from Rapa Nui woman during fieldwork 2002. I then wonder whether this could also have meant “end part of the cord” (the sacred part between the navel and the cut) and thereby could be linked to the origin of the name “End of the world”. viii Kura can mean “nice shine of colourful feathers” or “the best of something” (Englert 2004:335). Englert thought this stone on the north cost of Rapa Nui represented a navel and could be a commemorative of Te Pito o te Henua (the stone marking the land’s geographical centre point?) in Hiva, the mythical mother land (Englert 2004:322). ix Archaeologist Helene Martinson-Wallin, pers.com., Oslo 2005.

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in a similar trend I picture the Rapa Nui with “invisible umbilical cords” attaching them to their island and culture.x The physical cord has been cut, but the memory of it is this invisible cord. In many languages the image of an uncut umbilical is used to mock persons who seem too dependent on their family, but I think that we all have some kind of invisible strings attaching us to places or memories and making us look at the world from the point of view of our own navel. Somehow, it might be difficult to express such feelings without accusations of nostalgia, narcissism and ethnocentrism, and that might also be part of the reason why I try to approach the topic with humour.xi I will not talk much more of this image of “invisible umbelicals”, but I’ve had it in the back of my mind and it might have influenced my writing.

And I hope that Manahine will be almost as happily surprised when reading this text as she was about the National Geographic article. First, because when we now randomly meet for a chat on the Web, each from our end of the world, she has stopped asking if I ever will finish my “paper” and probably thinks I never will. Then, more importantly, because this thesis is just as much about her as about her island, and I will never be able to thank her enough for her help and support. Yet, most of all I wish her and my other Rapa Nui friends a happy future on this island which means the world to them.

x McCall probably takes this from geographer Yi-Fu Tuan’s “Topophilia” (“love for place”), but even more jokingly he adds the invented adjective: “topoleptical” (“sickly obsessed with place”). Mc Call, pers.com., Rapa Nui 2002. xi Mary Douglas, in an article on the idea of home, writes that this topic is indeed often treated with humour, maybe precisely because it involves such contradictory personal feelings of nostalgia and resistance (Douglas 1991:287-307).

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Maururu nui-nui, thank you so much and uendelig takk to everyone who helped me through this:

Beloved family and friends on Rapa Nui, colleagues and friends all over the world, my parents, brothers and family at home and my love right here by my side.

This study was partly financed by the Institute for Comparative Research in Human Nature (Institutt for sammenlignende kulturstudier, Oslo) and the Norwegian Research Council project “Identity Matters: Movement and Place” (the Museum of Cultural Heritage at Oslo University, the Department of Linguistics at Oslo University and the former Institute of Pacific Archaeology and Cultural History at the Kon-Tiki Museum, Oslo).

My thanks also go to the helpful staff of the University of New South Wales, Sydney and of the Museo Antropológico Padre Sebastián Englert, Rapa Nui.

For the future of Rapa Nui

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface: Cords of belonging to Te Pito o te Henua ...... iii Acknowledgments ...... viii Table of contents ...... x List of texts, maps and illustrations...... xiii Glossary...... xv

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION A study on young Rapa Nui ...... 1 1.1 Rapa Nui as a spatiotemporal “living space” ...... 10 1.2 Young Rapa Nui as social agents...... 15 1.3 Past and place in Rapa Nui identity construction...... 22 1.4 Bourdieu’s “participant objectivation”...... 28 1.5 Fieldwork and methods...... 31 1.6 Outline and structure of the thesis ...... 35

PART I: “TE PITO O TE HENUA”, AS THE NAVEL...... 38

CHAP. 2 : A SPECIAL PLACE, ITS HISTORY AND PEOPLE ...... 39 2.1 Rapa Nui, a place of images and ways of seeing...... 39 2.1.1 Island birth –from mythology to tourist marketing...... 40 2.1.2 “End of the world”, images of the island as destination...... 46 2.1.3 “Navel of the world”, the island as home ...... 54 2.1.4 Faraway Hiva, home and away ...... 59 2.1.5 Island in the sea of islands. A note on the island metaphor...... 61

2.2 Rapa Nui, a place of pasts and histories ...... 62 2.2.1 Polynesian settlers: 800-1200...... 63 2.2.2 Arrival of new colonisers: 1722-1888...... 71 2.2.3 “Company time”: Nua growing up in the 1940s...... 78 2.2.4 “Chilenisation”: Clara growing up in the 1960s ...... 79 2.2.5 “Rapanuisation”: Manahine growing up in the 1990s ...... 81 2.2.6 A history of histories and stories ...... 83

2.3 Rapa Nui, a contemporary lived space...... 85 2.3.1 A Latin-American territory in Polynesia...... 85 2.3.2 An island of heritage tourism and international research...... 86 2.3.3 A global village of Rapa Nui, Continentals and foreigners...... 87 2.3.4 The Rapa Nui and the Rapa Nui Mestizo ...... 90 2.3.5 “The Young”. Groups and individuals among young Rapa Nui ...... 93 2.3.6 Life in contemporary Rapa Nui society ...... 95

2.4 Chapter conclusion: The stage is set ...... 97 xi

CHAP. 3: YOUNG LIVES AT HOME IN THE NAVEL...... 99 3.1 The Tapati festival and postcard images of island living...... 100 3.1.1 A festival for hosts and guests: recreating past, making future...... 100 3.1.2 Growing up in the Tapati. A socialising space for young Rapa Nui ...... 105 3.1.3 “Postcard images”, tourism and their influence on “reality”...... 110

3.2 Everyday Rapa Nui. Young agents and nests of mana...... 111 3.2.1 “Off-stage”. Rapa Nui identities in the everyday living ...... 111 3.2.2 Walking like an ariki. First impressions of the young...... 114 3.2.3 Four young Rapa Nui. Manahine, Tea, Uka and Moana...... 115 3.2.4 Te Hua’ai. The importance of family belonging...... 118 3.2.5 The School. A “nest of Chilenisation”...... 121 3.2.6 Television and the Internet. Eyes of Rapa Nui ...... 124 3.2.7 The Museum. A house of ancestors or outsiders? ...... 126 3.2.8 The Kari Kari. Learning culture through performance ...... 128 3.2.9 The disco and life after midnight...... 132

3.3 In the shadow of the moai? Growing up on Rapa Nui today ...... 134 3.3.1 Meeting gazes. Watching and interacting with tourists...... 135 3.3.2 Henua and subsidio. Rights to land and a house of one’s own...... 138 3.3.3 A paradox of a generation. Being Rapa Nui without speaking it...... 140 3.3.4 Attitudes, feathers and tattoo. New language of identification? ...... 145 3.3.5 A Paradise for young and old, but no perfect idyll ...... 149

3.4 Chapter conclusion: Sweet home, even when being home...... 152

PART II: TE PITO O TE HENUA, THE FUTURE END ...... 154

CHAP. 4: YOUNG LIVES AWAY FROM HOME...... 155 4.1 Young temporary migrants on “the Conti” ...... 160 4.1.1 From “paradise” to somewhere quite different...... 160 4.1.2 Difficulties and temptations for urban islanders...... 163 4.1.3 Island nostalgia. Not as nicely exotic as it might sound...... 165 4.1.4 A happy student. One of the many exceptions...... 166

4.2 Making islands in Santiago and staying in touch ...... 168 4.2.1 Sending fruits and other ways of staying touch with home...... 169 4.2.2 Taote o te Zouk, a Rapa Nui meeting place in Santiago...... 170 4.2.3 Tautanga, dancing ambassadors and a home away...... 174

4.3 Young Rapa Nui defending their place...... 177 4.3.1 CasiNO! Young protests against casino plans...... 178 4.3.2 Assessing Rapa Nui in the International Easter Island Conference...... 188 4.3.3 The right to choose ones battles. Manahine goes home...... 191

4.4 Chapter conclusion: Being away, but looking home...... 194 xii

PART III: HOME AND AWAY, RAPA NUI YOUTH IN PERSPECTIVE...... 196

CHAP.5: RECHARGING THE MANA. SUMMER HOLIDAYS AT HOME...... 197 5.1 Meeting the gazes of home...... 197 5.2 A new generation Rapa Nui professionals in the making ...... 200

5.3 Chapter conclusion: Back where the story started, and continues ...... 202

CHAP.6: YOUNG RAPA NUI IDENTITY MATTERS IN PERSPECTIVE ...... 203 6.1 Why identity matters. The importance of being Rapa Nui...... 203 6.2 Rapa Nui without speaking it, or new languages of identification...... 205 6.3 Heritage of the moai and the global industry of images...... 210 6.4 To love to hate. Chile as “the Other” of Rapa Nui...... 211 6.5 Young and old. Paradoxes of learning and knowing ...... 214 6.6 Being here and not there. Influences of student migration ...... 217

Ch.7 CONCLUSION: Navel cord of the world...... 221 Epilogue: Becoming, for Rapa Nui and anthropologists ...... 227 References ...... 229

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LIST OF TEXTS, MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS

Text 1: “Right in the centre at the end of the world” ...... iii Text 2.1a: Haumaka’s dream...... 39 Text2.1b: From Roggeveen’s log ...... 40 Text 2.1.2a: E-mail describing my first visit to Rapa Nui...... 47 Text 2.1.2b: Description of Rapa Nui, as taken from a guide book ...... 48 Text 2.2: Arrival of Hotu Matu’a as told by a young Rapa Nui...... 63 Text 3.1a: The big happy Rapa Nui family on stage...... 101 Text 3.1b: Welcome to this navel at the end of the world! ...... 102 Text 3.2.2: Getting to know my “objects of study”...... 114 Text 3.2.9: Performing Rapa Nui in tourists shows ...... 128 Text 3.3: Without moai the story would have been very different...... 134 Text 3.3.1: Rapa Nui girls just having fun, or a cultural experience?...... 135 Text 3.3.4a: To dress for success on Rapa Nui ...... 145 Text 3.3.4b: Tatu the tattooer ...... 148 Text 3.3.5: Manahine’s grandfather about Paradise...... 149 Text 4: “Ina ho’i”, song by Ito ...... 155 Text 4.1.4: “Santiago is ok for those who haven’t been elsewhere”...... 168 Text 4.3: “Our generation is the future of the island” ...... 177 Text 4.3.1a: Maeva presenting the casino project ...... 180 Text 4.3.1b: First letter in the news paper ...... 183 Text 4.3.1c: Second letter in the news paper...... 184 Text 4.3.1d: The dancing protest in front of the presidential palace...... 187 Text 4.3.2: Young Rapa Nui opinions about the heritage management...... 190 Text 4.3.3: This is not me! Manahine about living in Santiago...... 193 Text 5: Students arriving like tourists ...... 197 Text 5.1: Manahine’s dream of her future...... 199 Text 5.2: Young professionals preparing their field...... 200 Text 6.2: Rapa Nui in Santiago explaining "language mixing" 205 Text 6.5a: Myth of the moai neck and young impatience ...... 214 Text 6.5b: How to tell a myth when knowing too much ...... 215 Text 6.6a: We need to realise that the island needs us all!...... 217 Text 6.6b: “Taure’are’a” song by Matato’a...... 221

Map 1: Satellite photo of Rapa Nui, downloaded from Wikipedia...... 1 Map 2: Rapa Nui in the Pacific Ocean ...... 2 Map 3: Tourist map, by Hetereki Huke...... 49 Map 4: Local map, by Hetereki Huke ...... 56 Map 5: Satellite image of Santiago, downloaded from Wikipedia...... 160

Illustration i: Volcano Rano Raraku seen from Poike...... iii Illustration 1: Detail of moai, Ahu Tongariki...... 38 Illustration 2: View of Rano Raraku from Tongariki...... 39 Illustration 3: Old stone house in Hanga Roa...... 54 Illustration 4: Drawing from "Haumaka Dream" of Te Pou Huke, Rapanui Press...... 66 Illustration 5: The Rapa Nui ariki and the Chilean coloniser of 1888, Hanga Roa...... 85 xiv

Illustration 6: The reimiro, the Rapa Nui flag...... 86 Illustration 7: Young Rapa Nui and Chilean, selling souvenirs ...... 92 Illustration 8: In the middle of town, Plaza Hotu Matu'a ...... 99 Illustration 9: Tapati candidate in the last competition of the festival ...... 100 Illustration 10: One of the many dance competitions of the Tapati ...... 102 Illustration 11: Tourist photographing Rapa Nui children ...... 106 Illustration 12: The street Te Pito o te Henua, from the church to the sea...... 112 Illustration 13: Young Rapa Nui photographing his class mates ...... 113 Illustration 14: "Welcome dear students", first school day 2002 ...... 122 Illustration 15: Interviewing graduate students ...... 124 Illustration 16: Learning to use GPS in the field...... 127 Illustration 17: Preparing for performance at the airport...... 128 Illustration 18: One of many training sessions in the Casa Azul, 2002...... 131 Illustration 19: Tourist friendly sign post...... 135 Illustration 20: View towards Hanga Roa, from the Terevaka hill ...... 151 Illustration 21: Child watching young Rapa Nui surfing in Hanga Roa bay...... 153 Illustration 22: Rapa Nui seen in the Western horizon...... 154 Illustration 23: Watching a plane departing for Santiago...... 156 Illustration 24: View of Santiago ...... 158 Illustration 25: The Catholic university in central Santiago...... 159 Illustration 26: Appartment block in Nuñoa, central Santiago...... 164 Illustration 27: A night at Taote ote Zouk, 2005 ...... 170 Illustration 28: Tautanga performing in a shopping mall, 2005 ...... 175 Illustration 29: Flyer inviting "all who loves Rapa Nui" to protest...... 185 Illustration 30: The protest, with public ...... 186 Illustration 31: Student, yorgo and moai in Tahai...... 196 Illustration 32: Young Rapa Nui by the sea, Hanga Roa ...... 226 Illustration 33: The anthropologist at Orongo ...... 227

Photos by author, unless marked otherwise.

YOUNG RAPA NUI GLOSSARY

Words and expressions of mixed origins used, adapted and/or partly invented by the generation young Rapa Nui in this study. These examples are intended to show that despite speaking mostly Spanish they still use many Rapa Nui elements.

This list is by no means complete and is based on oral information by informants in Spanish that I have tried to translate to English. Any errors are mine. Other Rapa Nui and Chilean words used in the thesis are explained in the text.

Word/expression Meaning Comment

ai te po Big, strong person Rapa Nui ai te roa Great, cool Rapa Nui

A ta poo! See you tomorrow! Rapa Nui

Aloha! Goodbye! Hawaiian, used similarly as the Tahitian Rapa Nui greeting iorana avahata Continental girls coming Rapa Nui for the Rapa Nui men cara de moai Serious facial expression, Chilean looking arrogant

Chao papa! Stop it! It’s over! Chilean, equivalent to the Rapa Nui oti in a negative sense

E hoi! That’s it! Chilean pronunciation of the Rapa Nui expression E ho’i

Eres un poe! That’s my friend! Mix of Chilean and the popular Rapa Nui pudding poe hacer piri To get together Mix of Chilean and Rapa Nui hae Something bad Rapa Nui, bad smell

Hei te roa! Cool Rapa Nui, lit: How long!

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here Close friend Rapa Nui, “to make a knot”

Ho!? What? How? What’s up? Rapa Nui hua’ai Extended family, all Rapa Rapa Nui Nui

Ka vive! “That’s life” Rapa Nui

Ki te mate! “Till death” Rapa Nui, name of webforum komputao Very good, “ready to go” Chilean “computado” (ready, organised) kona Place, spot Rapa Nui koro Old man, “my father” Rapa Nui ko te reka! How nice! Rapa Nui lala Drunk person Chilean? laser Cool From the cartoon “Rayo Lazer” on TV mager Cool girlish woman, adult Named after Maggie, the dancers in the Tapati Chilean mother of a classmate matamoa Ancestors, people in the Rapa Nui, but now used as old days subject more than adjective

Matu!? Let’s go! Should we go? Rapa Nui, traditionally only (Depending on the used by an elder person to a intonation.) younger. Now often used as equivalent to the Chilean “Vamos?/!” mehe Thing (abstract or Rapa Nui concrete) moni Money Rapa Nui, from English nua Older woman, adult Rapa Nui

Oti! Ready, finished, “That’s Rapa Nui all”, bye bye

O yeah! Extremely good English xvii

peti Good, nice, ok Rapa Nui, “Peti e tahi” (Like a peach) from the popularity of imported canned peaches papa’a White foreigner Tahitian pamper “Kids”, used about those Diaper brand Pamper a few years younger pu’ai Force Rapa Nui

Que se crea?! “Who does he/she think French “Qu’est-ce qu’il se he/she is?” croit?” siera Irritating person Chilean, the fish “sierra” taina Brother, sister Often used as ‘friend’ tako Alcohol Rapa Nui? tire Chilean Continental Rapa Nui person trauma Annoying person Chilean? tupuna Ancestors Rapa Nui

E ure! Hey, man! Rapa Nui, penis vaare Ok Rapa Nui pronunciation of the Chilean “vale”

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION A study of a youth generation

Map 1: NASA satelite photo of Rapa Nui.

―Of all the places in the world, why did you choose our little island?‖1

―So what exactly is it that you want to know about us?‖ asked some young Rapa Nui soon after my arrival on the island in 2002. They said they wanted to help me to get my thesis done quickly so that we could spend the rest of my fieldwork year having fun, but I had to tell them that I did not yet know what I wanted to know!2

Rapa Nui is a small volcanic island in the Pacific Ocean, situated between Chile in South America and Tahiti in French Polynesia. 3 Despite this apparent

1 Comment, Rapa Nui, March 2002. This was asked by young Rapa Nui when I introduced my project in the local school. It is also something I often would ask foreigners coming to Norway, and I am still not sure wether to understand it as an understatement hoping for a reassurance of the positive uniqueness of their place or genuine curisosity in my motives for choosing Rapa Nui.

2 Comment, Rapa Nui, March 2002. This may also indicate that the Rapa Nui are used to the presence of researchers, and even more so to that of archaeologists who stay for short periods and use more visible methods than the ―hanging around‖ of anthropologists.

3 According to the UN (http://islands.unep.ch/IXE.htm#271) the island measures 173km2 and is triangular in shape. The Chilean mainland is 3500km to the east, whereas Tahiti is 3400km to the west. The closest landmass is Pitcairn Island at 1400km to the west, but Pitcairn has no airport and is therefore even more remote than Rapa Nui. However, and again according to the UN (http://islands.unep.ch/tisolat.htm), Rapa Nui has the higest isolation factor in the world.

geographical isolation the island is internationally known for its moai (popularly called ―Easter Island statues‖) and other archaeological remains of a unique prehistoric civilisation. Today the island is Chilean national territory and most of it is a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site that the few thousands of Rapa Nui share with tens of thousands tourists, visiting scientists and residing outsiders.4 However, despite almost daily flight connections and sophisticated communication technology, Rapa Nui is still imagined as one of the most isolated island societies in the world – a place that many people imagine without people at all.5

Map 2: Rapa Nui in the Pacific Ocean (based on map from the Kon-Tiki Museum)

4 Chile annexed the island in 1888 and inscribed the land as state land in 1933. Chile established the National Park of Rapa Nui in 1935, and in 1995 it was granted World Heritage status. According to the 2002 national census, the population is 3 800, of which 70% are considered Rapa Nui, 27% mainland Chilean and 3% foreigners. It is hard to find the exact numbers of tourists the different institutions involved in tourism (SERNATUR, CONAF, LanChile) get different numbers, so for example in 2005 these numbers varied between 27.394 and 37.491 persons (http://www.ine.cl/canales/chile_estadistico/estadisticas_economicas/turismo/infoanual/pdf_an uarios/turismo2005.pdf).

5 ―But, are there any people to study there?‖ is the recurrent first reaction to anthropologists working with Rapa Nui; at least from those who do not confound anthropology with archaeology or Rapa Nui with the Galapagos Islands.

Research background and literature I went to Rapa Nui with the vague idea that I wanted to study what it is like to be young in such a small and geographically isolated, yet world-famous, place. This was motivated by personal interest in this island that I had dreamt about since childhood and by questions concerning belonging that had brought me to study anthropology. Having grown up in a small country at the northern end of the world and having left home as a teenager in order to ―see the world‖, I simply wondered how the young Rapa Nui identified with their home place – which seemed both very different and somehow similar to mine. I therefore arrived quite empty-handed and relied on my new Rapa Nui friends and informants to guide me towards the ―right‖ questions in a reality that naturally turned out to be far more complex and interesting than I imagined.

The literature on Rapa Nui has until now focused on archaeology and to my knowledge there were no youth studies available when I started my work in 2001. Long before that, as a child in Norway, it was the popular books of Thor Heyerdahl that first made me wonder about the people living among the curious ―Easter Island statues‖ and mysterious ―family caves‖. Heyerdahl‘s descriptions were coloured by a good sense of fiction writing, yet during my fieldwork I met several of the young characters he described in ―Aku-Aku. Påskeøyas hemmelighet‖ (―Aku Aku. The Secret of Easter Island‖, Heyerdahl 1957) –now grandparents of my informants – and they were more real than I had imagined (Andreassen 2006).6

The classical ethnography of Rapa Nui is Alfred Métraux‘s ―Ethnology of Easter Island‖ (1940). Métraux tried to rescue what was left of traditional knowledge, and his only comment about the ―modern‖ children of the 1930s was that they seemed to have an easy life (Métraux 1971:103). Yet his study, along with the earlier account of Katherine Routledge (1919), provides interesting stories of rites

6 For more on this see the texts in the exhibition catalogue (Martinsson-Wallin 2007). 4

of passage and life cycles in ancient times. The writings of long-term resident and amateur historian, Father Sebastian Englert (1974), are considered as reference work on myths, language and traditional history. I especially value his choice of presenting different Rapa Nui versions of the same stories side by side and thereby showing the multiplicity that some young Rapa Nui now see as lack of coherence.7 The first major studies on contemporary Rapa Nui society were done in the 1970s by anthropologist Grant McCall (―Reaction to Disaster: Continuity and Change in Rapa Nui Social Organisation‖, 1976) and geographer Douglas Porteous (―The Modernization of Easter Island‖, 1981). As the titles indicate, the latter study focused on modernisation, whereas the former prioritised continuity in spite of the changes, and both these give invaluable background information on modern Rapa Nui history. Yet it is only now that a field of Rapa Nui anthropology seems to emerge. Miki Makihara‘s ―Bilingualism, Soc. Change and the Politics of Ethnicity on Rapa Nui‖ (1999) and Maria Eugenia Santa Coloma‘s ―Transición demógrafica y social en Rapa Nui‖ (2002) are currently followed by a handful other forthcoming international PhD theses. 8

None of these researches focus on Rapa Nui youth, but there seems to be an awakening interest for the topic among students in Chilean universities, and some studies have even been done by my own Rapa Nui informants.9 Ruben Valera Perez graduated in sociology from Universidad de Chile in 2004 with “El impacto de la modernidad sobre la poblacion juvenil actual de la Isla de Pascua”, a study on the impact of modernity on the youth of Rapa Nui (Valera 2004). He concluded that the young Rapa Nui living on the island have a ―high cultural self-confidence‖ and that they are critical to the process of integration into Chilean society (Valera 2004:151). Wieteke Kahn graduated in anthropology from the University of Leiden (The Netherlands) in 2003 with “„Paasleiland het begrendse paradijs‟ Jongeren,

7 See more on this in Chapter 6, section: ―Young and old. Paradoxes of learning and knowing‖

8 Forthcoming Ph.D. theses that might contribute to the topic are Dan Benrup‘s thesis on Rapa Nui music, Riet Delsing‘s on Rapa Nui cultural politics and Steve Pagel‘s on Rapa Nui language.

9 Most of these studies are term papers or unpublished undergraduate theses, which are difficult to get hold of, but this material will hopefully become available through university library online services such as www.cybertesis.cl.

cultuur en toekomst binnen globalisatie”10, a similar study about the young Rapa Nui cultural identity, yet she concluded that they are already ―chilenised‖ (i.e. culturally integrated in Chilean society). Both these studies were based on short fieldworks and more quantitative methods, and the almost conflicting results might be influenced by Valera being a Chilean mainlander and Kahn being Dutch and a complete outsider to Chile. I actually think that both these different views concerning the young Rapa Nui can fit into the bigger picture.

As Grant McCall has continued working on the island, the Rapa Nui now almost consider him the ―in-house anthropologist‖ and a living reference book of geneaologies. His descriptions of Rapa Nui family life in the 1970s (McCall 1976, 1994) and its issues of seniority, authority, respect, caring and sharing have been very useful for understanding my own informants who are the children and grandchildren of his. In a later paper (McCall 1998) he briefly describes the situation of the 1990s when most children grew up in mixed marriages, not learning the Rapa Nui language and customs, surrounded by international tourism and being increasingly drawn away from the local into the global. In his humoristic style he remarked: ―Knowing how to fish or to recount a Rapa Nui legend will not get you a job in Santiago or Sydney‖ (McCall 1998: 89) and he imagined a class of educated cosmopolitans growing away from the traditional farmers and fishermen of Rapa Nui. At some point, he thought, these young Rapa Nui may discover what they were loosing and: ―Perhaps by then, they will be signing up for the heritage and language classes to recover again that lost past‖ (McCall 1998:90).

First impressions and historical background The young Rapa Nui11 I got to know in 2002 soon convinced me that their home island is ―Paradise‖ and that they would only like to ―travel the world‖ for short

10 Incidentally, we had both come up with similar topics at the same time and met on the island during our fieldworks in 2002.

11 My focus group consists of young Rapa Nui and Rapa Nui ―Mestizos‖ (i.e. half-Rapa Nui half- Chilean) in the age 16-30. This group and demographic factors will be described later in this 6

trips. Most of them actually leave the island for several years for secondary or university education, but this often seems to be rather a fulfilment of their parents‘ and grandparents‘ dreams than their own.

The apparent ―rootedness‖ of the present young Rapa Nui might seem strange compared to the reputation of their Polynesian ancestors as daring navigators (for instance Hau‘ofa 1993, 1998) that left their unknown home island in order to find and settle in Rapa Nui (around 800AD).12 The situation also seems to have been quite different only some generations ago, when the island was rented out to European exploiters (1890s-1950s) that mistreated and forbade off-island travel for the Rapa Nui. The fact that several islanders tried to escape over the Ocean in small rowing boats (for instance McCall 1976) should indicate that the grass of home wasn‘t always as green as it now seems.

When the first children were finally allowed to travel to ―Chile‖ (the mainland)13 for education in the 1950s it was seen as a great privilege, even though the Chileans on the mainland called them ―Indio‖14 and discriminated them for not speaking Spanish. The young Rapa Nui students discovered that the living standards and social rights were much better on the mainland, and upon returning to the island they inspired a local claim for Chilean citizen rights. This led to the installation of civil administration on the island in 1966, which was followed by a massive immigration of Chileans and intermarriage with the Rapa Nui. However, this ―Chilenisation‖ (McCall pers.com 2002) of Rapa Nui has since the 1980s been contrasted with ―Rapanuisation‖ (ibid) focusing on their land rights,

Introduction (see ―Fieldwork and methods‖) and in Chapter 1.3 (see ―Rapa Nui, the people and their society‖).

12 This homeland is still unknown and the actual date of the first settlement on Rapa Nui will probably always be debated, but the earliest safe dating is currently 800AD (Martinsson-Wallin, pers.com, 2006).

13 Throughout the thesis I will follow this local abbreviation and call the Chilean mainland simply for Chile or ―the Conti‖ (from the Spanish term for mainland ―continente‖).

14 The Rapa Nui still resent this word and rightly argue that they are not ―Indios‖ because they are not a South American people. Yet they sometimes use it like most Chileans, i.e. like a racist pejorative that can be used for anyone (although especially for the indigenous and lower-class).

language and cultural difference as Polynesians (for instance Delsing 2006). The Chilean attitude also seems to have turned from negative racism to seemingly admiring fascination and positive discrimination.15

The somewhat ironic result for today‘s young Rapa Nui, of whom most are considered mestizos16, is for instance that they were not taught Rapa Nui language as cildren, yet now they are criticised for not speaking it and are sometimes mockingly called ―pascuense‖ (―Easter Islander‖)17 – even by the same parents and grandparents that did not teach them. However, most of them feel that they are Rapa Nui and that ―Chilean‖ is simply the nationality stated in their passport – yet, on the other hand they do not deny their mixed descent. Considered Rapa Nui or Mestizo, all these young people seem very proud of their home island, its heritage and the ancestors who made the world-known moai statutes. And –cliché or simple fact- they are the future of Rapa Nui.

Thesis questions and theoretical background Following in the footsteps of my young Rapa Nui friends, this thesis describes aspects of being young in a geographically isolated yet world-known place like Rapa Nui. More specifically, it explores how life experiences of a group of young adult Rapa Nui can be said to be coloured by spatiotemporal circumstances and representations, while their practices within these structures can in turn influence what Rapa Nui becomes. This exploration is tentatively accompanied by analysed comparisons to personal experiences, following the guidelines of Pierre Bourdieu‘s ―participant objectivation‖ (Bourdieu 2003)

15 Although almost all Rapa Nui seem to welcome this, a few interpret positive discrimination as exotification and thus continuing racism.

16 Today the majority of the young islanders are half-Chilean, ―Rapa Nui mestizos‖, who know perfect Spanish, but little or only passive Rapa Nui, as even their Rapa Nui family thought Spanish would be the only language of the future. The concept mestizo will be explained in chapter 2.3, and the language situation is discussed in chapter 3.3 and 6.2.

17 ―Pascuense‖ means ―Easter Islander‖ in Chilean Spanish and the Rapa Nui sometimes use this term themselves, although their insistence on ―Rapa Nui‖ as the politically correct term is now gaining acceptance among Chileans. ―Pascuense‖ probably became a negative naming because of the discrimination in Chile, and now it is also used pejoratively by Rapa Nui about other Rapa Nui that they consider to ―have lost their culture‖ (particularly language and manners) and ―to think like Chileans‖. 8

Rapa Nui will be seen here as a thirdspace (Lefebvre 1991[1974]) and this approach is influenced by Miriam Kahn‘s use of Lefebvre‘s concept in her study of Tahitian identities (Kahn 2000, 2004). Kahn sees this thirdspace as ―a context that encompasses both local notions of physical land and global projections of mental images‖ (Kahn 2004:286). The image of ―mysterious Easter Island‖ is as strong in the Western imagination as the one of ―paradiselike Tahiti‖, and although the differences between these islands are many the similarities are more. Rapa Nui perceived as a thirdspace can similarly be understood as ―generated within historical and spatial dimensions, both real and imaginary, immediate and mediated‖ (ibid). Further, it can be said that it is in such a relational social space, which is continuously being formed ―at the intersection of global politics, mass media and local beliefs‖ (op.cit:303), that the Rapa Nui people ―live their social life on a daily basis and gain a sense of who they are‖ (ibid).

Simultaneously looking inside this thirdspace with a constructionist perspective and a focus on agents and their practice, I will highlight that although historical, global and national influences can seem overwhelming in a small tourist destination with a turbulent colonial history like Rapa Nui, the ideas and practices of the inhabitants should also be seen as part of what Rapa Nui is and becomes. I see this process as the envolving outcome of a dialectic of influences, or of seeing and being seen, like John Urry‘s reflexive ―tourist gaze‖ (Urry 1990, 2001).

This approach opens up for focusing on ―young people‖ as more than Van Gennep‘s (1909) concept of liminal life phase, which was an influential concept in earlier youth studies. Following a renewed anthropological interest in youth studies, exemplified with the edition ―Adolescence in Pacific Island Societies‖ (Herdt and Leavitt 1998), this thesis supports the view that young people can be seen as an indication for a society‘s future. And instead of seeing youth as a life stage I use Jennifer Johnson-Hanks‘ (2002) term vital conjuncture; a critical period of possibilities and choices that might have consequences for the individual life courses. Linking this to the social space approach I further argue that these individual choices made during vital conjunctures are also influenced by and 9

influencing the social space. Youth being a vital conjuncture of choices like education, job career and place of living seems very likely to have consequences on the future of the whole society of the individuals in question. In the end, all this might be just as simple as stating that we all are children of our time and parents to the future (with which I agree), yet nonetheless it is interesting to describe a specific example of this social process in a society that is so small that one almost can see history taking place..

The young Rapa Nui is difficult to define as a homogenous social group and this thesis focuses on the current quantitative majority; those who follow the home community‘s appraisal of higher education as a way of ―helping the island‖ and securing the future. This implies leaving Rapa Nui, where they are the ethnic majority, and for several years during a period of important life choices to live as an ethnic minority in urban centres like the capital Santiago on the Chilean mainland. There they face fears of becoming ―too Chilean‖ to be accepted as ―good Rapa Nui‖ when returning home, yet most seem to experience, in line with much migration research, an increased interest for their Polynesian heritage. Despite this interest, the home community often meets the returning students with scepticism regarding the value of their educational experience compared to the knowledge of the old and the cultural capital (Bourdieu 1980) gained by living there. This might look like a classical generational divide produced by modernity (Mead 1970), yet in Rapa Nui the splits also seem to go along other lines (depending especially on family bonds, political or economical interests and on situations). The young are still expected to respect the old, but where one might expect all the young to be in favour of modernisation and all the old against it, here it sometimes seems like it is the other way round. And although many young are conscious that they can make a difference for the island‘s future, the lack of local unity can probably seem discouraging. Yet, although Rapa Nui can sometimes seem like a boat where all rowers row in different directions18, all Rapa Nui seem to share the strong Polynesian connection with the land and likewise an ethno-political resistance to Chile. A strong ―love for home‖ and pride in the

18 I heard several times this boat metaphor being used by politically active Rapa Nui, but I don‘t know its origin and despite its joking tone I understood it as a statement of frustration. 10

Rapa Nui cultural heritage, as expressed through different identification practices, turned out to be the recurrent theme in my ethnographical material.

By describing life experiences and identification practices of young adult Rapa Nui in different situations (staged tourist representations and daily life, with or without adults present) and locations (Rapa Nui and Santiago) within the ―Rapa Nui thirdspace‖ I show how the current young generation is both influenced by and influencing the lived space that Rapa Nui is and becomes. More specifically I also try to understand how their strongly expressed love for Rapa Nui comes into play here.

1.1 Rapa Nui as a spatiotemporal “living space”

(Social) space is not a thing among other tings, nor a product among other products: rather, it subsumes things produced, and encompasses their interrelationships in their coexistence and simultaneitety – their (relative) order and/or (relative) disorder. It is the outcome of a sequence and set of operations, and thus cannot be reduced to the rank of a simple object. At the same time there is nothing imagined, unreal or ‗ideal‘ about it as compared, for example, with science, representations, ideas or dreams. Itself the outcome of past actions, social space is what permits fresh actions to occur, while suggesting other and prohibiting yet others (Lefebvre 1991:73).

The historical and its consequences, the ‗diachronic‘, the ‗etymology‘ of locations in the sense of what happened at a particular spot or place and thereby changed it – all of this becomes inscribed in space. The past leaves its traces; time has its own script. Yet this space is always, now and formerly, a present space, given as an immediate whole, complete with its associations and connections in their actuality (Lefebre 1991:37).

As a starting point for my analysis I wanted to look at Rapa Nui simultaneously as something more than a people, a society or a place. For me Rapa Nui is, for instance, home to those growing up there, a place of residence for those working there, a colonial territory, a field for researchers, a holiday destination for tourists, an open-air museum, a modern society situated among archaeological remains, a living culture, a language, a way of doing things and seeing the world, a people, groups on and away from the island, families and individuals. It can seem to be 11

an elusive ―whole‖ of all of this and something which is constantly changing due to internal and external factors. In order to find room for all these aspects I find it useful to describe Rapa Nui as a complex of time, space and praxis – and more specifically, as a social space like philosopher Henri Lefebvre‘s thirdspace.

The concept of thirdspace, as presented in ―The Production of Space‖, was part of Lefebvre‘s (1991 [1974]) contribution to the revival of research interest in space as a socially produced entity at a time when it was simply seen as a static backdrop for history (Kahn op.cit:286). Although thirdspace seems to be little used in anthropology, the generic concept ―social space‖ has gained much importance in social sciences the last two decades and Lefebvre was among the first to convincingly argue that space is social (Hubbard 2004:5). Geographer Ed Soja (1996) flagged Lefebvre‘s thirdspace in his contributions to the re- spatialisation of social theory, but at such a general level that thirdspace would ―encompass everything there is to say about anything‖ (Hubbard 2004:272-273) and made critics mockingly ask if Elvis still was alive in thirdspace (ibid). Homi Bhabha (1994) also uses thirdspace, but also with a very general and different definition that sees it as both ―specific hybridised spaces and an aspect of all cultural life‖ (op.cit 2004:55). So sticking to Lefebvre himself, thirdspace was initially his concept for seeing space as both the product and medium of a triple dialectic occurring between a perceived ―first-space‖ of cultural practices, a conceived ―second-space‖ of representations and a lived ―third-space‖ of imaginations (Hubbard 2004:5). For instance, representations of the second-space are projected onto the physical reality of the first-space, and these in turn influence the imagination (Kahn 2004:286). Instead of seeing space a fixed entity or something explainable from a single point of view he saw it as an ever- changing medium or intermediary (Kahn 2004:303), and he saw place as a special kind of space constructed through acts of naming and other spatial practices (Hubbard 2004:5).

Lefebvre has been criticised, for instance, for using confusing notions of space (Unwin 2000) 19 and for not foreseeing the importance of ethnicity (Shields in Hubbard 2004:212). However, Miriam Kahn‘s interpretation of Lefebvre for her study on Tahitian identities has proved to be very useful for my Rapa Nui material and I will therefore follow her use of thirdspace. Although far from identical, Tahiti and Rapa Nui are closely related as Polynesian societies with colonial histories and with tourism as their main industry. Tahiti is also the closest Polynesian flight destination from Rapa Nui, many Rapa Nui families have settled on Tahiti and this relation has brought Rapa Nui important cultural counter- weight to the Chilean influences. Although many young Rapa Nui find Tahiti to be too touristic, they seem to have welcomed Tahitian imports like the pareau (printed wrap-around cloth), and the Tahitians are always considered their ―Polynesian brothers‖, whereas most residing Chileans on Rapa Nui remain outsiders.

In Kahn‘s understanding, the lived thirdspace encompasses a physical ―first space‖ (like the Tahitian notion of land) and a mental ―second space‖ (like the global image of ―idyllic Tahiti‖). The thirdspace (like the ―Tahiti‖ Kahn wants to grasp) both contains and emerges from the dialectic between the other two, as they continuously intersect, interact and generate each other (ibid). The Rapa Nui, like the Tahitians and most Polynesians, see themselves as being physically attached to their kāinga (motherland, uterus) and this has been (and in some places still is) expressed in practices like placenta burial and living on shared family land. Yet, on Tahiti land has been sold to non-Tahitians and Tahitians seem to regard people living on rented land as ―less Tahitian‖ (Kahn op.cit:289). On Rapa Nui, Chilean law has so far actually prevented a similar situation, as only Rapa Nui are allowed to own20 land. Yet the colonial rule has refigured the spatial settlement patterns and thereby probably also the social relation between the Rapa Nui and

19 Lefebvre was also criticised for focusing too much on the spatial, yet he did write extensively on time as well, both in earlier writings not translated to English and also in the ―Production of Space‖ (Lefebvre 1991[1974]) where he again remarked the utterly important relationship between space and time (Elden 2004:194). 20 Yet, they are allowed to rent land for long periods and, as foreign profit-makers have now discovered, this situation will probably change.

their land.21 As for the images of Rapa Nui, the Western or global one is more about the ―Easter Island mysteries‖ than a ―South Seas paradise‖, yet in Chile there seems to be a tendency to imagine their Pacific territory as more tropical than it actually is (McCall, pers.com 2004). I also think that there are slightly different views and images held by different Rapa Nui, depending on their life experiences and material interests, especially when it comes to issues concerning the cultural heritage management. The lived ―Rapa Nui thirdspace‖ is thus constructed and changed through the dialectics (or ―triple dialectics‖ as Lefebvre called it) between different local, national and international images, conceptions and practices.

Kahn argues that it is in this living thirdspace that Tahitian identities ―are placed‖ (op.cit:303), and I am interested in how young Rapa Nui are ―placed‖ and navigate within the dialectic of a thirdspace. My understanding of the concept ―place‖ is like geographer Yi-Fu Tuan‘s (1977) view; human-made, meaningful and time-specific concretisations of space. Tuan (2003) argued that whereas space is freedom, place is safety and that we long for place just as much as we crave for space. I likewise see ―place‖ as something safe and made, whereas I associate ―space‖ with promises of possibilities and unknown futures. The space of Lefebvre can seem more limited than the one of Tuan, but I see both as open- ended and promising. And personally I find that many expressions of identification can be seen as attempts of ―placing‖ oneself –i.e. to find or build emotionally meaningful contexts that make one feel at home in the world.

Note on the concept of identity Before continuing, some general clarifications must be made about the concept of identity, because, as writers such as Amin Maalouf (1999) and Stuart Hall (1996) argue, this word has become increasingly difficult to think with. Toon Van Meijl explains in ―Shifting images of identity in the Pacific‖ (Van Meijl & Miedema 2005), that while identity kept its Latin connotations of stability, sameness and

21 Especially the establishment of Hanga Roa as the island‘s single village in the 1860s and the re- distribution of land in 1999 can be seen as important events in the spatial organisation of modern Rapa Nui. This will be further discussed in chapter 2: ―A special place, its history and people‖. 14

uniqueness until the 1980s it is now generally accepted in the social sciences that identities obtain meaning in contrast to the identities of others, that they are continually constructed and that each person develops several different types of identity (personal, collective, class, gender, age, ethnic, national, etc..) that can be activated in different situations and also overlap each other and/or collide (Van Meijl op.cit:2-4). This has led to the increasing use of the word identification, which seems to allow more connotations of movement and change (Van Meijl op.cit:4). Some anthropologists now also prefer replacing the term cultural identity with the more general group or collective identity, as societies can no longer be equated with singular cultures, and as many people identify with several cultures. When my Rapa Nui friend Manahine 22 asked me: ―What is identity, really?‖ my own hesitating answer was: ―I don‘t really know, but it feels like something that makes me both different and the same compared to others, and that something makes me feel like having a place in the world. Yet this ‗something‘ is always changing and difficult to pinpoint‖.23 I haven‘t gotten closer to any personal definition and have the feeling that it lies in its very nature that this concept must remain elusive. Yet, of course, at the same time one has to try to specify the different meanings one puts into the word in different contexts and I try to do that.

I further understand the dialectic of the thirdspace as related to the one between agency and structure, the dialectic of identification between individual and group or between groups. This inspired me to look at the young group as an influenced and influencing agent within the ―Rapa Nui thirdspace‖, and to focus on their practices of identification and representation vis-à-vis Rapa Nui as home place and community.

22Manahine is a created character. See my explanation in the last section of the introduction: ―Note on use of personal writing style and fictitious characters‖.

23 Comment, Santiago 2005. 15

1.2 Young Rapa Nui as social agents

We must place the future, like the unborn child in the womb of a woman, within a community (…) among us, already here, already to be nurtured (…) already in need of things for which, if they are not prepared before it is born, it will be too late. So, as the young say, The Future Is Now (Mead 1970:118).

Following what for example Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann argued in ―The Social Construction of Reality‖ (1967) it has become commonly accepted to see society as a socially constructed reality within which individual and collective practices both are influenced by and can in turn influence the structures of society. People are born into a pre-existing social world (also called structures) and through their practices they both reproduce and change24 this environment as their actions (or practices) change the conditions for the same actions in the future. Lefebvre seems to have been unaware of the constructionist theories of the late 1960s (Shields 2004:211), perhaps because the French did not always read English literature back then (and vice-versa), but ―The Social Production of Space‖ (Lefebvre 1974) seems to describe a similar dialectic. And as I believe that youth, i.e. young people going through a very important vital conjuncture (Johnson-Hanks 2002), can be seen as indications of what societies are becoming, I will look at young Rapa Nui as an influencing and influenced agent. The young Rapa Nui agents are navigating between local structures such as what they call traditions (unquestionable ―ways of doing things‖), national structures such as their Chilean education and global structures such as the island‘s economic dependency on international tourism. And like Bourdieu‘s (1980) social agents they can be said to struggle over symbolic capital in social fields - in this case within the ―Rapa Nui thirdspace‖.

To study young people as a way to understand culture change and what communities are becoming is inspired by the view that ―the adolescent embodies culture since he or she reworks social relations and knowledge systems toward an

24 These social changes are naturally better seen in the long run than in the span of a life-time and as any predictions about the content of future changes can only be guessings, it seems easier to look to the past. 16

indefinite future‖ (Herdt and Leavitt 1998:3). Modern Western definitions, like the one established by Erik Erikson (1968) see youth as a separate life stage and a peak period of individual identity construction. This is also found in the contemporary Rapa Nui view that: ―Young people are those who haven‘t yet decided what to do with their lives‖.25 The life stage model is now criticised for not corresponding to the ethnographic realities which are more of individual choices and indeterminacy than people going through universal stages of coherent life events (Johnson-Hanks 2002). This is also very true for Rapa Nui and I am not interested in young Rapa Nui as a life stage, but as a social group going through a socially structured period of choices – a vital conjuncture– that will effect their own lives and of their surroundings (Johnson-Hanks 2002:871). The intensity and openness of the modern identity search during youth seems to make young people more receptive to changes and many of them can be called ―cultural innovators‖ (Hovland 1999) who introduce change to the rest of their community. Yet, earlier focus in anthropological youth studies seems to have been the other way round; i.e. focus on how societies form young people into becoming ―complete‖ and integrated members of a culture after completing a period of socialisation and rites of passage, like described by Turner (1967). This shift of focus within youth studies seems to have followed the development of and interest in emerging youth cultures and can also reflect shifting anthropological views of the relationship between individuals and society. Like Helen Morton shows in ―Becoming Tongan. An Ethnography of Childhood‖ (1998), the view of socialisation as a limited period of basically passive internalisation of cultural norms and values was normal until the 1970s, whereas it is now accepted that although youth might be an especially intense period of socialisation this process continues through life and is an active dialectic relationship between the individual agents and the social structures (Morton op.cit:7-9).

25 Loose definition based on interview answers and comments during fieldwork, Rapa Nui, 2002- 03. As will be seen later in this thesis, other local definitions described the adults as more experienced and knowledgeable, whereas the young were described as unserious, and this might be a more traditional definition. 17

As many will remember the Pacific was also the area of classic anthropological socialisation studies like Margaret Mead‘s ―Coming of Age in Samoa‖ (1928). Mead was a young woman and novice fieldworker when her professor, the relativist Franz Boas, sent her to compare the young girls of Samoa with the biological perspectives on Western youth. After observing and describing the lives of seemingly happy and problem-free Samoan girls and their society, Mead reached the conclusion that the reasons for the so-called difficult ―hormonal‖ North American adolescents were cultural and not biological. Derek Freeman later strongly criticised her, saying that she either had completely misunderstood Samoan society or maybe even falsified her data. This lead to one of the biggest controversies in the history of anthropology, but Mead is still remembered for being one of the first to question the universality of human youth experiences and to argue that it is through socialisation that people become who they are.26

Although she is not considered to have made any major theoretical contributions to anthropology, Mead became an important anthropological voice in American public debates. In ―Culture and commitment. A study of the Generation Gap‖ (1970), at the end of her career, she also seems to claim that people make society just as much as society makes people: Like the first generation born in a new country, they listen only half- comprehendingly to their parents‘ talk about the past (…) Watching they can see that their elders are groping, that they are managing clumsily and often unsuccessfully the tasks imposed on them by the new conditions (…) The young do not know what must be done, but they feel there must be a better way (Mead 1970:100).

Even though Mead was writing this with reference to the Western youth revolts of the 1960/70s, she seems to have been right in predicting a future in which the adults would lose authority to younger people as the younger gain power through new forms of technological knowledge and quicker adoption to changes. Mead called this an unprecedented and world-wide generation gap, an ―unrest that is stirring modern youth everywhere‖, and saw it as caused by the rapid emergence

26 However, Herdt and Leawitt now find that biology does play some role in the experience of adolescence, and the uniqueness of this life phase is the ―simultaneous changes in physical maturation, psychological adjustment and social relations‖ (Herdt and Leawitt 1998:6).

of a single world community after World War II and the universal atomic bomb threat of total human extinction (Mead 1970:92-98). She called this apparent new era, a ―pre-figurative culture‖, as opposed to the former ―post-figurative‖ (where one learns from one‘s elders) and ―co-figurative‖ (where one also learns from one‘s peers) (Mead 1970:31).27 In a pre-figurative culture there are no past patterns to follow, and as children born into this new culture have no memory of the past, they will adapt more easily – and the elders will actually have to learn from the children.

The association between seniority, knowledge and power has been very strong in Oceanic societies and the appropriation of modern Western youth culture has many places created serious problems of generation conflict and even adolescent suicides – especially in Micronesia, but also in Polynesian societies like Samoa and Tonga. With “The Long Way Home: Dilemmas of Everyday Life in a Tongan Village‖ Arne Perminow (1993) shows how knowledge is considered a source of power to be controlled by the old, and that the gap between Western education and the local culture of seniority can become a dilemma for young Tongans caught inbetween (Perminow op.cit:171-173). On Rapa Nui, the gaps seem to be more complex than a classical generation gap, yet two general differences are precisely that the young are still supposed to respect the old, and that many old people criticise the young for lacking interest in the old ways, while they at the same time do not seem to willingly pass on their knowledge to the young who do show interest. About Rapa Nui in the 1970s Grant McCall wrote: ―the lack of parental authority and offspring disobedience were part of modern life‖ (McCall 1976:178) 28 . Around 1980 when a ―Council of Elders‖ was established, the founder claimed it to be based on old Rapa Nui traditions of seniority and this council became very influential for the cultural revitalisation of Rapa Nui society.

27 She recognised that many societies were still living by the traditional post-figurative model, but claimed that most of them would soon be confronted with the pre-figurative culture – either directly or by way of the co-figurative (Mead 1970:105).

28 Yet, the Rapa Nui concept of authority might have been more based on knowledge than age. For instance, school teacher Alfonso Rapu was only in his twenties when he became a local leader during the movement reclaiming Chilean citizen rights in the 1960s, probably as he had power in the form of first-hand knowledge about Chile after having studied there.

So if McCall‘s comment was descriptive of the situation in the 70s I think it might be possible that this council might actually have reinforced the local importance of seniority. At least the present situation on Rapa Nui is that although many young people seem to be conscious that they know more than the elders when it comes to certain topics and that this new knowledge could help the island, it is difficult to publicly argue against a person of age – as that would be lack of respect.

Yet, like Mead wrote, the old were never young in the world of today and for instance the intensification of tourism, of the global media flow, their own experiences of temporary migration and communication practices put the current young Rapa Nui in a different situation than their grandparents29. Paradoxically this crash meeting with globalisation has not only highlighted the role of the young Rapa Nui for the future of the island, but, as will be seen, it also seems to have highlighted the importance of images of the past heritage for Rapa Nui collective identities.

Note on youth definitions and the use of “vital conjuncture” ―The young are those with less experience‖ ―The young are those who like everything that is new and fun‖ ―The young are those who haven‘t yet decided what to do with their lives‖30

These are descriptions that various Rapa Nui gave me of the abstract subgroup of Rapa Nui I had come to study and which I was trying to define for the practical matter of choosing informants. Finding them using these criteria of ―experience‖ and ―liking fun‖ seemed less practical than a definition based on age, but youth seems to be quite as ageless on Rapa Nui as in most of the rest of the world

29 Of course, tourism has existed for many decades on Rapa Nui, and the outside fascination with ―mysterious Easter Island‖ goes centuries back, but the current youth is one of the first generations to have grown up with the tourism industry, the UNESCO status and international research programmes.

30 Definitions given by various Rapa Nui, interviews, March 2002. 20

today. In Rapa Nui language ―young people‖ is often called by the Polynesian concept taure‟are‟a31, but this is also used in descriptive terms like being unmarried or more specifically free of obligations. When asked to give an upper age limit some would say until 25, other until 30 and others again until 40. Another reason why I wanted a local definition was in fact that I wanted to see if they had a clearer idea about it than the vague contemporary definitions in most Western countries. Most nation states follow the UN age definition of youth as 15 to 2432 years old, whereas the Federated States of Micronesia, for example, defines it as 6 to 35. The age of full legal capacity is 18 in most states, yet there are quite big differences between legal markers of entering adulthood (such as right to vote, driver‘s license, marriage, etc.) and the cultural conceptions of the same. These differences33 between between age-based definitions and descriptive definitions of youth in different countries might be due to the relatively young age of this concept and the development of a Western and increasingly global ―youth culture‖ since the 1950s. It was only in 1985 that the UN gave its definition and although there have been studies of young people since the childhood of anthropology (for instace Van Gennep 1909, Mead 1928), the focus seems to have been on youth as a loose moment of entering adulthood. Most Western societies today lack clear rites of passage à la Van Gennep (1909) or Turner (1967), and it is almost impossible to define the moment where adulthood formally begins (Blatterer 2005:33).

31 Laure-Hine Grépin (2000) studied the taure‟are‟a of the Tuamoto Islands in French Polynesia, where this seems to be a social concept of only adolescent boys and is defined by a hedonistic and irresponsible behaviour. On Rapa Nui the term is used both about girls and boys, women and men, and means most of all ―unmarried‖ –no matter if the person in question has children or a partner. Viki Haoa of the Rapa Nui Language Academy therefore thinks that it could be a Tahitian language import coming with the missionaries, as maritial status was an important issue for them.

32 Within the category of youth, the UN definition differentiates between teenagers (13-19) and young adults (20-24) and seems with that to extend the lower age limit to 13 insteadof 15. Most of my ―young Rapa Nui‖ would according to this be teenagers on the verge of adulthood (http://www.un.org/events/youth2000/def1, last accessed May 2007).

33 The age based definition is often fixed by national politics based on the UN guidelines, whereas the uses of the term seem much more flexible (http://www.un.org/events/youth2000/def2.htm, last accessed May 2007) 21

This thesis is not trying to define a local age-specific or descriptive definition of Rapa Nui youth as such, but simply needed a starting point for locating interesting informants.

Clearification also needs to be made concerning my choice of avoiding the use of the classical anthropological life stage model. Like Jennifer Johnson-Hanks (2002) explains in an article where she proposes a theory of vital conjunctures, the life stage model has dominated anthropological studies of youth since Van Gennep (1909) and has made us look at human life as a sequence of stages of maturation. These stages were seen as universal and strictly ordered, i.e. all societies had them and nobody could go backwards to an earlier stage (op.cit:866). Transitions between these stages were marked by rites of passage and periods of liminality (Van Gennep 1909) by which society authorised people to move from one status to another. This model has now become so well-known also outside anthropology that despite criticism (for instance Falk-Moore 1986) it continues to be used (Johnson-Hanks 2002:866). Yet like Johnson-Hanks shows in her article with an example from young Beti woman in Cameroon (op.cit) and like many of us has experienced in our own lives, these supposed universal life stages often do not fit reality. Searching for a new anthropology of the life course, one opening up for indeterminacy and innovation, Johnson-Hanks therefore proposes a theory of what she calls vital conjunctures (op.cit:865).34 She defines vital conjuncture as: ―a socially structured zone of possibility that emerges around specific periods of potential transformation‖ (op.cit:871).

Youth, seen as a period when normally many individual choices concerning one‘s future (education, job, partner, place of residence etc) are expected to be made, seems to be a very clear example of a vital conjuncture. And as this perception fits much better with my ethnographic material I therefore prefer vital conjuncture over the life stage model.

34 ―Vital‖ comes from the demographic term vital event and ―conjuncture‖ from Bourdieu (1980), but Johnson-Hanks uses it to emphasise the intersection of structured expectations with uncertain futures (Johnson-Hanks 2002:872). 22

1.3 Past and place in Rapa Nui identity construction

The paradox in the construction of identities in the contemporary era, however, is the focus on continuity with a historical past, while identities are re-constituted in order to re-articulate the self to rapidly shifting circumstances. History has in other words become a resource in the articulation of identifications in the present and the future (Van Meijl and Miedema 2005:4).

Like Kahn interprets the symbolism of the marae (ceremonial platform) on Tahiti, the icons of Rapa Nui heritage 35 , the moai (ancestor statue, literally meaning ―image‖) on its ahu (ceremonial platform) has probably also represented the connection between ancestors and territory. Images of place, cultural heritage and history are also at play in the ethnic identification practices in the contemporary ―Rapa Nui thirdspace‖. Even daily conversation frequently make reference to ―the ancestors‖ and Hotu Matu‟a, the legendary first ariki (king), and old Rapa Nui placenames that were about to be forgotten are now getting their renaissance as baptising names in the new generations. Polynesian or Rapa Nui symbols like the moai, Rapa Nui language, tattoos and dress fabrics with floral or petroglyph inspired prints are widely used, both within tourism and local cultural politics. In ―Shifting Images of Identity in the Pacific‖ (Van Meijl and Miedema 2005), Toon van Meijl argues that it is a paradox that while people continually construct and fit their personal and collective identities to the quickly shifting circumstances accelerated by globalisation, the most important source for this ongoing identification are references to a historical past (ibid). To me this seems to echo the increasingly popular concept of ―glocalisation‖ (Robertson 1994) and what can be called the paradox of globalisation; the impression that the processes of de-territorialisation and homogenisation actually increase people‘s attachment to their localities (for instance Hylland Eriksen 1993c). None of these paradoxes seem that paradoxical to me, but rather a logical human reaction to rapid changes.

35 Heritage is used in the sense ―cultural heritage‖ and describes anything that is deemed valuable enough for a group or society as to be passed on from one generation to another (see for instance Caspersen 2007).

Although instant world-wide communication is welcomed by most people, it is observed that globalisation can be felt as a threat to the survival of distinct national, regional, ethnic and local identities. For instance, many people now try to hold on to their ―roots‖ and indigenous groups are increasingly admired for preserving their cultural uniqueness, while earlier being discriminated for ―backwardness‖. Like Lisa Ekholm and Jonathan Friedman argue it is possible that this renewed interest for origins started in the 1970s due to the dissolution of modern identity and a Western longing for a past. They write that: ―The ambivalent primitive has become the symbol of that which we others have lost‖ (Ekholm and Friedman 1995:148). Many indigenous people that earlier struggled with feelings of shame and self-denial after long-time discrimination now experience that their young members think it is ―cool to be ethnic‖ and can use their belonging as cultural capital (Bourdieu).36 However, local communities with no special ethnic affiliation also experience growing local patriotism and new interest in local history. Even places that might seem to have no long or interesting history, like the village where I grew up37 or like the Chilean nation38, now seem to need an identity (Urry 2001). This is of course also connected to market forces; especially the growing importance of tourism and commoditisation of culture (for instance Berkaak in Klausen 1999), but for me glocalisation speaks just as much about emotional needs of belonging, like Tuan‘s longing for place (2003), and a feeling of being unique. Thus, to me the sheer existence of glocalisation seems to indicate that origins, place, cultural heritage and history are important for both ethnic and non-ethnic identities.

36 This is maybe not so much the case of Rapa Nui, where the pride never seemed to be completely lost, but for example it is very much so for the Mapuche on the Chilean mainland or the Sámi in Northern Scandinavia.

37 ―My village‖ is a suburban area, which seems to have popped up from nothing in a mainly uninhabited forest north of Oslo during my lifetime. I have long wondered if this lack of a social history can be part of the reason why I still don‘t feel like this is ―my place‖ and therefore identify more with Norway as a whole or with the home villages of my parents. The slogan of the region is: ―Nittedal. Where city and forest meet‖ and in a recent interview, the local mayor said he now wants to accentuate the uniqueness of the valley rather than its proximity to the capital in order to strengthen the local identity. In the 2007 local elections ―finding a place identity‖ even became a political issue in line with the more traditional election topics like health care and education.

38 Many Rapa Nui, and also some young Chileans, told me that ―Chile has no culture‖, meaning that, especially compared to Rapa Nui, there seems to be no equally recognised and clearly defined Chilean cultural identity. 24

As a minority group within the Chilean nation state Rapa Nui, their identity is most often referred to as an ethnic identity, whereas a Rapa Nui might informally call it ―my culture‖. Because of its common use in racist or power discourses, ethnic identity is also one of these anthropological terms that have become somewhat empty and difficult to use. However, because it is used in Rapa Nui identity politics I will sometimes use it too, and other times use the more generic term group identity or even informally as ―culture‖. Ethnic identity can be defined as group belonging based on descent, place of origin, religion, language, race and way of life or a combination of any of these. Any definition of identity easily ends up in discussions on the equally difficult issue of authenticity, whereas what should matter is rather whether the identitification in question increases the group‘s feeling of belonging and its political interests (Hylland Eriksen 1998:415).

Descent and difference seem to be the defining factors of Rapa Nui ethnic identity today. This is close to the early ethnicity definition Max Weber and the later one of anthropologist Hal B. Levine, who defined ethnic identity as: [P]eople‘s use of subjective belief in common descent to differentiate between themselves and others‖ (Levine 1997:32). The Rapa Nui present themselves as descendants of the island‘s first king, Hotu Matu‘a and ―the ancestors who made the moai‖. Still it seems there has always been competition between rivalling mata (extended kinship groups), and some claim to have a more ―royal‖ identity than others. Genealogy and family name is also the base for the official Chilean definition of Rapa Nui, which is used to decide who can receive special ―ethnic‖ grants and Rapa Nui land rights. This focus on people‘s belief in common descent is present in many definitions of ethnicity and seems especially important concerning definitions of indigenous peoples and their territorial rights within nation states.

In addition, the Rapa Nui seem to put great importance on their difference from ―Chile‖39, and in some instances also from their Polynesian neighbour ―Tahiti‖40. Fredrik Barth‘s ―Ethnic groups and boundaries‖ (1994 [1969]) is one of the most widely quoted references here, and the focus of his definition is the importance of the perception of dynamic boundaries defining differences between groups, rather than the content of these differences. The ―dynamic boundaries‖ is a term that describes how ethnic groups continuously define themselves based on perceived physical or mental boundaries vis-à-vis other groups they interact with (Barth 1994 [1969]). Barth proposed that identity construction depends more on maintaining a conceived difference than the actual markers of each group‘s identity, and ethnic groups thus indirectly influence and are influenced by neighbouring groups. These contrasts depend on connections as they are discovered and constructed through contacts with other groups. In prehistory Rapa Nui, this dialectic probably functioned externally between the island and other islands, and internally between the island‘s lineage groups divided by both physical and mental borders of each one‘s territory. Today, these internal boundaries can still be guessed between families, and between other groups (for instance, young and old), yet the common external ―Other‖ of Rapa Nui is now ―Chile‖.

Barth‘s ―boundaries‖ have been so much used that some question their analytical usefulness and whether they might be stronger in the heads of anthropologists than among the people they study. In a later paper (Barth in Cohen 2000) Barth explored the cognitive aspects of the concept of boundaries. 41 He thinks the development of private land ownership (involving binding people to separate territories) might have made the image of boundaries so powerful in Europe that

39 Writing Chile with quotation marks is here meant to point to the distinction between different ideas of Chile, as for instance a state, people, territory and imagined community.

40 Especially the young Rapa Nui, seem to consider Tahiti to have ―lost its culture‖ due to mass tourism, yet they seem to prefer ―Tahiti‖ to ―Chile‖. 41 Here he starts with reminding us that the English word and concept ‗boundary‘ has three levels of abstraction. First it can literally be a physical boundary dividing a territory, secondly and more abstractly it can distinguish social groups, and thirdly it can be a template for separating categories of the mind (op.cit:17).

we easily use it analytically also about non-territorial groups (op.cit:23). However, other people might use other concepts for what we call boundaries, and anthropologists should try to uncover the concepts that people actually use themselves. In the case of contemporary Rapa Nui people do talk and act about boundaries in very physical ways, such as when they fight for land rights and fence in their fields in the countryside to prevent others from using it 42. They also identify themselves culturally and biologically43 as Polynesians and especially they identify themselves in contrast to Chileans.

Theoretically, it can be said that people can build their identity on what they have in common within the group and different from other groups. Thus the Rapa Nui insistence on common origin and descent as part of their ethnicity is open to change with the circumstances as long as the Rapa Nui can differentiate themselves from ―the Chilean‖. Miki Makihara (1999) noted how an intense moment of local ethnic identity definitions arose among the Rapa Nui when the Chilean state introduced the national Ley Indigena (―Chilean Indigenous Law‖) in 1994. She also showed that the importance of using the Rapa Nui language as an ethnic identity marker in political discourse has risen at the same time as Spanish has become the dominant language on the island and as politics of ethnicity have become useful for the resistance against the Chilean state (ibid). The young who don‘t speak the language seem to add much importance to ―feeling Rapa Nui‖ and ―respecting the culture‖, with some even saying that respectful and knowledgeable outsiders are almost as good Rapa Nui as themselves. The young also seem to be more influenced by identity markers that have grown with the tourist industry, such as Polynesian looks, music and dance – which for many seniors seem to be superficial ―fun‖. In the future, when the current young people

42 A Rapa Nui complained about it to me saying: ―Look at the borders the Europeans put in our heads!‖ However, although private ownership was introduced from ―the outside‖ (by French missionaries, English farmers and the Chilean state), these fences also remind me of the borders of prehistoric Rapa Nui tribal territories – which one could apparently be killed for if found trespassing them. Conversation, Rapa Nui, 2006.

43 The term ―blood‖ is difficult in discussions of Polynesian ethnicity, because many see it as introduced by American-European race ideology, but I feel that cannot avoid it as long as my informants use it. However, like the custom of adoption and social inclusion shows, the Rapa Nui use of ―blood‖ is also quite subjective.

will have become the dominating Rapa Nui, they may turn these Polynesian looks into new traditions or they may re-evaluate them and select something else as their identity markers.

Still, a continuing common marker of Rapa Nui identity seems to be the attachment to their origin place. Like their Polynesian relatives –the Tahitians, the Rapa Nui speak very concretely about being attached to their land as a life-giving force. And the Rapa Nui seem to attach a lot of importance on being physically on their island44. This does still not surprise me, as I find it simply human to relate strongly to home-place and its associations to family and safety (for instance Tuan 2003). However, I understand that organic images of belonging, like ―roots‖ and ―motherland‖, can make the connection between people and territories sound more natural than it is and that the use of such images might be politically motivated (Fuglerud 2001:197). In the case of Rapa Nui, economic benefits from cultural tourism and special treatment by the Chilean State should be motivating enough. Like for instance John Urry has showed with ―The Tourist Gaze‖ (1991) and related writings (Urry 2003) tourists are bodies travelling to experience the exotically different, unique and authentic. Their gaze can contribute to making, changing or conserving images of places as the destinations try to live up to the expectations of the visitors. And as the inhabitants become aware of the gaze one could almost imagine that they might insist on their apparent uniqueness as part of a tourist marketing. Yet, I think there is more to this than conscious and purely economical and political interests.

So by using the thirdspace as a frame, I look at how the expressed ethnic identities of young Rapa Nui are influenced by both past and present, and local and external factors. Yet I also look for more emotional explanations for the Rapa Nui attachment to past and origins.

44 This seems to be different from Western Polynesian societies like Tonga and Tokelau, where the migrant populations often seem to prefer nurturing relationships with the home community by sending things rather than going there in person (pers.com Arne Perminow and Ingjerd Höem, 2007). 28

1.4 Bourdieu‟s “participant objectivation”

Nothing is more false, in my view, than the maxim almost universally accepted in the social sciences, according to which the researcher must put nothing of himself into his research (Bourdieu 2003:287).

These words of late Pierre Bourdieu sounded like music in the ears of this struggling novice trying to analyse identity issues of someone else, while feeling that the study is just as much about her. Yet Bourdieu was not inviting to personal confessions, because in the same article – and with reference to Marcus and Fischer (1986), Rosaldo (1989) and Geertz (1988) – he warns strongly against the narcissistic reflexivity and ―diary disease‖ (Geertz in op.cit:282) of post-modern anthropology. Instead, Bourdieu wants us to try ―participant objectivation‖, a pun on and an indirect questioning of the research method that has become an identity marker of anthropology. He asks how the anthropologist can be both subject and object at the same time, but instead of opening up for personal testimonies on the impossible nature of participant observation or concluding that the task is impossible, he proposes participant objectivation.

Participant objectivation is a personal method Bourdieu confesses to have discovered almost by accident while doing parallel research abroad (Kabylia, Algerie) and at home in his native village (Béarn, France), which became an invaluable methodological device for him. Instead of exploring the lived experience of the researcher, this method focuses on the social conditions of possibility of that experience – and on the act of objectivation itself (Bourdieu 2003:282). This might sound like intricate French Bourdieu wordings (like ―structuring structures…‖), but he explains that these social conditions simply imply e.g. the researcher‘s age, gender, beliefs and life history, but most importantly her/his position within anthropology. Like he showed with the book ―Homo Academicus‖ (1988), the world of science is not as objective as it tries to be, and each academic milieu is a microscopic society with its own beliefs, rituals and traditions. The professional views of a researcher is heavily influenced by his or hers position within the academic world. Even what seem to be the most 29

personal choices of research topics and methods are expressions of dispositions formed by one‘s social and academic background.

In my case, the geographical academic influences should come from France, Britain, Norway and Australia as these were my study locations, but only the native Norwegian connection seems clear to me. While writing this thesis, I have been more on Rapa Nui, in Santiago de Chile and at home in Oslo than at my university in Sydney, and I have not been physically part of any geographically located academic milieu for longer periods. So could it be that moving from one place to another while communicating through the Internet makes such academic influences fewer? Despite the sophistication of today‘s communication technologies, it seems to me there is something that can best be transmitted through common coffee breaks, random small chats in the university corridors, or simply by living in the same place. Maybe that something is precisely the common set of dispositions (Bourdieu 2003:285) that Bourdieu calls what others might call common references, and which enables people in a group to understand each other without having to explain anything. This still seems to require something more than Internet contact.

Yet although being physically disconnected from the daily life unfolding at my university, the position of being a student trying to become a professional is a clearly felt influence. Even though I was more interested in my informants and the project than in obtaining a PhD, I had to get the degree in order to fulfil the requirements of my study loan and to finish something I had started. In some aspects this sometimes made the thesis feel like an exercise in how to please unknown examiners instead of focusing everything on trying to understand my research topic. This also made me aware of the general accusations about anthropologists getting involved in the field for the sake of ―fame and money‖ (read: titles and academic career) even though I did not feel that this criticism could be applied to myself or any anthropologist I know. Still, I have often felt like being in a solitary position between the academic world and my field, family and friends –and trying to live up to the expectations of all. 30

Norwegian academic influences have also been a little difficult to deal with. Like many other anthropologists, I chose to study ethnic identity and defined it loosely as ―something‖ that makes one similar to others in a group and different from other groups. This choice and definition are easy to objectivate, as all students passing through the doors of the University of Oslo leave with readings of (Norwegian) ―ethnicity specialists‖ Fredrik Barth and Thomas Hylland Eriksen in their luggage. The ethnocentric reading of my choice seemed so obvious that I have actively tried to find other suitable authors for my literature, in order to seem more objective and scientific in the eyes of my international examiners. However, these authors are so widely used when it comes to ethnicity that ignoring them would also call for an explanation, and, without realising that I had been fighting against an objectivation of myself, I finally chose to stick to my ―academic nationality‖. Also, a certain French influence from years of study there might be traced in the preference for Pierre Bourdieu, and the MA in visual culture in London could be discerned through the focus on performing identity.

During the fieldwork, I tried to practice participant observation like we had been taught in the classes of methodology at the University of Oslo and read in anthropological field handbooks. This involved the anthropological ―hanging around‖ without asking too many questions, and participating in local events and everyday living while secretly noting as many details and impressions as possible. Novice dilemmas were, for example, how to make a convincing yet subtle entry, how to take notes without feeling like a spy and how to act like an anthropologist while feeling like a tourist. Yet the most difficult task was how to deal with the automatic comparisons between Rapa Nui and Norway that my mind constantly performed. This is probably something all anthropologists experience, but it hadn‘t been discussed much in methodology classes and it felt alarmingly close to the ethnocentrism that Malinowski meant fieldwork would eliminate. The comparisons seemed completely irrelevant to the research topic, but as they couldn‘t be avoided, I ended up talking about it with my informants (who comforted their anthropologist by saying that they also compared everything to 31

their home culture!). Yet, even though they reminded me that comparison is human , I still felt it was unsuitable for an anthropologist. However, in the writing up process, I have tried to acknowledge the personal memories and feelings I met in the field. For example, the personal experiences from my time as part of a group of young Norwegians studying on the ―European mainland‖45 (in France, to be specific) became part of my understanding of the situation of the Rapa Nui students in Santiago. The nostalgia for home, the use of a ―secret language‖ and the strong group identity, simply because of a common origin, are things I have experienced myself. I am not sure that this made my understanding any better, but at least I felt I could easily relate to and communicate with my informants because of it.

Bourdieu‘s article is too short to convince me that I have been practicing something similar to participant objectivation, but discovering his article was a relief and a motivation to dare believe that ―scientific knowledge and knowledge of oneself and of one‘s social unconscious advance hand in hand‖ (op.cit:289). Yet again, the fear that what goes for a renowned researcher might not be accepted from a novice makes the line between rational use of native experience (op.cit:287) and ethnocentric narcissism difficult to draw in an argument. So, responding to the friendly joke that my interest in history might be traced to the meaning of my first name (―devoted to the ancestors‖), I will try not to take this analysis that far, but simply try to make use of analysed personal references where I find it appropriate in this work.

1.5 Fieldwork and methods My first fieldwork was conducted on Rapa Nui from February 2002 to February 2003. I arrived as a tourist in order to observe the 2002 Tapati folk festival and stayed to participate in the preparations of the 2003 festival. This festival is the

45 Many Norwegians refer to the Western European countries from Denmark and southwards as ―down on the continent‖. This often seems to express a certain awe (and sometimes envy) for the historic grandeur and cosmopolitan ambiance of the old world –which the young and peripheral Norway never will be part of. As a teenager in France, I often felt like a barbarian from the north and came to think that we probably reinforced that image of ourselves with our insistence on the heritage from the Vikings. 32

highlight of the Rapa Nui calendar and marks the passing of the year. My supervisor Grant McCall was also doing fieldwork on the island at the time and advised me how to introduce myself to the community. First, I asked permission from local authorities, the mayor and the leader of the Korohoa (Elders‘ Council). They introduced me to the local school as an ―anthropology student that was going to study the young, but who could also be a possible English teacher and computer assistant‖. So I started spending two days a week in the school‘s computer lab, and was also introduced to the voluntary school archaeology group organised by the local museum, Museo Antropológico Padre Sebastian Englert (MAPSE). The computer teacher introduced me to the training sessions of the local dance group Kari Kari where I soon trained three nights a week and so the snowball went on rolling. I was likewise introduced to the Rapa Nui teacher Clara who had a spare room to rent and so I found what was to become ―my‖ Rapa Nui family. Clara‘s teenage daughter, Manahine, became my main informant and ―big little sister‖ who introduced me to her friends.

So just as much by chance as by planning, my informants became quite a varied group of young Rapa Nui from the school, the archaeology project, the dance group and Manahine‘s friends. Most of them were girls, yet I did not see it necessary to make this into a gender study.

The ages of my growing group of young Rapa Nui spanned from 16 to 30, with the majority finding themselves between finishing high school and eventually going to study on the Chilean Continent and aged between 18 and 20. The number of persons in this age group who are actually on the island is small and unstable, as many come and go between studies and jobs away from the island, but I estimate that I had a few hundred potential informants46. My long-term focus group ended up consisiting of around forty persons.

46According to the Chilean national census (www.censo2002.cl) of April 2002, Rapa Nui had 424 persons (223 boys and 201 girls) in the age group 15-24, which if mathematically divided would equal some forty persons per yearly cohort. However, the census did not count the approximately three hundred Rapa Nui students being away from the island and most of them are in the age group 18-24. And as several of these students travel back and forth to the island, it was difficult to calculate exact numbers of possible informants, so I use approximate numbers. 33

In 2004 almost half of my informant group was studying in Santiago and after a short follow-up fieldwork from November to December, I moved to Santiago in March 2005. In 2006 I moved back to Norway to isolate myself in my childhood home in order to finish the writing, but even this turned out to be a new field location where I electronically kept in touch with Rapa Nui friends over the internet while physically rediscovering my own home place. So although the major fieldwork was done on Rapa Nui in 2002-03 there have been constant short returns to the field while writing up my thesis.

My methods have mainly been ―hanging around‖ with the Rapa Nui who did not mind having me around. The line between participant and observer was felt like a fine one, but I always introduced myself as an anthropology student and was conscious of my researcher role. As my informants became personal friends to a greater degree, some would sometimes jokingly ask: ―Are you studying us right now?‖ and I would joke back that if they did something interesting then I might be. I always tried to be more attentive than actively seeking information, which went well with my natural shyness. When I did taped interviews I asked for oral consent and told them that they would remain anonymous and that they would get the chance to read relevant parts of my thesis before submission. They said I could use their names if I wanted and that they trusted me in what I would write. I am grateful for their friendship and hope that I prove to be trustworthy. They taught me the Spanish and Rapa Nui mix 47 they speak, but I have surely misunderstood words or taken acts to be more telling than they are. And as Manahine reminds me from her anthropology classes: ―the more time you spend in books away from the field the more will you forget and get seduced by fancy anthropological ideas‖.48

47 Although I started my fieldwork speaking only basic Spanish (hoping that this would help me learn Rapa Nui) and even though I stayed with a family that speaks Rapa Nui I only managed to learn a mix of the two languages. This I discuss further in chapters 3.3.3 and 6.2.

48 Manahine, personal communication, Santiago, May 2005.

So, just as Clifford Geertz, I will never feel I understood the Rapa Nui society ―quite right‖:

Cultural analysis is intrinsically incomplete. And, worse than that, the more deeply it goes the less complete it is. It is a strange science whose most telling assertions are its most tremendously based, in which to get somewhere with the matter at hand is to intensify the suspicion, both your own and that of others, that you are not quite getting it right. But that, along with plaguing subtle people with obtuse questions, is what being an ethnographer is like (Geertz 1973:29).

So, on the whole I hope that when my Rapa Nui friends read this thesis they will think that it is mostly just old news, because that would at least mean that I didn‘t get it all wrong.

Note concerning writing style and the creation of characters I write this thesis in the style I feel most comfortable with and which I hope both my informants and others will enjoy reading. It is a personal everyday language, with scientific terms only where absolutely necessary.

In addition I use the created characters of some young Rapa Nui as reading guides throughout the text. I do this both to make the text easier to read, but first of all to protect the identity of my informants. I choose to create new names and to mix the characteristics of my informants. The characters Manahine, Tea, Moana and Uka are each composed of several informants. The names Manahine and Tea do not exist as far as I know, but Moana and Uka do. To reflect the local distinctions and demographics two of these characters are socalled Mestizos, two are Rapa Nui and two are going to Santiago for university studies. Everything these characters say and do in the following was said or done by some of my informants, but the names and characteristics are mixed up.

I also find it important to show that the ethnographer is not an invisible spirit objectively observing the scene, but a subject interacting and indirectly influencing 35

the research environment.49 Therefore I do not try to hide myself behind the text, but write in first person and make numerous references to personal experiences.

I first hesitated about using this style as I was afraid critics would find it too personal and literary, but I have come to the conclusion that this is the only way I can write. Ethnography is story telling, and so I hope many young Rapa Nui will recognise themselves in these characters, although none are exactly like I describe them.

1.6 Thesis structure and outline The structure of this thesis plays with associations of contrasts and connections. The two main parts (I: “Te Pito ote Henua as the Navel” and II: “Te Pito ote Henua as the End”) are inspired by the seemingly contrasting name interpretations of this older name for the island. This partition is meant to symbolise the contrasting experiences of young Rapa Nui‘s lives on the island versus in Santiago, yet also the connections enabled by the physical and mental movements of the young between these two places. Finally, the presentation of the ethnographic material in the form a condensed life cycle description, beginning and ending on their home island, is inspired by a possible third name interpretation – namely Te Pito ote Henua as ―the umbilical cord of the earth‖.

This introduction (chapter 1) shortly introduced some theoretical themes that can throw light on the topics that will be described and analysed in the following chapters.

Chapter 2 (―A special place, its history and people‖) describes Rapa Nui as a living thirdspace through short introductions to the island‘s geography, history and contemporary society. This is important background information for understanding the lifeworld of the young today.

49 Pierre Bourdieu (2003:1) argued that integrating and analysing personal experiences could be important analytical resources in the field. 36

Chapter 3 (―Young lives at home in the Navel‖) presents various ―nests of socialisation‖ in the Rapa Nui thirdspace and follows young Rapa Nui during the year before graduating from the local high school. Scenes of everyday living are contrasted with events such as the annual folk festival Tapati in order to show how the young Rapa Nui grow up relating to their island both as home, as a colonised territory and as an international tourist destination.

In chapter 4 (―Young lives away‖) the physical location is shifted to the Chilean capital Santiago on the mainland, but the group of study is the same. The description will show how the Rapa Nui students react to Santiago and how they try to keep in touch with their home community while away. The examples of a political protest and participation in the international ―Easter Island Conference‖ will highlight why I see this temporary Rapa Nui student diaspora as part of the Rapa Nui thirdspace.

Chapter 5 (―Recharging the mana. Going home for the summer‖) follows the young students back to Rapa Nui on one of many returns home during the years of studying, and shows some of the challenges of meeting the expectations of the home community. The ethnography ends here in the place it started; yet this end also indicates that processes of becoming are journeys without physical ends.

In chapter 6 (―Rapa Nui identity matters in perspective‖) I analyse the ethnographic material presented in the previous chapters in order to find common themes among the life experiences, historical structures and opinions of this generation of young Rapa Nui. These themes (importance and languages of identification, plus relations between young and old, Rapa Nui and Chileans, students and ―home stayers‖) can be indications for the future thirdspace of Rapa Nui.

Finally, in chapter 7, I give a conclusion regarding how the life experiences of this youth generation might shape the future of Rapa Nui, but this will, of course, be yet another question rather than an answer. And in the afterword I compare the 37

becoming of the young Rapa Nui with my own becoming as an anthropologist in order to illustrate that we are all part of uncertain processes of becoming and of influencing our unknown futures.

PART ONE

TE PITO O TE HENUA, AS THE NAVEL OF THE WORLD

Illustration 1: Detail of moai, Ahu Tongariki

The title of this first part is inspired by the possible name interpretation of Te Pito o te Henua as the navel or centre of the world. I associate this with the perspective of seeing a place from the inside, and after a general geographical and historical presentation of the island this part will focus on the lives of young Rapa Nui before leaving it. 39

CHAPTER 2

A PLACE OF IMAGES, HISTORY AND PEOPLE

Illustration 2: View of Rano Raraku from Tongariki

In this chapter I will present the Rapa Nui thirdspace through local and global images of the island, through its geography and history and through its contemporary society.

2.1 RAPA NUI, IN IMAGES AND WAYS OF SEEING Text 2.1a: Hau Maka‘s dream, the first Rapa Nui vision of the island (…) Hau Maka went to bed at night, slept, and his spirit came here, arriving at the islets. Hau Maka saw the islets. His spirit gave a name to the islets, saying: ―The boys with their feet in the water, sons of Te Taanga, grandsons of Hau Maka of Hiva. Passing that place, Hau Maka‘s spirit went up towards the depression (of the volcano‘s circumference). (Below), he saw holes (lagoons) with mahore fish. Hau Maka‘s spirit went up and saw the volcano and said: ―The dark pit of Hau Maka (who lives) in Hiva‖. The spirit went around the other side, inspecting the flat parts where Hotu Matu‘a could disembark. Along the way he found kohe (a plant). He stepped on it, broke it, and Hau Maka‘s spirit said: ―Hau Maka (who lives) in Hiva‘s breaking of kohe‖. He left, and arrived to Poike, and turned in this direction. Coming around this side, he came to Taharoa. Hau Maka‘s spirit said: ―Well, here there is a flat part for the King‖. He left and went to Hanga Hoonu. There he saw the sand in the bay and said again: ―Well, here there is a flat part for the King‖. He left, came to Ovahe, and saw the colored sand. He turned towards Anakena, saw the sand and (Hau Maka) said: ―Here there is the big, flat part, the big bay where King Hotu Matu‘a may disembark‖. (Hau Maka‘s 40

spirit) went to Hiva, started to awake, and exclaimed: ―Ah!‖ He felt happy (Englert 2002:37)50.

Text 2.1b: From Roggeween‘s log, the first European description of Rapa Nui

Our lat. by reckoning was 27 degrees 4 minutes South and the long. 266 degrees 31 minutes, course West ½ South, distance 7 miles, the wind Nor‘- Nor‘-West to Sou‘-West, breeze unsteady, with calms, also thick weather and showers. Saw a turtle, floating weed, and birds. About the 10th glass in the afternoon watch The African Galley, which was sailing ahead of us, lay to wait for us, making signal of land in sight; when we came up with her, after four glasses had run out, for the breeze was light, we asked what they had seen. On this we were answered that they had all very distinctly seen a low and flattish island lying to starboard, about 5½ miles off, to the nor‘ard and west‘ard. Hereupon it was deemed well to stand on under easy sail to the end of the first watch, and then to lie to and await the dawn. This being decided, the necessary information was given to Captain Bouman, who was astern; and to the land the name of Paásch Eyland, because it was discovered by us on Easter Day. There was great rejoicing among the people and every one hoped that this low land might prove to be a foretoken of the coastline of the unknown Southern continent (Roggeween 2004:20)51.

2.1.1 Island birth – from mythology to tourist marketing People tend to have mental images of places before knowing them and some places are more attractive to the imagination than others (Kahn 2003:307). The Pacific, or more evocatively called the South Seas, is full of dream destinations and seems to be the closest thing to the Western idea of paradise. Rather than the biblical descriptions of the ―Garden of Eden‖ thought to have existed somewhere in the Middle East, we seem more likely to imagine paradise as a small and tropical ―South Sea Island‖ – dotted with coconut palms, colourful flowers, white beaches and surrounded by a blue sky and crystal clear water. Most often there are not many contemporary Pacific Islanders in this image, but if present they are imagined like the ―noble savages‖ of the time of Rousseau and the Enlightenment explorers. As Robert Borofsky remarks (Borofsky 2004) the romantic descriptions

50 This excerpt of the Rapa Nui funding myth as told by Arturo Teao to Sebastian Englert (who translated and published it) is copied here in order to show varying styles of narration. In paragraph 2.2 it is contrasted to how young Rapa Nui told me the myth today.

51 This excerpt from the log of Roggeveen is copied to show the style of narration of the European explorers. The text describes their first sighting of the island on 5th April 1722, a few days before they went ashore. 41

from this time have made us expect that living is amazingly easy and carefree on such an island. And interestingly, the Pacific is the only region that has retained such a positive image in the Western imagination from the age of exploration up to today, and this despite increased contact and modernisation (op.cit:42). This might have to do with the coincidence that the Pacific was ―discovered‖ in the time of the Enlightenment, yet probably even more so with the fact that the Europeans had fewer economic interests in the Pacific compared to other conquered continents and that the major industry here is now tourism – which, of course, has an interest in maintaining the paradise image (op.cit:49). That the paradise image still thrives can be illustrated by the observation that following any threat of global disaster, travel agencies receive a rush of people wanting to travel to the Pacific (op.cit:45).

Rapa Nui is also one of these Pacific Islands that people fantasise about, yet compared to the typical ―South Sea Island‖ it is better known for mysteries than coconut palms and easy living. People all over the planet have heard of the ―Mysterious Easter Island‖, but few know exactly where it is. And in many heads, this land has no people at all, only the moai are left as witnesses of its lost civilisation. So to most outsiders Rapa Nui is first of all ―the island of the lonely giant stone heads‖…somewhere. Actually, the island can even be quite difficult to find on a world map, as this tiny spot in the southeastern Pacific is easily ignored by the eye and is sometimes hidden under the text box explaining the map symbols. This anonymous location might have reinforced the mystery factor, yet the contemporary image of Rapa Nui is mostly the result of a historical process or dynamics similar to a thirdspace.

In the very beginning, according to natural history, the landmass that was to become the island Rapa Nui appeared in the Pacific Ocean (at 27˚09 South/109˚27‘ West) millions of years ago. The island literally erupted from the deep sea bed in the form of successive volcanoes, so although any resemblance of this geological birth to the name interpretation of Te Pito ote Henua as the ―navel cord of the earth‖ must be mythical or poetical one can almost imagine the island 42

as the top of a steep underwater mountain52. Three major volcanoes gave the island a triangular shape, while the landscape slowly turned from boiling lava to forested hills. According to traditional Rapa Nui history, the first to see this lonely green spot in the middle of the ocean was Haumaka from the unknown mythical homeland Hiva. He saw it and named it, and following Lefebvre (1991) he can be said to thus have created place.

The dream of Haumaka is children‘s knowledge on Rapa Nui and is where the oral history about the island normally begins. Most people do know about the existence of a procreation chant in which the gods made the earth through copulation53, but it is the discovery of the island by the Rapa Nui people that seems most important.54

This story has now also made its appearance as a cartoon made by the young Rapa Nui artist Te Pou Huke (Huke 2006). In the foreword to the first volume of the English edition, he says he wants to ―illustrate the adventure of my people so that I contribute to our circulation [sic.] and preservation‖ (op.cit:3) and he dedicates it, among others, to his son and goddaughter , ―who will be the guides of the future‖ (ibid). As many young Rapa Nui he remarks that he uses both scientific research and legends as his sources and mentions in particular the Pu A Rahoa manuscript.55 Then he starts his story with the disasters in Hiva that forced

52 Several Rapa Nui told me jokingly this name interpretation, but it doesn‘t seem to be much used and most seem to know that the underwater topography is not that extreme. I still find it probable that the deep ocean surrounding the island might once have inspired such an image, together with the probable symbolic value put on the island as a place of salvation from the disasters in Hiva. Yet, these are pure personal speculations.

53 According to Métraux the procreation chant could seem to have lost its importance or have been forgotten by the Rapa Nui in the period between the visit of Thompson in 1886 and himself in 1934 (Métraux 1971:320-323).

54 Some myths tell that there were a few inhabitants on the island before the Rapa Nui arrived, but the Rapa Nui are regarded as the initial colonisers of the island (Barthel 1978:2).

55 This manuscript, also called the ―Manuscript E‖, is apparently one of many traditions written down by Rapa Nui elders living in the leper colony on the island at the turn of the 20th century, and was made known to international researchers through Thomas Barthel (1965, 1978). He named the manuscripts he studied by letters (A to F), as he was dubious about the actual authorships (Barthel in Heyerdahl and Ferdon 1965:387). A new edition of this manuscript will be published in 2008 by Arturo Alarcon and the CONADI. 43

the people to look for a new island, and he tells it as seen through the eyes of a young boy named Vaero Roa who travels back in time with an ancestral spirit. Vaero Roa is interested in everthing about his ancestors and he gets to see Hiva several generations before Haumaka dreamt his dream. Yet as the title of the volume ―Haumaka Dream‖ indicates, the focus is still Haumaka. And when the spirit of Haumaka arrived at Rapa Nui, after having left his catastrophy ridden homeland Hiva and travelled in the direction of the sun, he apparently liked it at first sight because he immediately decided that this was the rescue for his people. And as the first name-giver of the island, he is said to have named it Te Pito o te Henua (the navel, the end or the navel cord of the land or of the world). Or in Vaero Roa‘s words: ―I can imagine his flight…Haumaka travelling across my island, naming its yet untouched geography…‖ (ibid).

Centuries after Haumaka‟s king, Hotu Matu‟a, and his people had colonised and formed the island in the image of their homeland Hiva, new visitors came and named the place. The sheer coincidence of the first European arriving on Easter Day will probably forever produce curious associations between Rapa Nui and a completely unrelated religious holiday. The island will probably always be better known as Easter Island, even though the new Polynesian name, Rapa Nui56, is getting known internationally as the politically correct name. The log of Jacob Roggeween only shortly mentions the moai statues, which were to become the distinctive icons of the island, even though they were still standing upright and being worshipped at the time. The Dutch were looking for metals and the mythical Southland, the supposed last continent, so they only stayed for a few days on their newly named Paasch Eyland. Yet the descriptions of the early explorers like Roggeween, Cook and La Perouse created an image of a mysterious island that triggered the visits of adventurers and archaeologists who sought to

56 The name is said to have appeared during the Peruvian slave rides, when different Polynesians where gathered aboard the same ships and needed names to distinguish the Rapa Nui from other Polynesians. According to this theory the name Te Pito o te Henua must have been forgotten by then and the island was without a Polynesian name, or the other Polynesians might have rejected a name they found to be too presumptious or too similar to the pan-Polynesian idea of every land having a navel?

solve the riddles of the Easter Island statues. The global image of the island took shape through their descriptions and probably more so through the popular accounts read by the general public than by heavy scientific reports57.

The single most significant event when it comes to the definition of the currently dominant global image of Rapa Nui as the ―Mysterious Easter Island‖ seems to be Thor Heyerdahl‘s first archaeological expedition to the island in 1955/56 (pers.com Sonia Haoa, Fischer 2005:200-202, Martinsson-Wallin 2007). Although there had been several previous scientific expeditions to the island, this was the first that undertook major professional excavations, and with the re-erection58 of a toppled moai it can be said to have symbolically marked the new era of the moai. The expedition stayed on the island for five months and all its four archaeologists returned for subsequent projects – most notably William Mulloy, who headed the major restoration works on the island. Yet the importance of this expedition for the image of the island also has to do with the popularity of Heyerdahl‘s bestselling novel ―Aku-Aku. The Secret of Easter Island‖ (1958) and its appearance just a decade before tourism took off globally (Thor Heyerdahl Jr., pers.com 2006). Mulloy, and probably the other researchers too, regarded restoration as a way of reviving the identity and dignity of the Rapa Nui people (Fischer 2005:207). However, as Steven Fischer notes (op.cit.), this was yet again outsiders imposing their Western ideas on the Rapa Nui, and as some old Rapa Nui remembering the time of the expedition put it: Back then they were just stones to us, nothing interesting. But because of this thing about archaeology, about this and that, and that one has to preserve – that‘s why it is interesting now and earlier not (Rapa Nui, interview, 2004)59

57 This was certainly the case with the publications following Heyerdahl‘s expeditions to Rapa Nui. The popular account ―Aku-Aku. The Secret of Easter Island‖ (1958) is world-known whereas the scientific reports are only known among researchers and mainly archaeologists.

58 Apparently, a moai had been re-erected in the Hanga Roa harbour in the 1930s, but it did not get any attention or consequences (Fischer 2005:200).

59 Many Rapa Nui would rightly deny this view and it is probable that at least the moai were respected as a lot more than ―only stones‖ –yet it is also probable that archaeology has contributed to new local interests in the archaeological heritage.

According to Lazaro Hotus, a Rapa Nui working with the expedition, they also opposed Westerners‘ ideas about for instance the transportation of the moai. He remembers to repeatedly having told them that: The moai walked! They come with power from another planet and they walked. You come here with science and another mentality and you do not understand, but listen, I tell you that they walked (Lazaro Hotus, interview, Santiago 2006).60

One can also ask oneself if it was for the better for the Rapa Nui that their island became world-famous and branded as the ―Island of the Moai‖ or the ―Mysterious Easter Island‖. Although most Rapa Nui will answer yes to this because of the material advantages brought by tourism, I think that this image can also influence identities and understandings of being Rapa Nui.

Today it is precisely tourism, the business of images, that forms or rather maintains the image of Rapa Nui as the mysterious island of the lonely moai statues. In 1998 a local Chamber of Tourism was established and its initial mission was to create a tourist image, not simply to update or maintain it! According to one of the first project members, whom I e-mailed before starting my fieldwork, the island never had a tourist image and it needed one in order to attract the desired category of tourists (rich and educated people)61. Local hotel owners and Chilean authorities invested USD 240,000 in this project, but opinions were divided, and in 2002 the project seemed to be mostly unknown by islanders62.

60 Manahine was present and told me afterwards that she was afraid that we outsiders would misunderstand and really think that Lazarus said that the moai walked and came from another planet. She explained that he talked of power and other planets to describe the mana that had helped them transport the moai in an up-right position (pers.com. 2006). How the moai could have ―walked‖ was demonstrated by some Rapa Nui and the Tchech engineer Pavel Pavel during the Heyerdahl expedition in 1986.

61―We‘re not trying to update Rapa Nui‘s tourist image, but to create one. This work has never been done before. We find it necessary [in order] to increase and upgrade our tourist offer and to have the kind of tourist we already have and want to keep‖ (Irene Siklodi, e-mail, 2000).

62 ―People are divided : some of them don‘t think we will last and do the work that is necessary to improve the quality in our tourist offer;others are waiting to see what will happen, and others are participating‖ (Siklodi, e-mail, 2000). When I returned in 2006 it seemed to gain importance and it now has a local board instead of the earlier Chilean directors. See its new and improved web site http://www.visitRapa Nui.cl/

To me the ―tourist-image project‖ seemed to only build on the exsting image, and I find that this global image of the island can be said to be a ―structure of the longue durée‖ (Braudel in Borofsky 2004:49) such as the fantasised positive paradise image of the South Seas that has survived centuries of European contact and global change. It can also be seen as part of a Rapa Nui ―second-space‖ (Lefebvre 1974, Kahn 2000), the space of mental conceptions and representations. Most importantly for my interest, this image of the ―island of the moai‖ probably influences how the Rapa Nui perceive their island and themselves. Yet, the influenced responses and practices of the Rapa Nui also influence the image, and currently it seems as if the living culture is becoming part of the global image – although the moai will probably always dominate it.

2.1.2 “End of the world”, images of the island as destination

Inland there were no humans in sight, just a forgotten and petrified world with stone heads looking at us (Heyerdahl 1957:20).63

World famous for its enigmatic stone statues, the island attracts a growing number of visitors, but remains unspoilt and sparsely populated (E. Hunt et.al. 2000:182).64

The global image of the ―Mysterious Easter Island‖ is already in the heads of the tourists, visiting researchers and other outsiders long before physically leaving for the island and it will naturally colour what they eventually perceive once they get there. As the island‘s isolated geographical position makes the journey both long and expensive, most of the visitors are going because they are already interested in the island; for many it is even a childhood dream come true. This makes the journey resemble a personal pilgrimage or quest and the expectations are therefore likely to be very high. Yet the island still seems to be able to positively surprise and make visitors return time after time.

63 My translation. According to his novel ―Aku-Aku. The Secret of Easter Island‖ this was Heyerdahl‘s first impression of Rapa Nui upon anchoring outside the island and before stepping ashore.

64 From the introduction to the pages on Rapa Nui in the Lonely Planet guide ―South Pacific‖, one of the world‘s most popular guide books. 47

Text 2.1.2a: E-mail describing my first visit on Rapa Nui

"you cannot turn back now", i kept telling myself, "remember, this is a dream come true". fortunately, there was no easy exit, but if i could have made the airplane go back to Santiago i probably would. I don't know the reason for this sudden panic attack, but hopefully it had something to do with VERY high expectations and the fact that i had almost already planned to come back here to stay for the whole of 2002. even after landing i was a bit reluctant to get off the plane, and my first steps on Rapa Nui soil felt like very huge steps on the moon or a distant planet. as there was no way back that night i made a run for a hostel, 'prescribed' as the "backpacker's choice" in the Lonely Planet guidebook – and i started my first day on the island of my dreams thinking: "at least i‘ve made it so far, just another 14 days to go"!

that's 14 days ago now, and i cannot think of how to decribe these days and the place in the space of an e-mail.

i've done "the tour" of the island in a jeep, seeing all the postcard views of stone giants (moai), volcanoes and rock carvings. i've gazed at the endless horizon of sea, sea, sea, in all directions, even been able to SEE that the Earth is round! i've explored dark caves and old-time stone houses. i've climbed the craters of impressive volcanoes and felt like standing on the top of the world. i've enjoyed sunsets and the full moon side by side with world-famous stone men. i've been to the Toroko disco where the music is crazy and horses wait outside to take their tired owners safely home. i've been to the beautiful white palm dotted sand beach of Anakena.

Rapa Nui is fantastic, amazing...but it doesn't seem real! all these moai everywhere! by the harbour, the football field, in front of the net cafe... and in almost every bay on the island. and of course, in addition to the 1,000 or so 'real' moai you also see them (or they see you) as small 'pocket moai' for tourists, 'garden moai' around town, on postcards and on signposts...everywhere. surreal. Lego land or Euro Disney maybe, but not real. even after 2 weeks here my 'feel of the place' is best expressed by a painting in the popular Banana Pub. it is the style of surrealist Magritte with a background of white clouds on a blue sky, but instead of grey businessmen raining down, this one has a moai. really surreal!

looking beyond the moai, i could say that Rapa Nui has few mobile phones at the moment, but a lot of taxis. far too many for its 3,500 inhabitants. and apparently 8 local football teams! strange hotdogs. the supermarket has almost everything you need, except for choice. the latest addition (and a very welcomed one by 'long term' tourists) is a net cafe. survival is very well possible. 48

and after 2 weeks i'm no longer in such a hurry to leave!65

Text 2.1.2b: Description of Rapa Nui, as taken from a travel guide book Getting to Rapa Nui normally means flying for hours over nothing but ocean before finally getting a glimpse of land between the clouds. Just like in Haumaka‘s dream, this first glimpse will probably be the rocky edges of the volcano Rano Kau at the southwestern tip, seemingly confirming the romantic idea of Rapa Nui being a rock lost in the Pacific Ocean. But as the plane turns to land on the other side of Rano Kau, a bigger and greener landscape dotted with small volcanic hilltops appears, covered with vegetation and framed in a black stripe of rocky coastline. To the north, the skyline disappears behind Terevaka, the highest point of the island (540m), and to the northeast the peninsula of Poike marks the third corner of the triangular Rapa Nui. There are not many buildings to be seen in this landscape, but closer and northwest of the landing stripe are hundreds of colourful houses hidden in lush gardens forming the only village and island capital: Hanga Roa (―distant or large bay‖). This is also the capital of the Municipality of Easter Island, under the Region of Valparaiso, Chile‘s 5th region. The Mataveri airport lies on the outskirts of the Hanga Roa, but whenever a plane lands it is the busiest place on the island with people arriving, leaving, taking farewell with some, welcoming others, selling souvenirs, working to get hotel rooms and guide tours booked or simply watching it all. There is no giant moai statue in sight and the surroundings could look like almost anywhere. That might be the impression as one drives into the village, too. The main road takes you past houses, groceries, tourist agencies, bars, Internet cafés, the market place and other shops before reaching a main intersection at the public square, between the town hall and the school. There, one can turn right upwards towards the church, the handicraft market and the hospital, or left downwards, past the post office to the football field, a small fishing harbour and the open sea until Antarctica. If the place doesn‘t sound like the ―island of the lonely moai‖ so far, a hint will probably be given by the fact that the road almost ends in a moai here. The football field is overlooked by the remains of a ceremonial ahu platform, with only one moai left, but whereas the tourists might rejoice over a first encounter with a moai, it is considered a secondary restoration. Locally, it is better known as a hang-out, where youth often sit, leaning towards the moai, enjoying its shade, chatting with friends, watching football or surfers, or just waiting for some action to occur.

Tourists normally do not have much time to hang around, because the reason why they have come to this ―end of the world‖ is first of all to see

65 E-mail sent to friends after my first visit to Rapa Nui, December 2001. I‘ve kept the informal style of punctuation and spelling as yet another example of style of narration. Coincidentally this style is a little similar to how many young Rapa Nui write e-mails, yet they often leave out periods and commas too. 49

the moai. Without these unique monumental stone statues, there would not be many tourists on the island and for the same reason the village seldom seems to be invaded by tourists because they spend the bulk of their stay in ―the Park‖ exploring the moai or in their hotel.

Map 3: Tourist map, by Hetereki Huke 2008.

The first major site the arriving tourists visit is probably the partly restored ceremonial complex of Tahai, situated on the northwest coast of the village and close to the local museum. This complex has three ahu platforms with seven moai in total, the moai standing with their backs to the sea and looking at the remains of an old settlement. The only moai with eyes installed is here, and Tahai is a favoured spot for taking photos of ―moai in sunset‖. However, most of the sites are outside the village, so tourists will soon be off in hired jeeps, on motorbikes or horses, with local guides or Lonely Planets. If they go back towards the airport they can turn southwest up to the volcano Rano Kau and the restored archaeological site of Orongo. This is the official entrance to the National Park of Rapa Nui and it is marked by a guard post and information on ―the do‘s and don‘ts‖ while in the park. Orongo was a ceremonial village of low oval grass-tufted stone houses on the edge of the volcano, where the Rapa Nui would gather for the tangata manu (―birdman‖) competition. Every spring, when the god Make Make was thought to arrive in the form of a bird to nest on an islet in front of Orongo, the youthful fit representatives for each tribe would compete to bring back the first egg. The village must have been full of people fearfully watching and cheering as the birdman candidates were fighting their way down the deadly cliffs, swimming out to the islet, looking desperately for bird nests and trying to be the first back again with an unbroken egg. This egg symbolised godly mana and the 50

winning tribe would rule the island for the next year. All this activity ended soon after the arrival of the missionaries (1860s), but walking among the empty houses provokes the same feeling of awe and wondering about the past like the moai do.66 A few tourists may venture past the ―No acess‖ sign and down the steep slopes into the huge crater of Rano Kau, the Te Poko Uri a Haumaka o Hiva (―Black Pit/Abyss of Haumaka from Hiva‖), which according to some is boiling with invisible supernatural activity. Most tourists take some photos from the top and get back to their cars to see other sites.

Driving northeast from the airport, the paved road goes inland through lush eucalyptus groves and farmland that can look like many places, all but the popular image of barren treeless Easter Island. Here is also a small NASA station and the remains of an English sheep farm. Arriving at the north coast and the beach of Anakena, one encounters the tropical island paradise image. Between coconut palms one can see the moai of Ahu Nau Nau standing with their back to natural white sand and the turquoise sea. It is such a pretty postcard motif that it almost looks unreal. Anakena is the place where the first Rapa Nui king Hotu Matu‟a is said to have settled down when he and his people arrived in their big canoes from the mythical homeland Hiva. The road turns and continues southeast along the coast, past some small archaeological reconstructions done by local patriots, and past the numerous remains of prehistoric settlements like those one can see all over the island. On this coast one also finds what some say represents the navel of the island or even of the world, a nicely polished round stone, now situated in a ring of stones close to the ahu moai Te Pito Kura. This ahu had only one moai, but with its twelve metres it was the largest moai ever erected and apparently the last to be overturned. The history enthusiast Father Sebastian Englert thought this round stone might have been a memory brought from Hiva, but that is another mystery to solve. Today, Te Pito Kura or Te Pito o te Henua (―Navel of the World‖) as it is also called now, is gaining popularity among new age tourists trying to connect with its supposed mana.67 The road soon turns south downhill of the Poike peninsula and the sight of the restored Ahu Tongariki marks the arrival at the southeast coast. With its fifteen moai, it is by far the largest ahu and must have either belonged to a powerful family or been somewhat connected to the short distance to Rano Raraku. This volcano was the site for the stone quarry where most of the moai (784 of totally 838) were made, and it is popularly called ―the moai factory‖. One can still see hundreds of moai here in different stages of finishing and one can imagine the bustling activity of carvers digging into the volcanic turf and ingeniously sliding the ready moai down the volcano slopes. The many finished moai remaining half sunken into the earth suggest that the production stopped quite

66 Orongo doesn‘t have any moai now, but the finest of them all, the unique Moai Hoa Haka Nana Ia, was hidden in one of the houses until acquired by the British Museum. 67 Ramirez, J.M. and Huber, C., 2000, ―Easter Island. Rapa Nui, a Land of Rocky Dreams‖, pp. 94- 95.

suddenly, but the popularity of this postcard image has also led to the misunderstanding that the moai are only heads or busts sticking out of the ground. Driving along the coast back towards the village, one passes by numerous unrestored sites, as all over the island, but close to the main road an Aldea Cultural (cultural village) is being built. It will be a reconstruction of a village displaying the different types of houses and of course with its own ahu and moai – but in cement.68 The last stop of the normal one-day tourist circuit will probably be the ―inca wall‖ of Vinapu at the end of the space shuttle- sized runway of the airport. And then the tourists can leave with the good feeling of having ―seen the sites‖, whereas this is, of course, only a beginning. Even adult Rapa Nui can suddenly discover hidden places they had never seen before despite living all their life on these mere 170 square kilometres. Many private guides offer tours of ―hidden Rapa Nui‖, and in the future such visits to the remains of the sheep farm of the leper colony might become part of the ―official track‖.69

Yet, what travel agencies and tourist literature have long ignored in their marketing of this typical tourist image of the island is the presence of the inhabitants. They have been literally standing in the shadow of the moai statues, and many potential tourists seem almost unaware of their existence or at least their numbers. Yet the ―living culture‖, as presented in the annual Tapati folk festival or simply in the behaviour of the Rapa Nui hosts, guides or people the tourists meet during their stay, probably change the personal images that the tourists leave with. A lot of visitors leave with a wish of returning, yet it seems to have been a concern in the local Chamber of Tourism that one had to improve the quality and friendliness of personal reception in order for the ―visitors‖70 to leave with a good impression.

Alongside this typical tourist image of the ―Island of the Moai‖ or ―Mysterious Easter Island‖, there are several other popular external images.

68 It remains to be seen whether the tourists will pay to see this ―theme park‖ when they can see the originals only metres away, but some are optimistic that people will come to see how a village could have looked like in prehistory.

69 Based on own observations and written in the style of tourist guide books.

70 Many Rapa Nui hosts say ―visitor‖ instead of tourist and one explained to me that this term contained more respect and fewer associations of commerce.

“Tropical Paradise” seems to be a typical Chilean image of the island. This was particularly eyecatching in a commercial campaign for a Chilean ice cream brand that used photos from a more tropical island while calling it Rapa Nui! Yet, as already mentioned and although the tourist ads of the island often forget to mention it, Rapa Nui is not tropical but sub-tropical. In winter (June-August) temperatures can fall below +10˚C and even in the summer (December-February) they rarely venture over +30˚C. The average temperature is about +20˚C (+18˚C in the sea), with an average humidity of 80%. On rainy winter days, the unprepared tourist will be grateful that the souvenir shops not only sell t-shirts, but also sweaters and rain gear with moai logos. Yet this tropical paradise image seems to be very strong in Chile, and I can only understand this as a consequence of Rapa Nui being the only possible ―South Sea Island‖ within the Chilean territory or as colonial ―domestication‖ similarly to orientalism (Said 1978).71 This image might be built on an association with the general image of the Pacific and additionally on the contrasts to the other marking spots of the Chilean ―tri- continentality‖ –the dry hot desert in the North and the equally dry but cold Antartica.

The image that can be called “The Deforested Island” presents Rapa Nui as an example of human destruction of nature. This image is popular in environmental discourse and is summed up in questions like: ―What in the world went through the head of the Easter Islander who cut down the island‘s last tree?‖72 Yet, most archaeologists agree that although Hotu Matu‟a and the first Rapa Nui did clear a lot of the native palm forest for agriculture and did introduce new Polynesian species that competed with the endemic ones, it was probably a combination of climate changes, earthquakes, tsunamis or volcanic eruptions, in addition to human overconsumption, that led to the prehistoric deforestation (Martinsson-

71 This is pure speculation on my behalf, but following the logic of orientalism, a focus on smiling, dancing and visually pleasing images of the Rapa Nui could wrap in and obscure the disagreements between most Rapa Nui and the Chilean state.

72 This over-simplified image has lately been carried on by recognised biologist Jared Diamond in his book ―Collapse: how societies choose to fail or succeed‖ (2005) and in international TV- interviews.

Wallin, pers.com). Today, the island is covered in vegetation again, mostly by planted introductions like eucalyptus and even pine trees.73 Many Rapa Nui and especially the young are concerned about the environment and there are always a number of local or internationally sponsored environmental awareness and practice projects under development on the island. The reason why this image is still so popular in environmental discourse might be lack of information, yet probably it lives on because it is a simple and easy image to make people understand that nature is fragile, and in that sense it can be said to serve a good cause.

A lesser known image that can be called “The Project Island” is Rapa Nui as an attractive destination for archaeologists, anthropologists, botanists, geologists, other scientists, environmentalists and companies from all over the world. The famous pioneer archaeologist of the island, William Mulloy, is known to have said that Rapa Nui is like a miniature laboratory of the world (José-Miguel Ramirez, pers.com) and the current Rapa Nui mayor, Petero Edmunds, calls it ―the island of projects‖. It is amazing how many international, national, private and even personal projects the island attracts. One of the latest international projects was ―Rapa Nui Global‖, a co-operation between the local Municipality, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Cisco and a Chilean university, who wanted to make the island into a wireless community (www.rapanuiglobal.cl, last accessed October 2007). Some might use the fame of the island for its advertising value, but many seem to be simply fascinated by the place and want to contribute or attach themselves to it. However, the abundance of projects also seems to have made many Rapa Nui a little sceptical to what profit the outsiders might make of their island and heritage.

73 The endemic toromiro tree, which was a popular material for carvings until disappearing in the late 1950s, is currently being tentatively re-introduced by local archaeologist Sonia Haoa. The mulberry tree used for making mahute (cloth) still exists, but is now protected against overuse due to the increasing popularity of replicas of traditional clothing for sale and for use in performances. 54

2.1.3 “Navel of the world”, images of the island as home For those born on the island, it will naturally look different, although they get confronted with and influenced by the global images as they grow up. For Manahine and other contemporary Rapa Nui the first impressions of the island were probably from the house where they grew up, maybe a little village subsidio (state-subsidised house of simple standards) in a garden limited by stone fences and close to the houses of grandparents and other family.74 Childhood memories of place are often vague feelings, senses of smell, taste and touch that are difficult to describe in adult visual terms, so this description can never capture the magic of a child‘s world (Tuan 2003:21). And as an outsider looking in, I will never be able to imagine how the island looks from the inside — yet I try.

Illustration 3: Old stone house in Hanga Roa

A house in a village. In the house where Manahine grew up, banana palms, other trees and neighbouring houses hide the view to the Pacific Ocean, but one can guess it is like a distant breathing in the background. Yet the dominating sounds are of chickens, dogs, children and passing horses, cars or motorcycles.

74 The Chilean state normally subsidises housing for low-income families, but in an attempt to privatise land ownership on Rapa Nui, the Pinochet government offered subsidio to all Rapa Nui who obtained a titulo de dominio (landowner title) – and this law is still practised. These houses were normally cheap prefabricated asbestos houses, but now people get a sum of money (approx. 8 million pesos) and build their house like they want.

Like a typical subsidio, the house had a bedroom, bath and kitchen made of cheap asbestos walls. The kitchen is kitchen, living room, study and occasionally bedroom. When they moved in, it did not have any furniture at all, but now it has a gas stove, refrigerator, table, chairs, telephone, television and a computer with Internet connection. The asbestos walls have been covered up with wood panelling and decorated with family photos and children‘s drawings. The house keeps on growing and now there is even a second floor and an extra bedroom they can rent as a residencial (bed&breakfast) to tourists. But when Manahine was a child it was only herself, her parents, the cats, dogs and an occasional horse living there.

Moe Roa, Hanga Roa and other village neighbourhoods. Both Manahine and Tea live in Hanga Roa, but in different neighbourhoods and family areas. Today most streets have names, but it is more usual to navigate by landmarks and descriptions. Families tend to live on the land of their family and these family areas are often called by the family name like ―Los Paoa‖ (the Paoa), by old landmarks like Nga Heva or by more creative nicknames like ―Far West‖, ―La Fronti‖, ―Los Scoby‖, etc.75

For the generation here in question other common points of reference were as on this village map: the Pea beach, the Hogar de menores (orphanage), the square Plaza de la Libertad by the Church, the night clubs and the Fach (residential area of the Chilean air forces). The Fach is an example of an area that used to be popular because of all the newly arrived Continental children living there and which then evolved into a pejorative for the very same reason! The explanation is that the Rapa Nui children first were positively fascinated by the Continentals and their looks, but this went out of fashion as being Rapa Nui became the ―new cool‖.

75 Nga Heva is the name of a cave where the lepers of the early 1900s lived before the construction of the leper station; ―Far West‖ (now ―La Fronti‖) was the name of a bar of Americans working for NASA in the 1970s, and ―Scoby‖ from the successfull cartoon dog Scooby Doo. I find it interesting to include these self-assigned nicknames although they come and go, and might not mean much to outsiders.

Map 4: Local map, by Hetereki Huke. Quarters in red and meeting points in orange.

On the village level, Hanga Roa is split in a Hanga Roa side and a Moe Roa side. Such a divide can make one think of the ancient Polynesian social spatial organisation of moieties, but this one seems to have been created for a competition as late as 1938 (the 50 years celebration of the Chilean annexation).76 Still, many adult Rapa Nui say they don‘t feel at home when they are outside their neighbourhood, whereas for many of the young, Hanga Roa and Moe Roa mean first of all two local football teams. The young think more of divides with the outlying neighbourhoods of Tahai (close to the museum) and Mataveri (close to

76 For this celebration, the Chilean governor Tejeda divided the village into two teams (maybe unknowingly repeating the old structure of moieties) in order to compete in folkloric activities (Andrade 2004:66, Campbell 1971, Benrup pers.com. 2002).

the airport).77 But they remember that their parents would sometimes tell them not to play in such and such an area, because ―That is not your kona (place)!‖, and some say they have had frightening experiences with aku aku (place guarding spirits) when defying this tapu (prohibition). Some of my young informants also said they would stop to silently ask the spirits for admission before entering lands that traditionally belong to other families, even though they now are situated in the National Park. These contemporary customs might be a remnant of the old days, when trespassing on enemy territory was a very serious offense.

The different neighbourhoods also get associated with the institutions they harbour. In the centre, Hanga Roa one finds the governor‘s office, the court house, the municipality, the municipal school, the library, the church, the hospital, the municipal television and radio station, the post office, the telephone company, the bank, shops and restaurants. Tahai is mainly residential, apart from the museum Museo Antropológico Padre Sebastian Englert (MAPSE). Mataveri is like a Chilean power centre, with the airport, the air force, the navy, the police, the state farm SASIPA‘s electricity station, CONAF (the National Park administration) and only a few Rapa Nui residents.

Tai and uta, pueblo and campo, or village and countryside In ancient times, Hanga Roa was only one of many villages, and the island was divided between the different mata (large kinship group) living in each their kāinga (motherland, territory). The territories went from the ahu down at the tai (coastal area), past village settlements in the middle and uphill to the uta (inland plantation area) .78 Borders were clearly marked, probably with pipi horeko (pyramid shaped stone tower) or other land marks, and aku aku (place guarding spirits) protected against trespassers. In addition the whole island was divided into two big competing and cooperating confederations of mata, dividing the island following

77 With the new high school and settlements towards the Colonia (old leper station), this might become a new major neighbourhood.

78 Standing in a village area looking towards the tai would normally mean looking downwards and uta upwards. These Rapa Nui terms are still used in this sense, yet it seems to be specifically used as ―down to the village‖ and ―up to the countryside‖.

Polynesian patterns in complementary moieties. But due to depopulation and the arrival of missionaries and sheep farm merchants in the 1860s, the Rapa Nui were impelled (or compelled) to move closer to the mission station in Hanga Roa and out of the way of the expanding population of imported sheep. Finally, the foreigners even made a fence around Hanga Roa, literally locking up the Rapa Nui while the sheep could run free outside. These new landlords thus created a different division of the island and established themselves on its border – symbolically enough on the ruins of an old Rapa Nui ceremonial centre at Mataveri.

This foreign division of the island is still visible today, as most of the Rapa Nui live in the residential areas Tahai – Hanga Roa – Mataveri, and the rest is officially uninhabited National Park and SASIPA state farm land.79 The division can be said to be between ―the village‖ and the ―countryside‖ or ―the Park‖, and is in Spanish referred to as pueblo and campo or in Rapa Nui as tai (coast, coastal area) and uta (inland, plantation land).80 Although it is forbidden to build homes in the Park, many Rapa Nui like to spend time in the original kāinga of their family and a few have defied the prohibition by installing themselves in small, and not so small, paepae (huts). Other Rapa Nui have plantations there which they work on during the day, but have their house in the village. However, most Rapa Nui live their lives in the village and go to the countryside only in their spare time. For many, such outings seem to have almost a ritual aspect as a retreat from the busy everyday living in the village.

Both outsiders and insiders feel differences between being in the village and out in the campo, though in different ways. For the outsider and tourist, Rapa Nui is

79 Chile who annexed the island in 1888 and then leased it to sheep ranchers finally created the Parque Nacional de Rapa Nui in 1934. When the leasing deal ended in 1953 the SASIPA state farm (part of CORFU) was established to replace the sheep ranch company.

80 Makihara rightly notes that there is both tai and uta within the ―Rapa Nui campo‖ (also written and pronounced kampō in Rapa Nui) campo as it corresponds to the area of the island that was forbidden to the Rapa Nui during the Company time (Makihara 1999:134). Yet it is my impression that at least some young Rapa Nui generalise and often call the countryside uta, without necesseraily meaning an inland site or plantation.

known as an outdoor museum, and it is here outside the village that one really feels the monumentality of the moai and the immensity of the surrounding ocean. There are some restored moai in situ in the village also, but somehow they don‘t seem to have the same aura (Benjamin 1937), and even the Rapa Nui seem to treat them as less important. For most Rapa Nui, going to the campo usually has little to do with the moai, and the immensity of the ocean is felt more as a safe barrier against the outside world than a possible tsunami scenario.81 Out there they probably feel both free and at home, and that feeling must still be very special for the older ones who remember when they were locked up in the village. So on Sundays and national holidays, whole extended families drive off to spend the day relaxing by the sea in the old kāinga of their family. Whereas most tourists and Chilean residents prefer the sandy beaches of Anakena and Ovahe, most Rapa Nui prefer old family places and good fishing spots by rocky shores. There, they take a break from village life, and enjoy simple things like fishing, diving, collecting shellfish, cooking over bonfire, conversing and singing. People that in the village would serve me tea in cups with saucers, would in the campo serve it with the same elegance in the cut-off bottom of a plastic bottle. Both seemed somehow a little comically out of place to me, yet reminded me of how Norwegian huts ideally should be very simple – like permitting a refreshing, yet romanticised, return to the hard reality old times. 82

2.1.4 Faraway Hiva, both home and away A last ring of geographical reference for a Rapa Nui is Hiva. Hiva is first of all the name for the mythical homeland of Hotu Matu‟a; the imagined origin place of all Rapa Nui -like Hawaiki is for many other Polynesians. Even though there are speculations about the Marquesas Islands and the Gambier Islands, nobody have been able prove exactly where Hiva is or could have been, and my impression is

81 A tsunami destroyed Ahu Tongariki in 1960 and if the wave had hit the other side, where the village is, the story would have been very different.

82 The Rapa Nui often made jokes about me ―going native‖ when eating with my fingers , etc. and they almost seemed disappointed when I replied that this is quite in tune with Norwegian ideals of simple living. I have the feeling that many Norwegians might unconsciously stick to these ideals as a way of confirming their ―Norwegianness‖ and makes me wonder if that might be the case on Rapa Nui too. 60

that foreigners are more interested in this question than the Rapa Nui are. Today ―Hiva‖ is also used about the Chilean Continent and Santiago in particular – or in general: the whole outside world. Anywhere outside the island and especially the Chilean mainland can also be referred to as ―afuera‖ (Spanish for ―outside‖).

Easter Island is known as one of the world‘s most isolated societies and its prime mystery is the one of how such a unique civilisation could develop in such isolation. Yet, the first people settling on Rapa Nui probably stayed in touch with their home island Hiva for several centuries. If that home land was Mangareva, as some think (for instance Fischer 2005:20-21), it was ―only‖ three weeks away by boat and recent research on now seems to confirm the old speculation that Polynesians must have been in touch with South-America too (Storey, Ramirez et.al. 2007). As Rapa Nui became self-suficient as an island community the interaction with other places might have become less important. Eventually it might have ceased for various reasons, of which the gradual intensification of agriculture, abandonment of deep-sea fishing and increasing lack of wood for canoes seem probable. In that period, which might have lasted as long as five centuries, Rapa Nui might have lived up to the name interpretations ―Navle‖ and ―End of the World‖, but it is uncertain when the name Te Pito ote Henua appeared. Fischer thinks Rapa Nui must have had a name during the settlement period, which later was lost and simply replaced by kāinga or ―territory‖ (Fischer 2005:21).

So, Rapa Nui might not have seen much of ―the world‖ in the period without deep-sea canoes, nor during the travel restrictions of the Company in the 1900s and almost until the first plane landed, but its existence has probably always been present in their imagination. Today, with tourism, media and Internet, ―the world‖ can by comparison almost seem omnipresent. And as we will see while following Rapa Nui on and off the island, the existence of Chile and an outside world is essential for the contemporary Rapa Nui feeling of being in ―the Navel‖.

2.1.5 Island in the sea of islands. A note on the island metaphor. There is one final image of the island that I would like to mention and which is easily taken for granted – and that is simply the fact that Rapa Nui is an island. It obviously goes without saying and might not seem to be of importance, yet as islands have been popular metaphors in anthropological descriptions of societies it might have become an academic ―structure of the longue durée‖ (Borofsky 2004) that colours the understanding of the anthropologist.

Cultural islands don‘t really exist, writes for instance Hylland Eriksen (1993b). The only ones we can call cultural islands are the ―artificial‖ ones that we make ourselves or force upon others by, e.g. immigration policies and voluntary isolation inspired by the binary thought that in order to be ―us‖ someone has to be ―them‖ (ibid).83 Yet the image of a clearly limited island was long a popular anthropological metaphor in the descriptions of societies. Since Malinowski‘s pioneer fieldwork on the Trobriand Islands, the classical anthropological study has been of a small-scale and seemingly isolated society, like an island. Now anthropologists do fieldwork anywhere, but advisors still seem to prefer sending novices to a small island rather than a city for the first fieldwork.84 Literal islands, pieces of land with water all around them, do exist of course, and probably because of their geographical nature, they have attracted the idea of natural cultural borders. As Hylland Eriksen (ibid) simply puts it, islands are good to think with, and used metaphorically about only certain aspects of cultures, the concept may seem very useful for theoretical analysis. The operational dimension could be the Barthian boundary whereby differences are made socially relevant (ibid).85 However, islands are and probably always were in contact with other lands, and cultures aren‘t especially afraid of water. The navigators spreading

83 To take this to the extreme is a danger of ethnification, but if one wants democracy one cannot deny people who want to: ―[I]nsist on the right to retain, and worship, their sense of living on an island‖ (Hylland Eriksen 1993).

84 Islands might seem easier to study, as they are geographically delimited, and of course, as professors are somewhat responsible for the well-being of their students, it might seem safer to send them to small places where it is supposedly safer and difficult to get lost. 85 He remarked that it was important to recognise that because human agency can define which aspects of a society are insular, the unintentionally insular aspects should be distinguished from those created through human agency (Hylland Eriksen 1993).

Polynesian culture over the immense Pacific Ocean is a prime example of that, although both Rapa Nui86 and other islands became famous for their apparent isolation. Tongan scholar Epeli Hau‘ofa‘s ―sea of islands‖ (Hau‘ofa 1993) might be a better metaphor, as it stresses the view of Oceania as an enormous continent made up of interdependent communicating island communities, rather than small isolated landmasses in an enormous ocean. And cultures probably always have influenced each other, and so, as Hylland Eriksen jokingly adds, it seems that the diffusionists at least got something right (Hylland Eriksen 1993b). The argument that oceans were bridges and not walls for prehistoric people is one of the ideas that not even the strongest critic of Thor Heyerdahl can refute. McCall (1997) proposes that islands should be studied ―nissologically‖, meaning: on the terms of the people living on islands. Focusing on what islands are and their possibilities, rather than on what they lack, would show that islanders are open and innovative people (ibid).

On the other side, one might ask if it really matters that one‘s object of study is an island, and in some aspects it probably doesn‘t. Yet I find it important to stress that the island metaphor also is an image that might influence the researcher and make the place seem more unique than it might be.

2.2 RAPA NUI, A PLACE OF PASTS AND HISTORIES

No story about Rapa Nui can be told without its history and references to its cultural heritage. The historical setting is important for any study of an anthropological present, but even more so on Rapa Nui where the past seems much more present in the present than in many other places, and where a name like Hotu Matu‟a is likely to come up in daily conversation.

86 In the case of Rapa Nui, the 1900s can actually be called a period of isolation, as the islanders were forbidden to travel off the island. And as some flora and fauna can travel without human help, islands are not necessarily biologically isolated either, although for example the Galàpagos Islands do present an amazing variety of endemic species.

Text 2.2: The arrival of Hotu Matu‘a as told by a young Rapa Nui Haumaka awoke from his dream and went to tell the king about the new island lost in the middle of the sea. Hotu Matu‘a then sent seven young explorers to find this island. They found it and travelled all over it, exploring, planting yams and researching it, in order to find a good place for the king‘s arrival. It had to be a special place. When they came to Anakena, which was called Haŋa Rau back then, they found a proper landing place for the king. One of them got hurt after teasing a turtle and they put him in a cave there. Well, somehow the balsa of Hotu Matu‘a arrived with his wife, his sister Avareipua and many colonisers. The wife gave birth to a boy, called Tu Maheke, and the sister got a girl. Then they settled in and worked the land. Well, this is more or less how I remember it.87

2.2.1 Polynesian settlers (800-1200 AD) As already mentioned, Rapa Nui history as told today normally does not start with the creation of earth and humans, but with an arrival from another place.88 And if oral history coincides with archaeological dates, then those who were to become the first Rapa Nui, arrived on Rapa Nui some twelve hundred years ago – around 800 AD. That is many, many, many generations ago, as Rapa Nui children would say, but the history is very much alive and everyone can sing, dance or tell the story of their great king Hotu Matu‟a.89 And despite Thor Heyerdahl‘s dream of proving that the Rapa Nui came from South America, even Rapa Nui children know that their ariki (king) and his people came from Hiva –another island somewhere in the Pacific. However, language can sometimes confuse; as one in Rapa Nui says Hiva for their mythical motherland, but also for any place outside the island – and particularly about the Chilean continent. So, as teachers in Rapa Nui language classes teach about the arrival of Ariki Hotu Matu‟a o te Hiva, confused little pupils sometimes ask: ―Are you saying that our king came from

87 This is an example of how a young Rapa Nui today quickly narrated the history on my request as an outsider already familiar with it. Based on interview in Spanish, Rapa Nui, 2006. The same person would probably tell it very differently on stage.

88 Creation myths did exist on Rapa Nui, too, and, for example, Thompson collected one from Ure-vai-ko in 1886, but today it is overshadowed by the ―Arrival of Hotu Matu‘a‖ (Métraux 1971:320).

89 Matu‟a means ―parent‖ and Hotu can mean ―progenitor‖ (Hotus 2000). 64

Santiago?‖ 90 Although neither the Rapa Nui nor the various international researchers have found the exact location of Hiva, they all seem to agree that it must have been somewhere in Polynesia. Whereas Heyerdahl (1961) early argued that the kumara (sweet potato), anana (pineapple) and maybe the masonry of Ahu Vinapu could indicate contact with South America, a contact now finally seems to have been confirmed by chickens in Chile whose DNA indicate that they must have been introduced by Polynesians (Storey, Ramirez et.al 2007). Yet, despite the probability of contact, findings of kio‟e (Polynesian rat), the taro plant, the yams plant, the ceremonial ahu architecture, the social structure and other DNA analysis agree that the first settlers on Rapa Nui were Polynesians (Skjølsvold 1994, Martinsson-Wallin 1994, Hagelberg et. al. 1994).

The making of ancient Rapa Nui society

King Hotu Matu‘a ordered his people: ―Tie the knots on the houses toward the right – just like a child‘s umbilical cord, or a boat‘s, or a fishing net‘s. When the knots are not well-made, men die and the houses fall with strong winds. Likewise, fishing is not successful when the knots are not well-made‖ (Englert 2002:117).91

The arrival of Tea‘s and Manahine‘s ancestors to this new island is symbolically enough told to be marked by the birth of two royal descendants and the cutting of their umbilical cords.92 Prince Tu‟u Maheke and Princess Ava Rei Pua became thus the two first Rapa Nui. 93 Hotu Matu‘a nominated Tu‘u Maheke to be his

90 Rapa Nui immersion teacher, pers.com, Rapa Nui, 2002. The same teacher later told me that they now refrain from calling Santiago for Hiva, in order not to confuse the children. Pers.com, Santiago, May 2005.

91 This description of ancient house building, told by Juan Tepano to Sebastian Englert, indicates that the umbilical cord must long have retained a symbolic importance, which now seems almost forgotten.

92 Métraux wrote that the mentioning of this cutting of the umbilical could have a double importance in that it set the pattern for future birth rituals and that it might also have a connection with the naming of the island (Métraux 1971:64).

93 Hotu Matu‟a had sent some young explorers to Rapa Nui who were still there when the king arrived, and some legends even say that they found another man who had stranded there earlier (Ramirez 2000). But as the first ones to be born on the island, Tu‟u Maheke and Ava Reipua can be called the first Rapa Nui. Tu‘u Maheke is also known as having returned to Hiva and this explains why the second son Miru became head of the royal line (McCall 1976:32). 65

successor, and proclaimed that the descent should always go through the atariki (eldest son).94 He also divided the whole island into ten or eleven different kāinga (territories) between the different mata (descent groups) – each headed by one of his sons. 95 The legends do not describe the great coloniser as a particularly homesick man, but they do tell that several times, he sent people back to Hiva, for example to get the moai Tautó, and that he recalled his motherland as a land of abundance (Englert 2002:53). And maybe it was nostalgia that made the dying Hotu Matu‟a look in the direction of Hiva and ask spirits of his old home: ―Make the cock crow for me!‖ (Metraux 1971:69).

As Rapa Nui history continued, the colonisers domesticated the new land with the plants and animals they brought with them in the canoes, by clearing the native forest for agriculture and by organising their society –probably on the model of their Polynesian motherland. The number of Rapa Nui multiplied and the different mata (extended kinship or descent groups) were segmented into several ure (lineages) and then into ivi or paenga (extended family or domestic groups).96

The ariki mau or ariki henua (king of the land) of the Miru mata was king of the whole island and all the Miru were ariki paka (nobles) – as opposed to hurumanu (commoners) (Makihara 1999:38). The society also consisted of professional groups like: ivi-atua (priests), matato‟a (warriors), paoa (guards), kio (servants, war slave) and maori or tahunga (experts) like, for example, tangata keukeu henua (farmers), tangata vaka (fishermen), maori anga moai (sculptors) and tangata rongo-

94 Rapa Nui was a strongly patrilineal society and Mc Call described that the preference for the atariki (first-born son) was still strong in the 1970s, although fathers could sometimes chose a “particularly responsible daughter” to succeed him as the family head (McCall 1976:164).

95 As seen in the chapter on landscape, there is no unanimous agreement upon either the exact number of kāinga or whether the pattern of division originally was the Polynesian ―pie slices‖ (all territories going from the coast to the inland), the latter moieties or a combination.

96 With his first genealogical research in the 1970s, McCall probably reinforced the Rapa Nui concept of the hua‟ai (―generation, descendants of a lineage‖ in Englert 1978:137), which is now used to denominate the nuclear family. But as McCall stressed, this does not mean nuclear family in the Western sense, but rather all descendants of a family founder at least two generations up (McCall 1976:86-87). And as we shall see later, the Rapa Nui families are still a lot broader than parents and children.

rongo (scribes). Sculptors and scribes were particularly distinguished professions and associated with the higher classes (Metraux 1971:129). Society depended upon reciprocity between the groups and at some point the island was also divided into two alliances (moieties), whereof the Tu‟u Aro side was said to specialise in fishing and the Tu‟u Hotu „Iti side in agriculture.

Illustration 4: Drawing from "Haumaka Dream" of Te Pou Huke, Rapanui Press 2006

People of each ure lived together in small settlements or villages, located preferably close to a water source and between the tai (coast) where they fished and the uta (inland, uphill) where they cultivated the earth. They slept in natural 67

caves and hare paenga or hare vaka (boat-shaped house) and food was prepared in the umu pae (earth oven) close by.97 At the sea front of their territory, each village built an ahu platform on which they erected monumental moai statues to commemorate the ancestor founder of each ivi or paenga (extended family) of the village‘s ure (lineage). The ahu, with the umbilical cords of the ancestors buried in it and with the hands of each moai forming a triangle around their navel, was also thought as representing the pitu (navel, umbilical) of the land and symbolising the relationship of dependence between people and the land (Martinsson-Wallin 1994:128-129).

The moai were sculpted in the quarry of Rano Raraku and somehow transported various kilometres to the different settlements all over the island. The production seems to have been intense from the 12th to 17th century and the statues were made bigger and bigger, up to measuring over twenty metres and weighing many tons. This also implied intensifying agriculture in order to feed the growing working population. Then quite suddenly the sculptors stopped their work, leaving many unfinished moai in the quarry and finished moai got toppled.

Why the ancient Rapa Nui made the moai, how they did it and then why they stopped are some of the mysteries of the island. When I once asked Manahine what she thought had happened, she seemed disappointed with my ignorance: ―But Ulau, don‘t you even know that? It happened because of decadence of course!‖ 98 Legends tell of frequent warfare between different mata, including toppling of the moai of the enemy. And when prehistory is told as divided into periods – the last one often called ―Decadence‖ (Englert 2004:98). However, this apparent sudden upheaval of ancient Rapa Nui society in the 17th-18th century was probably a long-time development triggered by factors like overpopulation, drought, deforestation, climate change, famine, earthquakes or a combination of the above – that maybe led to lost faith, despair and rising dominance of the matato‟a (warrior) class.

97 As paenga means ―extended family‖ hare paenga probably meant ―house of a paenga‖ and not only ―house with stone foundation‖(Métraux 1971:98). 98 Comment, Rapa Nui 2002. 68

Growing up in ancient Rapa Nui The life of a little Rapa Nui in those times probably started already between the third and fifth month of the pregnancy, when it was tradition for the father‘s family to do a ceremonial earth oven called rae (first fruits). Cooked chicken intestines were presented to the expectant mother and her parents, who had to eat it all to assure the future child a good health. Birth was done kneeling on the ground with a helper massaging the navel region of the mother and thereby helping the baby down and out. A specialist had to perform the sacred tying of the two knots on the umbilical, as the knots would keep the force in the child‘s body. Then a young person bit or cut off the cord and was given chicken and sweet potatoes to eat. The last dream dreamt by the cord cutter would be interpreted for the future of the child. During the umbilical cord cutting ceremony the baby was also given a personal name, followed by the personal name of its father, like for example: Hotu a‟ Matua was “Hotu, the son of Matua” (McCall 1976:101). The paternal grand-mother would sometimes throw the placenta and cord into the sea with the charm: ―Ka oho, kangaroo ki hiva!‖ (―May it be lost in a foreign country!‖), or she buried it under a stone with the charm: ―Ka noho hiohio i toou kāinga!‖ (―May you stay strong in your country!‖)(Metraux 1971:103). If the child was an atariki (first-born son) and probable future lineage founder, his cord could be buried in the ahu – and in any case, the land where cords were hidden were tapu (Martinsson-Wallin 1994:124, Metraux 1971:103). The day of birth the family of the father gave another earth oven to the mother‘s family. In the case of an atariki they would have two feasts and the father‘s brother or sister would name the child.

When the baby was six or seven months old, the father‘s brother would cut the baby‘s hair for the first time and this ceremony was called puoko varu (hair cutting). The baby received gifts from its maternal uncle when it learned to crawl, when it started wearing hami (clothes made of mahute breechcloth) and also at the age of 8 or 10 when the legs were tattooed. In everyday life it was also very important that 69

the mother never touched his/her head or even held food over him/her – as the head was considered sacred until reaching marriageable age.

At puberty the young Rapa Nui probably went through initiation rituals. Routledge and Metraux describe a ceremony called te manu mo te poki (the bird for the child) at Motu Nui and Orongo, which might have been connected to the period of the bird man cult. An old woman called Viriamo told Routledge that children were secluded in a cave on Motu Nui for three months when they were around thirteen. Their bodies were painted and decorated with special hami cloths and tahonga pendants.99 An old man, Jotefa, told her that as a boy he and other children gone to Orongo with their parents and ten tangata tapu manu (initiation experts). There, the children danced outside Taura-renga, the house of the moai, where the initiation experts were singing and the parents gave the men chickens. Afterwards they were poki manu (bird child) and they returned to their home villages to celebrate the initiation with feast and food exchange.100

Seclusion was apparently used to make the children‘s skin ritorito (light or white, also teatea), as a fair complexion was, for uncertain reasons, highly attractive among the Rapa Nui. Legends tell of neru, specially selected young virgins that were kept in caves on Poike and only appeared in public in parties as adornments to be admired. The neru lived in chastity and were only attended by family members that fed, washed them and stretched the clitoris of the girls, whereas other youth could apparently indulge freely in sexual relations and live rather easily until they got a family of their own to support (Metraux 1971:107).

Marriage could take place already during childhood, as parents often arranged marriage with friends, but married children would not live together until they grew

99 Routledge wrote that they were originally supposed to use coconuts as pendants around the neck and that the tahonga was a later replacement when coconuts got scarse on the island (Routledge 1919:267). The tahonga is a small and almost heart-shaped wood sculpture with heads of birds or men at the top.

100 This ritual was apparently so important for assuring a good life that a child could rightfully kill the father for having ignored it. And if wars made the voyage to Orongo too dangereous, the rite would be performed on the village ahu (Routledge 1919:267).

up. Normally men married in their late teens. To ask for the hand of someone, the suitor‘s father would go to the house of the girl or boy with a basket full of birds and gifts. But not everyone was suitable for marriage. There was strong tapu against marrying even cousins of second degree (common great-grandparents) as that was considered incest and ―drinking one‘s own blood‖ (Metraux 1971:123, McCall 1976:181).101 Only the king had to marry within his own mata (but other lineage) and only for Miru women was it considered improper to marry an outsider or commoner (Metraux 1971:124). Mata that intermarried called each other tumu (non consanguine lineages or literally ―Group from which you may get a wife‖) and this was probably a way of building alliances (Metraux 1971:122). Viriamo told Routledge that in her last marriage she had been given as payment of debt, whereas she had been free to leave her first husband (Routledge 1919:228). Legends tell that rich men could be polygamous, but it seemed more common for both men and women to have several successive monogamous relationships. Adultery could be reason for jealousy and separation, but although stories tell of jealousy murders, it was seldom severely punished. Viriamo‘s first wedding had only consisted in her father following her to the house of her future husband, but normally a wedding seemed to have been a festive celebration with extensive food distribution – and the eating of the food symbolised the validation of the marriage (Metraux 1971:111).

Girls could have children with different men before marrying, but upon marrying the future husband adopted the children as his own. Adoption102 was frequent like in many Polynesian societies, and adoptive parents would not make distinctions between adopted and biological children. A child could be given away for shorter or longer periods and childless or older women could even request to get a baby

101 As McCall also notes, it is interesting that in the 1970s this tapu seemed to be more against marriage than against sexual relations, which could result in deformed children. It seemed that parents would use the accusation of incest as an excuse for opposing marriages that were undesirable for other reasons (McCall 1976:181). Today I also heard accuations of incest used as a way to dishonour other families, whereas the family itself had no problem with the union.

102 For more on Rapa Nui practices and views on adoption see Grant McCall 1976 or Delsing, Largo and Arredondo 1998. 71

from younger relatives (Metraux 1971:107, McCall 1976:198).103 People would also go ―visiting‖ relatives, living in other houses for longer periods, especially where there was abundance of food.

At death, the body was wrapped in a straw mat and placed on a wooden or stone structure with the head turned toward the sea. The relatives prepared several different ceremonial umu (earth oven) and gathered to weep, sing, dance and eat in the honour of the dead.104 After a period of exposition the remains were buried in the ahu and the public mourning ended (Metraux 171:116). The dead were believed either to go to a foreign country or to stay on the island as akuaku (spirits). Akuaku could be good or bad, very often malicious, and people had to make food offerings to stay on good terms with them. They were imagined as thin and emaciated, like the kavakava wood figures, yet very real (Metraux 1971:119,318-20).

2.2.2 Arrival of new colonisers (1722-1888) In 1722 Manahine‘s and Tea‘s ancestors got an unexpected visit when the ships of Dutch Captain Roggeveen appeared in their horizon. With a curiosity apparently bigger than any fear of the unknown, some Rapa Nui swam out to the ships and thus discovered the Europeans. The Europeans also discovered the Rapa Nui and Captain Roggeveen named this unknown island for Paasch Eyland (Easter Island) – as the day of the encounter was Easter Sunday.105 This date marks the end of pre- contact time, and the beginning of Rapa Nui‘s international fame as ―Easter

103 There was a difference between poki hangai (adopted child) and maanga hangai (fostered chicken), the first being requested for adoption by others and the latter an abandoned child being temporarily cared for if the biological parents could not do it themselves (McCall 1976:189).

104 There seems to have been a rather intricate system of food distribution, for example the brother or cousin of a deceased man would prepare an earth oven on behalf of the eldest son of the man, the eldest son would do one for his mother, the mother for her parents in law and the brother-in-law one for the children of the deceased who had been forbidden to eat of the first umu (Métraux 1971:116).

105 It is not known what the Rapa Nui called their island at that time (Routledge 1919:209, Métraux 1940:34, McCall 1980:57, Makihara 1999:42).

Island, the lonely island of the stone heads‖, but until the 1860s the contact with the outside remained sporadic.

In the meantime, while the moai became know to the world they somehow lost their importance locally and the Rapa Nui reorganised their society by replacing the ancestor cult with the new cult of the tangata manu (bird man). The ruling title, which since the time of Hotu Matu‟a had been inherited through descent, was now to be elected on the basis of a competition every spring. 106 The competition consisted in being the first to find the first egg of the manutara (sooty tern) on Motu Nui (islet outside Orongo). The egg of this migrating bird was thought to have the divine powers of the god Make-make. The winner became tangata manu (bird man) and the leader of his mata became the ruler until next spring. This cult continued until European missionaries arrived and forbade it – the last ceremony seems to have been in 1866 or 1867 (Routledge 1919:265).

After the first recorded visit of Europeans in 1722, the expedition of Spanish Captain González came for a few days in 1770. Famous British Captain Cook also visited in 1774, French Captain La Perouse called by in 1786, Russian Captain Kotzebue in 1816, and in the space of a century some 54 expedition ships and whalers landed on or passed by the island. Glass beads, the classic exotic item offered by Europeans, were soon unaccepted as currency by the Rapa Nui and they seem to have rapidly adapted to the culture of trading. They were described as eager to sell food, wood carvings or sexual favours in exchange for European items like fishhooks, bottles, hats and wood – the latter maybe to make more carvings to sell (McCall 1976:55-56). But in 1862 the Rapa Nui hospitality and eagerness to trade was replaced by fear after pirate ships, so called Blackbirders, called on the island to take slaves. Because of a shortage of work force in Peru, especially after the abolition of black slavery and decrease in Chinese labour, the Peruvian government looked to nearby Polynesia. An Irish adventurer offered

106 Although this might sound more democratic, Routledge was told that only certain mata could participate and that the winner of one year could somehow pass the title to friendly mata or ―fix‖ the competition beforehand (Routledge 1919:258). It is also not sure whether the title of ariki mau existed parallel to the new leadership (McCall 1976:47). 73

contracting Polynesian ―colonists‖ to work in Peru and this initiated a hidden slave trade with people from various islands being forced or fooled aboard the ships. As Rapa Nui was the closest island to Peru it was hit. It is estimated that in the fatal year of 1862, as many as 1,500 Rapa Nui, maybe almost half of the population, were kidnapped. In Peru the Rapa Nui had to work for guano plantations or as domestic servants and many died simply because of the unfamiliar and poor conditions. After the complaints of the bishop of Tahiti and the governments of France and Britain, the surviving Polynesians were returned, but often to other Polynesian islands than their home and often contaminated with foreign diseases. Only a dozen Rapa Nui made it back to Rapa Nui and there they introduced smallpox that killed another thousand islanders. Added to the tragedy, the descendant of the last ariki mau and many keepers of traditional knowledge were among the dead. This is still remembered with great sadness by the Rapa Nui and the loss of local historians is probably among the reasons for the island‘s many ―mysteries‖.

So, a population that might have reached over ten thousand at its climax, was reduced due to the internal troubles, slave raids and diseases to merely a thousand in a couple of centuries. With a broken social system and ripped off most traditional knowledge, the ancestors of Manahine and Tea and other surviving Rapa Nui in the 1860s had suddenly very little past to build their future on. As another break with the past, this might have been the beginning of another modernity, at least new times.

New lords: missionaries, exploiters and colonisers. In 1864 the first white man came to stay. The Rapa Nui called him Hoa Tahi (Left Alone) because a ship had just left him there, but his real name was Eugène Eyraud and he was sent from Tahiti by the French congregation Sacrés Coeurs (Sacred Hearts). He came to teach about the white god, but after the visits of the blackbirders, most Rapa Nui probably feared all white men. Torometi, a new leader on the island, took charge of this Hoa Tahi and his treatment was apparently so rough that the brave missionary had to be sent to convalesce in Valparaiso in 74

1864. However, Brother Eyraud returned in 1866 with reinforcements: first Father Hippolyte Roussel and then Father Gaspard Zumbohm and Brother Théodule Escolan. Torometi offered to build their church on his land in Hanga Roa, and while the Rapa Nui continued dying from the introduced diseases, the missionaries christened and buried. By late 1868 all the Rapa Nui were supposedly Catholics, but they kept on dying and might have understood baptism merely as a ritual to get food or help from the missionaries. 107 The surviving Rapa Nui accepted Christian names, started wearing European clothes, slept in beds, learnt the gospel in Tahitian, learnt what horses and wheels are, moved to European- style houses by the chapels in Hanga Roa and Vaihu – and seemingly abandoned most of their old lifestyle – at least on the surface (Metraux 1971:44-46, McCall 1976:66-72, Porteous 1981:12-14, Makihara 1999:51-54, Fischer 2001:57-69).108

This depopulated, deforested and still uncolonised island was also promising land for the French Captain Jean-Baptiste Dutrou-Bornier who arrived in 1868. Like the missionaries, he thought the Rapa Nui would soon all die, so they might as well be shipped off somewhere else so he could transform the island to a sheep farm. But Father Roussel wanted to send the islanders to missions in Mangareva or Chile, whereas Dutrou-Bornier wanted them to work on his Irish friend John Brander‘s plantation in Tahiti. This ended in a peculiar conflict where Father Zumbohm of the Vaihu mission allied with Dutrou-Bornier, who apparently even fired canons against Father Roussel in the Hanga Roa mission. For the Rapa Nui this conflict might have made sense, as it seemed to repeat the pattern of the two opposing sides of the island, and Toremeti‟s people soon allied with Hanga Roa against the people of Vaihu (headed by a Rapa Nui called Roma). Confronted with arms, Father Roussel decided to evacuate the island, and in 1871 he went with his Rapa Nui followers to Mangareva in French Polynesia. Most of the remaining Rapa Nui were sent to plantations in Tahiti, and it seemed that the companions

107 Roussel reported that of the approximately 1,200 Rapa Nui in 1866 there were only 900 still alive in 1868. As the population could have been as high as 4,000 in 1862, this means that the Rapa Nui saw 50-75% of their people dying in a period of only six years (McCall 1976:68).

108 However, it was probably more of a desire to associate with the missionaries and an assimilation of old and new (McCall 1976:68, Makihara 1999:54).

Dutrou-Bornier and Brander had gotten rid of all opponents to their Rapa Nui sheep ranch plan.109 The megalomaniac Dutrou-Bornier, who had established his ranch literally on top of the ruins of the old power centre at Mataveri, even proclaimed himself and his Rapa Nui wife as King and Queen of Easter Island. But for most islanders he was only Ko Pito Pito (―Buttons‖) because of the shiny buttons of his uniform, and in 1877 Dutrou-Bornier was killed by two Rapa Nui workers. However, this did not immediately change things to the better for the Rapa Nui, as their island was dominated by sheep and ranchers for almost another century (Metraux 1971:44-46, McCall 1976:66-72, Porteous 1981:14-16, Makihara 1999:55).

Missionary tales tell that actually all the Rapa Nui had wanted to leave their island when the missionaries left, and that the remaining were kept back by force to work on the sheep ranch (Metraux 1971:46, McCall 1976:72). But although we do not really know what Manahine‘s and Tea‘s ancestors thought about leaving or not leaving, the population has been rising steadily since the merely 110 Rapa Nui in 1877. Already by 1886 they had produced forty-seven new Rapa Nui and the family fathers of this period became the mata line founders of modern times – like the clans of the sons of Hotu Matu‟a (McCall 1976:74-75).110 However, as all the Rapa Nui had been moved to live together in Hanga Roa, the connection between mata and kāinga was replaced by a system based on network of hua‟ai (family, descent group).

Father Roussel came back on visits and in 1882 he tried to re-establish monarchy, but on the model of colonial Tahiti and by choosing two good Catholics to be King Atamu (―Adam‖) and Queen Eva (―Eve‖). During the same period a group of Rapa Nui made appeals to France for protection, and different European

109 According to Mc Call, 168 Rapa Nui went to Mangareva with Roussel, 109 went to work on Brander‘s and Catholic mission plantations in Tahiti, and by 1872 there were 247 Rapa Nui in Tahiti. But 95 of them, including Toremeti and Roma, died of sickness within a year (McCall 1976:71-72).

110 The Christian names of these new founders were transformed into family names of the new mata or hua‟ai, and many of the family names of foreigners getting offspring with Rapa Nui in the early 1900s are considered Rapa Nui family names (McCall 1976, Makihara 1999:68).

visitors were surprised and flattered by the positive interest the Rapa Nui showed them and their European home countries.111

It was finally an ex-colony of Spain that put its flag on Rapa Nui. On the 9th of September 1888, Rapa Nui was annexed in the name of the young Republic of Chile. This had been encouraged by the French missionaries and prepared by Captain Policarpo Toro of the Chilean navy. But the final treaty seems to have been understood differently by the Chileans and the Rapa Nui. The Rapa Nui tell that when signing the document King Atamu Tekena put a handful of soil in his pouch and gave some grass to Toro – meaning that Chile only got usufruct rights over the land and not ownership. This act is today re-enacted by any Rapa Nui, young or old, if one ask them about the treaty. Chile, on the other hand, thought it was proving itself as an aspiring empire, as the first Latin American country with a colony in the Pacific.112 The Rapa Nui elected a new king, the young ariki Riro, who went to Chile to complain to the Chilean President about maltreatment of the islanders – but he never returned.113 Due to rising internal problems Chile had little time for its only colony, and in 1903 it decided to lease Rapa Nui as a sheep ranch to French-Chilean Enrique Merlet and the Scottish trading empire Williamson & Balfour Company. For the next fifty years Rapa Nui would be synonymous with Compañia Explotadora de la Isla de Pascua (CEDIP) – and the finest sheep wool made in Eastern Polynesia.

So although Rapa Nui became Chilean it continued to be a ―company island‖ ruled by a few outsiders and now also acting as the representative of Chile

111 Mc Call thinks the Rapa Nui accommodated and manipulated the visitors to their own advantage, by dressing up in European clothes and flattering the guests – like, for example, raising the English flag for Captain Clark in 1882, when they had already asked for French protection (McCall 1976:76-77).

112 With a strong navy defeating both Peru and Bolivia in the War of the Pacific (1879-1883) and a blooming national economy, Chile saw itself as on the way to become a world power (Porteous 1981:26).

113 Apparently Riro fell sick in Valparaiso even before seeing the President, but many Rapa Nui think he was murdered (El Consejo 1988:354). In 2006 the Chilean Marine put up a bust of Riro on the island and some Rapa Nui interpreted this as the State admitting that it had been a murder (Comment, Rapa Nui, May 2006).

(Porteous 1981:45-47). CEDIP or ―the Company‖ as it was called, controlled the lives of all Rapa Nui by fencing in the village Hanga Roa and used them as free labour when needed. If paid by the Company it would be in a currency that only could be used in the Company shop. The Rapa Nui had to live on 7% of the island area, whereas the sheep dominated the rest. They were forbidden to keep sheep themselves because they could get mixed up with the Company sheep. And it was forbidden to move outside the village fences. Thus the Rapa Nui could not even cultivate and fish as they used to, and depended totally on the mercy of the Company (Makihara 1999:73-74).

In 1914 the Rapa Nui tried to revolt against the Company under the inspiration of the old woman Angata (Maria Angata Veri Tahi a Pengo Hare Kohou). Angata had left with Roussel and trained as catechist in the Mangareva mission in the 1870s, but had returned to Rapa Nui where she was later considered a spiritual leader – even a prophet. One day she went to the manager and said that God had told her in a dream that the island belonged to the Rapa Nui and that they would take the cattle. The Rapa Nui then took some animals to the church, where they ate one as sacrifice for God and divided the rest among the families. They continued like this for thirty-seven days until the Chilean vessel ―General Baquedano‖ arrived and stopped the revolt. Several men were arrested, and Angata‘s son along with two other Rapa Nui disappeared. Angata herself died six months later. However, the incident attracted international attention to the poor situation of the Rapa Nui, especially as the British expedition of Katherine Routledge was on the island.114 So after 1914 Chile sent its own governor to the island, the Baquedano came with supplies every year and Rapa Nui was made a ―sub county‖ (subdelegación), an official Chilean administrative unit under the county (departamento) of Valparaiso (Makihara 1999:77). They also built an isolated leper station where they interned the supposed Rapa Nui lepers.115 Chile

114 As later events have shown, the Rapa Nui know how to use foreign visits to attract international attention to their causes, but it is unknown whether also Angata had this in mind when planning her revolt.

115 Chilean bishop Rafael Edwards probably exaggerated the number of lepers on Rapa Nui, thus creating an image of a ―leper island‖ among Chileans that survived to the 1960s and that for some 78

registered Rapa Nui as state property in 1933, opened an elementary school in 1934 and declared the island a National Park and National Historic Monument in 1935, but the Rapa Nui were legally considered under age and were not Chilean citizens. 116 Both Chilean and foreign visitors criticised the treatment of the islanders, but the Company was allowed to go on leasing the island and keeping the Rapa Nui fenced in.

2.2.3 “Company time”: Nua growing up in the 1940s. This was the situation when Manahine‘s grandmother, Nua, was born in the mid 1930s. Now the population had grown to almost 500 persons.117 Nua‘s father was working for the Company and therefore the family never lacked much. They had cows, pigs and hens, and could use the best horses on the island. They were used to horses by that time, but the first time Nua saw a car she thought it was a ghost. Nua was of a hard-working family and already at the age of five she was taking care of her younger siblings, tending pigs, milking cows, collecting eggs from the hens and helping her older brothers make stone fences. Swiss ethnologist Alfred Metraux of the French-Belgian expedition to Easter Island in 1934 described the Rapa Nui childhood as pleasant and free, but Nua only remembers work (Metraux 1971:104). Nua only remembers that she always had to go straight home from school or the church. At school, the teachers were German Catholic nuns who had a difficult time making the Rapa Nui children sit on chairs and speak Spanish. ―They would always say „haka titika‟ [―make order‖] to try to line us up before the class, but we couldn‘t stop laughing because of their funny accent!‖ The nuns were all too strict and because of that she never liked their equally strict leader, Father Sebastian Englert, who was considered the island‘s caring patriarch by outsiders. However, now she laughs about the absurdity of the nuns hitting them with the cane for not speaking Spanish, whereas they could not understand the justified that the Rapa Nui were not allowed to travel off the island. Some even claim that the leper station had political prisoners (Porteous 1981:72-73, Fischer 2001:224).

116 The article 590 of the Civil Code states: ―All land found within the national territory which lacks another owner is fiscal land‖. Apparently the Rapa Nui only got to know about this law in 1966 (El Consejo 1988:68, Makihara 1999:85).

117 Approximately 4% (20 out of 494 people) of the population on Rapa Nui in 1936 were non- Rapa Nui (i.e. Continentals or foreigners) (Makihara 1999:335). 79

punishment precisely because they did not understand Spanish! The nuns would also punish them for coming to school with unwashed hands or dirty clothes. But many did not even have clothes so the nuns would also try to help by distributing food, clothes and pens. Nua was always well-dressed as her mother even had a sewing machine, but she once begged her mother to make her the same nice outfit as a girl she knew at school. She described it as some kind of shorts, but her mother only laughed and explained: ―Nua, that girl is only wearing an adult‘s underpants, with reins and buttons so that it will not fall off!‖ It was also at school she met her future husband Marco, but she was only seven whereas he already a graduating adult of twelve. He was helping Nua with her Spanish lessons and she could not understand why her mother got angry and told her not to see this boy again: ―You know I was just a little girl and he was so nice, helping me with my homework!‖ As the young spent most of their time at home, they almost never saw each other after Marco quit school, but when Nua was seventeen she met him again in church and this time he became her boyfriend. Seven months later, in 1951, they married. But although they were not close cousins, the parents did not approve and there was no party.

2.2.4 “Chilenisation”: Clara growing up in the 1960s. Manahine‘s mother, Clara, was the third child of Nua and Marco, born in the mid 1950s. The Rapa Nui population was near 900 people.118 Clara was the last one born at home and getting her placenta buried, but for Nua that was just a tradition that she didn‘t see any point in continuing. At that time Chile had finally ended the leasing deal with the Company, and in 1953 the Chilean navy had taken over the administration of the island. But the situation did not change much for the Rapa Nui, who were still fenced in and forced to work for free. Things even got worse as the navy people knew little about farming and killed off the animals the Rapa Nui thought they might get. Desperate Rapa Nui even tried to escape from the island in small boats and Nua‘s older brother died like that whereas others made it as far as Tahiti. In 1955 a Norwegian archaeological expedition of the explorer Thor Heyerdahl visited the island and for five months the Rapa Nui

118 According to Makihara, approximately 5% (50 of 895 people) of the population on Rapa Nui in 1954 were non-Rapa Nui (i.e. Continentals or foreigners) (Makihara 1999:335). 80

observed and participated, while the archaeologists studied the moai. The foreigners also brought an abundance of popular modern goods like metal fishhooks, cigarettes, dress fabric, bikes and even refrigerators. This expedition and the books written about it would later be known as the ―door opener‖ of the island, making it known to researchers and tourists all over the world. The same year Chile allowed the first Rapa Nui to travel to the Continent to study and there they discovered that they were not even considered adult citizens and that their island had been confiscated by the State. In 1964, Alfonso Rapu, one of these returning students and by then a young schoolteacher, was elected mayor by the Rapa Nui and started a new revolt, demanding that Chile should give the Rapa Nui full citizen rights (Makihara 1999:99). After much fuss and maybe helped by the fact that another international expedition was visiting and witnessing the events, Chilean President Frei accepted the Rapa Nui claims. In 1966 the government created the Departamento de Isla de Pascua (County of Easter Island) as part of the Province of Valparaiso and the Rapa Nui became Chilean citizens. This also meant the immigration of hundreds of Chilean officials to Rapa Nui and with the opening of the Mataveri airport in 1967 the island was suddenly open to the whole world. Even eighty American militaries arrived to install a tracking station for earth satellites and through them the Rapa Nui were simultaneously introduced to both Chilean and American ways of life.

Tourism was the new future and Marco had inherited a piece of land in the centre of Hanga Roa, which they gradually turned, into one of the first hotels of the island. But in the beginning, the hotel was simply the house they lived in and Clara remembers well that whenever they got tourists the whole family moved out to camp in the garden while the tourists slept in the house. Marco also had a job in the navy, and with the growing tourism they earned enough to afford educating several of their children far away in the United States. Nua never had the opportunity to go to study so she is very proud that all her children got secondary education. Clara was sent to an aunt in Santiago and there she experienced the military coup of General Pinochet in 1973. However, as a Rapa Nui she was already used to curfews and the summer holidays on the island were like a safe 81

haven far from any insecurities of the dictatorship. There she was more bothered by her father who would not let his teenage daughters go alone to the new and popular discotheque – and therefore went with them. The sisters also participated in fun village parties like a festival that would later be called Tapati Rapa Nui (Rapa Nui Week), Clara went alone on a trip to Tahiti, two of her sisters went to Europe and on the whole the life of young Rapa Nui was a lot freer than in the times of their parents.

In the late 1970s Clara graduated as a nurse, but contrary to her sisters who married well-off foreigners, Clara fell in love with Miguel, a Rapa Nui cousin and fisherman. That was not at all what her parents had hoped for, but they could live together without getting married.

2.2.5 “Rapanuisation”: Manahine growing up in the 1990s Clara and Miguel went to live on the Continent for some years and there was born Manahine in 1982. It was still during the dictatorship, and as the little girl decided to arrive at night after curfew hour, the expecting father had to walk to the nearest police station with his hands in the air to get permission to take Clara to the hospital. When Manahine was one year old, the little family moved back to Rapa Nui to let her grow up on her island. There they built a little subsidio (state- subsidised house) on a piece of land Clara inherited and she worked in the local hospital whereas Miguel went on fishing. Little Manahine would often accompany her mother in the hospital or she would walk down to her grandparents. Nua and Marco‘s hotel grew bigger every year and many of the celebrities visiting the island would stay there. Nua often would say: ―Don‘t play here, the tourists might see you!‖, but that only made Manahine even more fascinated by these aliens with the pink skin, bright clothes and shiny gadgets. It was also in the hotel that she first saw a machine from outer space, which she much later understood was something 82

as dull as a computer.119 At that time, the Rapa Nui population was almost 2,000, of which almost a quarter were Continentals or Rapa Nui Mestizo because of the continuing immigration and mixed marriages.120

At the same time as the Rapa Nui got more and more influenced by the outside world, they also learnt the importance of focusing more on what they considered to be their own culture. Tahiti, Hawai‘i and Aotearoa New Zealand were discovered as Polynesian brothers, while ethnic pride movements were rising all over the world. Alberto Hotus and the Council of Elders (Te Mau Hatu o Rapa Nui in Rapa Nui and Consejo de Ancianos in Spanish) led the fight against the privatisation of the land that Pinochet imposed in 1979. His government offered each Rapa Nui a titulo de dominio (―individual land tenure‖) of a parcel of land, but as the Consejo and the majority of the Rapa Nui understood this would mean accepting that Chile was the rightful owner of the island. However, as Pinochet also offered subsidios (subsidised housing), some families did accept the titulos de dominio.

After the end of the Pinochet dictatorship in 1989 and the re-democratisation of Chile in the 1990s also allowed Rapa Nui to develop their cultural revival movement more freely. At the forefront of this revival was the activist group Kahu Kahu o Hera or Corporación de Protección Cultural (―Corporation of Cultural Protection‖) of which Clara was member, the dance group Tu‟u Hotu Iti and the Consejo de Ancianos (Council of Elders)(Makihara 1999:139-140, 158-159).121 The majority of the children now grew up learning Spanish instead of Rapa Nui, but Clara wanted her daughter to speak Rapa Nui. But when Manahine went to school as a 5-year-old she quickly switched to Spanish, to be like the rest. This motivated Clara to later become a teacher and fight for the survival of the language from within the Chilean school system. Like the rest, Manahine also participated in the

119 This was much like my own encounter with computers in my childhood 80‘s and might say something about how quickly Rapa Nui caught up with the West and simply how young the computer age is.

120 Approximately 25% of the population, or 550 out of 2,200 persons, on Rapa Nui in 1982 were non-Rapa Nui (i.e. Continentals or foreigners) (Makihara 1999:335).

yearly Tapati festival, which was now evolving from a beauty pageant to a clearly Polynesian event and an important transmitter of Rapa Nui arts and cultural knowledge. In 1994 Chile passed the Ley Indigena (Indigenous Law) with great promises for the future of indigenous groups in Chile. A CONADI office (Corporación Nacional de Desarrollo Indígena, or ―National Corporation for Indigenous Development‖) was installed in the centre of the village, to be the communicator between the Rapa Nui and the state (Makihara op.cit:143). But Manahine remembers much better Kevin Costner making his Hollywood film ―Rapa Nui‖, turning the whole island into a film set for six months, and that was an exciting time for the 11-year-old. This was not so exciting for her mother Clara who complained about the film machinery damaging archaeological sites, and thereby lost her job as the head of the local SERNATUR (tourist information). Manahine also got to travel to France with the dance group Polynesia when she was 14, but her father would still not let her go alone to the disco. This did not stop her from going and in the end she partied and did almost whatever she wanted. Her parents, who never had married, separated at this time and Manahine kept on living with her mother. At school she was labelled a rebel, but when they made her take a psychological test it turned out that she was only clever and bored. Finally she did well at school and graduated in 2000. At this time Rapa Nui was again boiling with different political opinions and actions concerning their uneasy relationship with the Chilean state, but Manahine doesn‘t like politics. When this story started in 2002 she was working at home and at the hotel or going to a Rapa Nui woman in the campo that was teaching her about the old ways – while her whole family waited to see what she would study.

2.2.6 A history of histories and stories This is a short and literary version of a possible history of Rapa Nui, yet it is of course only a personal story built on many other different personal stories and memories from books and informants. It can be said that there are as many histories of Rapa Nui as there are Rapa Nui, but then there are quite a few extra ones too, as most outsiders writing about the island find it necessary to begin with a personal résumé of the history. The aim of this thesis is to show how much and 84

how quickly the society has changed, yet also to show how important the past is to the present Rapa Nui.

One of many times I asked about stories of the ―time of the ancestors‖ Manahine commented: ―Remember that these are only legends; do not write them down in your paper as anything more‖ 122. One who seems to have taken that advice into account was amateur historian Father Sebastian Englert who in his books often gave several similar versions of the same stories as told by different informants (Englert 2002). Yet many young Rapa Nui expressed frustration with this multitude of histories, which they seem to take as signs of inconsistency among the elders. ―They all have their own version of the past, so what are we to believe?‖ some said.123 Because of this, some of them seemed to rely more on books written by outsiders than on the stories of their own grandparents.

The near-extinction of the Rapa Nui at the end of the 19th century must mean that many stories have been lost forever and that they cannot be retrieved, not even with the most advanced research methods. Therefore, both researchers and Rapa Nui must come to terms with the fact that there will never be answers to all the questions – a fact which in itself can actually be called one of the very few possible ―truths‖ there are in science.

However, history and stories are what the present Rapa Nui present, relive and build their future upon.

122 Pers.com, Santiago, May 2005. 123 Interview, Rapa Nui, 2002. 85

2.3 RAPA NUI, A CONTEMPORARY LIVED SPACE 2.3.1 A Latin American territory in Polynesia

Illustration 5: The Rapa Nui ariki and the Chilean coloniser of 1888, Hanga Roa.

Rapa Nui, or Isla de Pascua as Chileans still prefer to call it, is the western extremity of the so-called proud ―tri-continental‖ Chilean territory (Antartica- Oceania-America). Since the Ley Pascua (Law no.16441) of 1966 installing Chilean civil administration, the island has been a Municipality and Department under the Chilean 5th Province of Valparaiso, but situated 3700km away into the open sea. President Ricardo Lagos presented in 2004 governmental plans to give Rapa Nui an Estatuto especial (―Special status‖) and make it a ―Special Territory‖ administered directly under the State. As the proposal was made without the community‘s knowledge about its specific content 124 and its possible advantages over the present situation there have been ongoing local debates, disputes and negociations with the State125. Until the law is passed Rapa Nui continues to be ruled as part of the Valparaiso region, and many seem to think that the Estatuto especial will not mean much more autonomy in practice.

Chile is the only Latin American nation with a Polynesian possession, which is not that surprising as there are few other Polynesian islands close to the Latin American Pacific coast, and most of this coast is Chilean – but the consequences are interesting. Rapa Nui is thus the only Polynesian society that is a colony of a developing country and the only one where the official language is Spanish.

124 See relevant documents at: http://www.rapanuivalparaiso.cl/manejo.htm. 125 Riet Delsing observed this process, so please see more in her forthcoming thesis. 86

Although Chile‘s economy is now the strongest in Latin America and the country is becoming part of the industrialised nations, Chile is a little brother compared to France, Britain and the USA. The Eurocentrism of the big colonists of the Pacific and the language barrier might have contributed to the fact that Rapa Nui is simply not considered in pan-Polynesian studies and organisations. A consequence which is even more important for this study, though, is that the young Rapa Nui are more likely to study and work within a Latin American and Spanish sphere than in the Polynesian – even though they say they feel and want to be Polynesian.

Illustration 6: The reimiro, the Rapa Nui flag

2.3.2 An island of heritage tourism and international research Rapa Nui as an out-door museum or a place of research is probably more known than the island‘s geopolitical belonging to Chile. Since the airport opened in 1967, tourism has grown to become the main industry on Rapa Nui, and today the island receives more than ten times its population in a year. As no taxes have to be paid and foreign companies still have not taken control over the business, tourism is a good income to the Rapa Nui and it has elevated the general living conditions on the island above those on the Chilean mainland. Practically everyone on the island works in tourism, either directly and full-time or partially on an on and off basis. It is not uncommon for young people to rent out their first house as a B&B for tourists while studying away from the island, or living in their parents house. Tourism has also given much higher foreign language 87

proficiency than on mainland Chile and it is not uncommon for a Rapa Nui to speak several languages fluently. The number of tourists has risen from 444 in 1967 to 46,320 in 2006 and there has been a steady rise in spite of variations and a sudden increase during the last five years (Porteous 1981, Georgia Lee e-mail 2006). As an industry that can be developed in small scale giving high revenues tourism has become a much more successful alternative in modern Rapa Nui history than sheep ranching or extended agricultural development (Shephard- Toomey 2002). Yet it has also attracted growing work immigration from the Chilean mainland and as they often accept lower salaries than the Rapa Nui they are felt as a threat to the local work force. Outside and foreign investors also seem to try to infiltrate the local business twisting the land right law and developing companies on the land of Rapa Nui landowners who ―lend‖ their name and land for money. Finally, there is also a limit to how many tourists the environment of the island can accommodate before problems with water supply and renovation will make it collapse. Former head of the local CONAF José-Miguel Ramirez argues that under perfect conditions the island could support more than the actual 50,000, but under the present conditions it should not receive more than 20,000 (Ramirez e-mail 2006). Late Francesco di Castri was also much concerned with the environmental management – or rather the lack of it – of the Rapa Nui tourist industry (Di Castri 2003a). Ramirez has additionally called Rapa Nui a ―holy cow‖ of Chile, in Marvin Harris‘ meaning of ecological and economical irrationality (Ramirez 2001), yet he probably also alluded to the surplus of domestic animals damaging the archaeological heritage. These concerns are also the concerns of many Rapa Nui, and especially the young seem to understand that better management is the future solution – both economically and environmentally. Until now, the local tourism market competition has mostly been about having as many rental cars or rooms as possible; recently, several started branding their lodging and services as ecological.

2.3.3 A global village of Rapa Nui, Continentals and foreigners Rapa Nui has today a total population of almost 4,000 people (3,800 according to the 2002 national census). The growth from the legendary 110 some hundred 88

years ago seems to have been explosive. But despite the fact that some Rapa Nui women of the last century gave birth to more than twenty children, much of this population growth is a result of immigration of Chileans from the Chilean continent, which exploded following the installation of civil administration in 1966.

People from all world corners settle down on the island for shorter or longer periods. Some always dreamt of living there, others came to work, many simply came as tourists, and they all fell in love with either the place or a Rapa Nui – or both. Some try to take their Rapa Nui love with them home, but most Rapa Nui quickly get homesick and return to their island –with or without their beloved.

Of the 3,800 inhabitants on Rapa Nui in the National census of 2002, some 2,300 are considered Rapa Nui, 1,300 continental Chileans, 35 resident foreigners and the rest tourists126. In addition to these 2,300 Rapa Nui living on the island, one can add at least 1,500 living on the Chilean continent, another 1,000 in French Polynesia and several hundred more in the rest of the world.127

Before the Chilean administration was installed on Rapa Nui in 1966 and before the airport opened, the immigrants to Rapa Nui were only a few dozens Europeans and Chileans working in the Company. Now the majority are the approximately thirteen hundred public functionaries, army personnel and individuals from the Continent, coming with their families or marrying Rapa Nui.128 The Rapa Nui call these ―Continentals‖ or simply ―Chileans‖, although the Rapa Nui also are Chilean nationals. The continental Chileans also go under less polite names, like tire and mauko (―bad grass‖, pasto in Spanish). The approximately

126 Numbers collected from the web site www.censo.cl; whose data are now available at http://www.ine.cl/cd2002/sintesiscensal.pdf (last accessed May 2007).

127 Estimations of the Rapa Nui mayor Petero Edmunds in an interview 2003 with Marcela Aguilar and results from the 2002 census (Aguilar: 2003, www.mapuche.info).

128 According to the estimations of René Pakarati, a functionary in the Municipalidad working with the 2002 census, the group of Continentals consisted of 1,000 civilians, 85 Air Force personnel, 94 carabineros (policemen) and 59 Navy personnel. The resident foreigners were 35. Pers.com. Riet Delsing, July 2005.

35 resident foreigners (French, American, German, Japanese, Australian, Polish, Swiss) are either called by nationality, simply as ―tourists‖ or by the Tahitian papa‟a (white foreigner).129

Traditionally the inhabitants of the island were categorised according to which mata (descent group) they belonged to, but although belonging to a hua‟ai (extended family, descent group) is still essential, the increasing immigration has created new categories of classification:

Rapa Nui & Mestizo vs Continental + Foreigner Insiders vs Outsiders

These are concepts and divisions that the islanders use in daily speech, but the meaning attached to them seems to be situational and therefore I will use them as loose categories or situational identities. The Rapa Nui and the mestizo can be called the insiders and the Continental and the few residing foreigners can be called outsiders, but there are differences between outsiders who marry insiders and thereby enter Rapa Nui families. Cross-combinations, cultural upbringing, the Polynesian custom of frequent adoptions and the possibility of name switching also complicate these categories, but now, and especially with the Indigenous Law of 1993, the definitions seem to be basically based on family names.130 Following Chilean customs, a child gets two family names, first the one of the father and then the one of the mother. Therefore one could say that, theoretically, the Rapa Nui are those with both family names being Rapa Nui131, the mestizo have one Rapa Nui and one Continental Chilean (or in some cases foreign), and the Continental has both parents being Chilean. But as we will see, reality is not so

129 A ―tourist‖ seems to be almost by definition a white person, and others would often be specified, as for example: ―Japanese tourist‖.

130 Ley Indigena, 1993.

131 Some of these Rapa Nui family names are the names of European immigrants in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and these are now considered equivalent to old Rapa Nui names. This might be because these foreigners were so few and more accepted as part of Rapa Nui community, that ethnicity was not a preoccupation at the time and/or that their offspring were culturally and linguistically raised as Rapa Nui.

simple and it is not all in the names.132 And even though most Rapa Nui insist on being only that, there are also those who are proud to be mestizo.

2.3.4 The Rapa Nui and the “Rapa Nui mestizo” Within the group of the approximately 2,300 ethnic Rapa Nui, exists a local differentiation between the concepts of Rapa Nui and “mestizo‖. Despite my personal preference for calling everyone ―Rapa Nui‖, this internal differentiation is important because most of the young Rapa Nui are now locally considered mestizos and this seems to influence their feelings of belonging.

Mestizo is a Spanish term used in Chile for Chileans of Indian descent, in difference from the term ―Criollo‖ that insists on Spanish descent and ―Chileno‖ that insists on the common national identity. 133 The term mestizo now seems to be more used on Rapa Nui than on the Chilean continent, and on Rapa Nui it means a Rapa Nui with a Continental or now eventually foreign parent. 134 ―Mixto‖ (mixed) is another name for the same and maybe better suited to include the Rapa Nui with a foreign parent or children of a mestizo with a Rapa Nui, but my informants used mestizo for all possible combinations. Some also use the Chilean- Spanish name ―pascuense‖ (Easter Islander) to ironically specify a Rapa Nui or mestizo that they consider to be culturally more Chilean than Rapa Nui, i.e. who does not speak the language, has grown up away from the island or does not seem to know and respect the culture. Others might sometimes call themselves

132 For example, when a woman marries she keeps her own family names, but as descent is patrilineal her names are only passed down one generation. So to keep the Rapa Nui family name, plus the land rights and privileges that come with it, many mestizos with Continental/foreign fathers now change the order of their family names to get to pass on the name of their Rapa Nui mother to their children.

133 Spanish definition of mestizo: (from the Latin for ―mixed‖), used about persons born by parents of different races, especially of a white father and Indian mother or a white mother and Indian father (Real Academia Española, www.rae.es, last accessed May 2005).

134 The term ―mestizo‖ seems little used on the Chilean continent although merely all Chileans are of mixed indigenous and European descent, and could thus be called ―mestizo‖. The ―indigenous mestizo‖ has always been discriminated by the ―European mestizo‖ and that has probably made the term negative. It seems to be more a question of calling oneself ―Indian‖, ―Criollo‖ or ―Chilean‖, and not something in-between. Some ask for debate on the apparent absence of the term ―mestizo‖ in Chilean public discourse. Miguel Huenil, pers.com., July 2005 and Millaleo:2005, www.mapuche.cl. 91

―pascuense‖ in Spanish when joking or talking with Chileans that might not know the name Rapa Nui, yet this name seems to be increasingly used as a prejorative among the Rapa Nui.

Interestingly, the Rapa Nui born of European fathers during the Company time were never called mestizo. The concept actually seems to have arrived with the Chilean immigration in the 1960s and it probably would not really have made much sense before then. What one could call the ―European mestizos‖ from the Company time were brought up as Rapa Nui by their Rapa Nui mothers and received little European influence. In addition, the European presence was probably not felt as a cultural threat at the time, unlike the later massive immigration of Chileans, and ethnicity was not much of an issue earlier. In the same way the name ―Rapa Nui‖ became a necessary label when the islanders came into regular contact with foreigners and other Polynesians in the 19th century, the term mestizo probably became necessary when the Rapa Nui needed to differentiate themselves from Chilean immigrants after the 1960s.135

Today, the great majority of the young Rapa Nui are considered mestizo, and, biologically speaking, all Rapa Nui have some outsider blood. Following the names in the birth records of the Registro Civil (National Register) the Rapa Nui percentage of the newborn on the island dropped from 90% in 1960 (before the arrival of Chilean administration) to 49% in 1980 and to only 35% in 1992 (Delsing, Largo & Arredondo 1998:204-205). This means that, in the period when most of my informants were born (early or mid-80s), the mestizos outnumbered the Rapa Nui. However, these numbers only show the general tendency, as they don‘t account for Rapa Nui born on the Continent, and might not coincide with the actual numbers of people living on the island in 2002. The numbers of the Chilean national census in April 2002 are not very accurate concerning the

135 Rapa Nui cultural politics present a shift from a political discourse of equality through the 1960s to the current insistence on their ethnic and cultural difference. Riet Delsing, pers.com., July 2005.

percentage of mestizos as the census question asks for ethnic belonging in general only.136

―Rapa Nui mestizo‖ could be a more correct term for this specific Rapa Nui case, as both the so-called ―Rapa Nui‖ and ―mestizo‖ are Rapa Nui according to the Indigenous Law.137 However, for the convenience of the reader, I often simply use mestizo, like most Rapa Nui do. And in the future I think the term might disappear from the Rapa Nui concepts as everyone will be just as mestizo as Rapa Nui biologically speaking, or these concepts might become based on ascription instead of biological descent and family names.138

Illustration 7: Young Rapa Nui and Chilean, selling souvenirs

136 In the 2002 census the question was: ―Do you belong to any of the following original or indigenous peoples?‖ followed by the list: ―Alcaloufe (Kawashkar), Atacameno, Aimara, Colla, Mapuche, Quechua, Rapa Nui, Yamana (Yagan), None of the above‖ (www.censo2002.cl, last accessed June 2005). In the 1992 census the wording of the question had focused more on felt affiliation and resulted in a very high percentage of both Rapa Nui and other indigenous peoples in Chile. Whereas for example many Mapuche welcomed this, the Rapa Nui thought the numbers were too high. Personal communications by Grant McCall (Rapa Nui 2002) and Miguel Huenuil (Santiago 2005).

137 The local school used to classify its pupils according to the ethnic categories: Rapa Nui, Mestizo, Continental and eventually Foreigner, but after the Indigenous Law was passed, the Mestizo had to be called Rapa Nui. Rapa Nui school teacher, pers.com., July 2005.

138 The few young foreigners and Continentals that have lived all their life on Rapa Nui are not considered to be Rapa Nui, and I therefore decided not to include them in the focus group. 93

2.3.5 “The Young”. Groups and individuals among young Rapa Nui There are, however, other categories within this group, which for the sake of simplicity often is referred to as ―the young Rapa Nui‖, but which must be understood as a group of loosely defined groups and criss-crossing individuals.

―Yorgos‖139 is the name for the most visible of such possible subgroups of young Rapa Nui, although my informants did not agree wether this group actually exists or not. The yorgos themselves do exist, but some say they are basically a fashion, while others see them as ideologists –and even though the yorgos came about only in the 1980s they have already become an urban myth of Rapa Nui. A Chilean television series from 1998, called ―Iorana. Bienvenido al Amor‖ (―Iorana. Welcome to Love‖) apparently contributed to make the yorgos become sex symbols for Chilean female tourists.140 International tourists often refer to them as the ―local cowboys‖ and the image is fitting for these young men in their late teens and twenties who majestically move around the village on their horses. They dress similarly, in a style that looks both conscious and indifferent. The feet are normally bare or in military boots. The trousers, jeans or with military camouflage pants, have the legs rolled up and the waist hitched up and marked by a broad belt, preferably a leather bodybelt like weightlifters or a pareau (wrap-around). Even when the torso is covered, often by several outwashed t-shirts, sweaters and military jackets, the waist is marked by a belt. The hair is mostly worn long and straight or in a ponytail and a piece of cloth, a pareau or a t-shirt is tied around the head. The first explanation I got about them was from a girl who had been the girlfriend of one and she said that their style was inspired by Rambo movies hired in the local video shop. Yet, she said also it was more than a style of dressing and that they spent a lot of time in the campo (countryside) where they occupied a

139 The name, spelled ―yorgos‖, ―iorgos‖ or similarly, is by some said to come from a foreign language word for ―farmer‖ whereas another who claimed to have been one of the first yorgos said it is an invention based on the reversal of the verb ―to vagabond‖. McCall also mentions the possible reference to a Chilean cartoon character (a vampire) called Yorgo (McCall, pers. com. 2007).

140 Chilean National Television (TVN) makes normally at least one soap opera per year and Iorana still seems to be the most popular. As with the Costner-movie the Rapa Nui only got roles as extras and the portrayal of the Rapa Nui was stereotypical. See more on http://www.tvn.cl/teleseries/Iorana or www.youtube.com. 94

paepae (hut) and grew plantations. They also only spoke Rapa Nui between themselves and her boyfriend only spoke broken Spanish, even though this was as late as in the 1990s when most Rapa Nui their age spoke fluent Spanish. A man, now in his forties, said he was among the first yorgos and that it had been almost like a movement of young men turning their back on the Chilenised ―office life‖ in Hanga Roa and they had returned to the campo to work the land and show the elders that they were hardworking and good Rapa Nui. Yet when these yorgos, as they decided to call themselves, got children they moved back to the village and the whole thing changed. According to him there are no ―real yorgos‖ anymore and it has turned into a fashion associated with drug use and being cool. However, when I asked Manahine about the yorgos fashion that I had observed in the schoolyard and among teenagers that seemed too young to live alone in the campo, she got really offended. She said she had never looked at the yorgos as anything else than special individuals and she explained how each piece of clothing had its very practical function. The headband was for avoiding dust and hair getting in the eyes when riding. The tight belt was fulfilling the function of a body belt, namely to protect the back when working with heavy lifts. The many layers of sweaters and jackets kept the sun out and the rolled up legs of the trousers and bare feet were better for riding. The explanations were convincing, yet I still think it can be seen as a style and expression of identification. Yorgos, or at least men (and some girls) dressing like them, make an impression on the streets of Hanga Roa, and even though many parents and tourists seem to fear them, many young look up to them as the coolest of cool. Some still seem to ―work the land‖, speak Rapa Nui and at least they stay on the island – and in that sense they are considered by some to be more Rapa Nui than, for instance, those who go away to study.

―The students‖, or at least those who do not drop out after a short time, but who complete several years of university studies, can be described almost as another subgroup – and one opposed to the yorgos. These students are mostly Rapa Nui mestizos who do not speak Rapa Nui and they see studying as an obligation and a possibility of developing a career that enables them to return to the island and to contribute with their acquired knowledge. They are the focus group of this study 95

and will be described in detail throughout the thesis. Yet, what can be repeated here even though it might seem a little ironic is that, even though the community officially states that it is in favour of education and on the other hand often criticises the yorgo lifestyle, the yorgos seem to be considered as ―more‖ and hence ―better‖ Rapa Nui than the students.

Despite this apparent existence of subgroups among the young Rapa Nui, I find it difficult to define them as such. Although it is not very common, one can be both a yorgo and a student at the same time, and these names might seem to be rather temporal individual labels. The young Rapa Nui belong first of all to their different families and mata (clans), and the Rapa Nui families can in turn be seen as subcultures. However, like Arild Hovland in his thesis on young Sámi (Hovland 1999), I find it important to remark that although ―the young‖ are easily seen as one group, there are always differences between changing constellations of subgroups and individuals. And as a Rapa Nui friend sometimes corrected me when I tried to ask about Rapa Nui people in general: ―There are no ‗the Rapa Nui‘, we are different and so one cannot say that ‗the Rapa Nui say‘…are or do‖.141

2.3.6 Life in contemporary Rapa Nui society The course of a young Rapa Nui‘s life has of course changed since ancient times and probably even more so in the last century. Most of the rites and practices that were described to Routledge and Métraux (see §2.2.1 of this thesis) must have been practised as late as in the end of the 19th century, yet they already seem mythical.

Children always seem to be welcomed on Rapa Nui and a high birth rate has contributed to the survival of the people. As the Catholic Church is very strong in Chile, abortion has been prohibited by law since the Chilean civil administration of 1966, yet on Rapa Nui there do not seem to be many attempts at illegal abortions. Many children are born of single mothers and this does not seem to give any stigma. In the fifth month of pregnancy it was an ancient custom to offer

141 Pers. com, Rapa Nui 2004 96

a ceremonial earth-oven meal called umu rae to the expecting mother in order to secure good health for the child. This is still done by some. At birth the cutting and tying of the umbilical knot seemed to be a major rite that is even described in the funding myth of Hotu Matu‘a‘s arrival to the island. The umbilical cord and the placenta was then buried like in many Polynesian societies today or set to sea in an empty calabash. This was common practice in the 1940s, but seems to have almost disappeared with the installation of the first hospital. Uma who was a young mother when this custom ceased said she did not care about it because she did not know about the symbolism. It was just something they used to do without asking why; and this attitude is of course a hallmark of tradition. Today many young people haven‘t even heard about the umbilical rite. However some families still practice it and it might be rising in popularity again. The firstborn son is still often referred to as the atariki, yet I haven‘t seen many strictly observing the tapu of not eating above the baby‘s head. Most children are baptised in the church and the current trend is to give Rapa Nui first names, something that was forbidden by the priests and authorities earlier.

As modern-day parents and even grandparents are in full-time work, there are now kindergartens for babies from a few months old and upwards. When a child is four years old it can start school in what is called pre-kinder, continuing in kinder and then at the age of five he or she starts in first grade called primero basico. Today the parents can choose to let the child join a Rapa Nui language nest class, called Immersion Rapa Nui, yet this was only allowed to start in 1999 and was not available when the young persons of this thesis were children. The inmersion classes now continue up to the fourth grade of primary school, but after that all pupils must join the normal Chilean curriculum. The main argument for this is that Chilean universities have a common entry test that is built on the national curriculum.

After eight years of primary school and three years of high school, the young Rapa Nui graduate around the age of seventeen or eighteen. At that moment they are expected to go through what can be called the modern-day Rapa Nui rite of passage, which means leaving the island in order to get an education. Most go to 97

universities and professional institutes on the Chilean mainland and opt for short studies. By that time, some of the girls are already mothers and they either wait with education until the children are older or they leave them with the grandparents. After either having dropped out of university without passing the exams or after having obtained the diploma, most young Rapa Nui want to return to the island to work and settle down. Yet as will be seen, many prefer to get some work experience before returning.

At some point they form new families, probably with a Continental partner. Couples break up easily, and it is almost normal to have children with different partners. Chilean law recently opened for legal divorces, yet it has been possible to annul marriages and many Rapa Nui prefer to live in partnerships. At the age of retirement many continue to work, as they have their own hotels and businesses. At death they are buried according to Catholic rites, in the cemetary by the sea. Yet there are still stories about old people that supposedly have wandered off alone in order to die in their family cave. And after having stayed up all night to sing and mourn the dead the family presents an umu (earth oven meal) to people attending the funeral.

2.4 Chapter conclusion: The stage is set. In this second chapter: ―A special place, its history and people‖, I have described geographical, historical and social aspects of the present thirdspace where the young Rapa Nui grow up, and –as Kahn argued about the Tahitian thirdspace- ―gain a sense of who they are‖ (Kahn 2004:303).

This Rapa Nui thirdspace contains local myths and stories about the special land that Haumaka found, and present global images like ―Mysterious Easter Island‖ and the Chilean image of ―Tropical Paradise‖. The global images can be seen as orientalism (Said 1978) imposed upon Rapa Nui through its use within colonial politics and tourist marketing, yet I also think that the Rapa Nui can contribute to their persistence. As will be discussed in the next chapter I think that these 98

―postcard‖ images influence both tourists and inhabitants, and that through a reflexive play of expectations and representations similar to Erving Goffman‘s (1959) dynamics of the presentation of self.

This Rapa Nui thirdspace is the ongoing result of human actions and historical coincidences through time, beginning with the successive colonisations and interventions by Rapa Nui, Europeans and Chileans. One can speculate what the island would have been like today if the Rapa Nui never built any moai, if the Peruvian slavers had not passed by or if Chile had not annexed it, because the island as it is today is naturally only one of many possible scenarios. What seems most important to me is that they did build a unique monumental culture and that they did get contact with the outside world again after a period of isolation, something that eventually led to the present Rapa Nui as Chilean territory and international destination of heritage tourism. The Rapa Nui have not been passive in this process and this can be shown with examples like the uprising against the Company in 1914, the demand for Chilean citizenship in the 1960s and the Rapanuisation since the 1980s. One could say that with the claim for citizenship the Rapa Nui somehow contributed to the Chilenisation that they now fight back with Rapanuisation and their insistence on their uniqueness as Rapa Nui.

The image of Rapa Nui today is still one of a special place, yet maybe for different reasons. For instance it is the only South-American colony in Polynesia, and it is a place where the socalled colonial masters come to work in lowpaid jobs because of higher living standards. It is effectively –as the UN states- the most isolated society in the world, yet because of its popularity with international media and tourists one can almost say that the whole world passes through it. This is part of the Rapa Nui that young people in this thesis have inherited and which they will also surely contribute to change in the future.

In the next chapters I will follow how the young navigate within this Rapa Nui thirdspace -and thereby change it as all action and reaction means some kind of change. 99

CHAPTER 3

A YEAR OF YOUNG LIVES AT HOME IN THE NAVEL

Illustration 8: In the middle of town, Plaza Hotu Matu'a

This chapter corresponds to my first year of fieldwork and will try to show how the young Rapa Nui live in and relate to their home place. To give a sense of how the year passed, I wanted to follow the chronology of my stay, which was planned to coincide with the cycle from one summer and Tapati festival to the next. However, for the ease of analysis, I divided the chapter chronologically in two periods (festival-time and the rest of the year) and thematically in three parts (case-study of specific event, everyday structures and aspects of growing up).

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3.1 TAPATI AND POSTCARD IMAGES OF ISLAND LIVING

Illustration 9: Tapati candidate in the last competition of the festival

As long as my young Rapa Nui informants can remember, every year has started and ended with a festival called Tapati Rapa Nui (Rapa Nui Week). While they grew up in the 1980s and 90s, the Tapati has grown too, from an anonymous village party to a cultural festival that now almost defines the living culture of contemporary Rapa Nui.142 It is also a space of cultural exchange and transmission between young and old, and between Rapa Nui and tourists. After an introduction to the festival itself, I will try to capture here what this identity celebration might mean for the young Rapa Nui and their collective identity.

3.1.1 A festival for hosts and guests, recreating past and future Performance is an important feature of Polynesian societies, where children almost seem to know how to dance before they walk, and where the first visiting Europeans, like Captain Cook and Captain Bligh, were struck by, for instance, the skilful ―Tahitian expressiveness‖ (Levy 1973:97-101). Chilean anthropologist

142 The concept of intangible culture is well known locally and the mayor has announced that UNESCO should include this festival as part of the World Heritage. 101

Pablo Andrade Blanco has nicely described how contemporary Rapa Nui can be seen as maintaining and constructing their identity through staged performances and presentations dialoguing with their past (Andrade 2003).―Rapa Nui history, is a living history that is found everywhere on the island and that is brought to the body through oral traditions and staged manifestations‖ (Andrade 2003:133, my translation). And like historian Greg Dening writes: ―There is time and space in the word ‗presenting‘. Time in the sense that putting something into the present is to make it ‗now‘; space in the sense that to present something is to stage it in some way‖ (Dening 1996:xiv).

In the annual Tapati folk festival, the Rapa Nui both represent the past, create the present and influence the future, both for the tourists and the new generations of Rapa Nui. It is becoming a tourist attraction in line with the moai and a space of cultural transmission.

Text 3.1a: The big timeless Rapa Nui family on stage It was one of my first days in the field and in a public of some hundred tourists and locals I was about to witness the opening of the event of the year, the Tapati festival. The little stage by the sea front at Hanga Vare Vare was a sand-covered floor of stones with hand-painted wooden wall depicting scenes of island living in the old times, but the static paintings were almost brought to life in the dark by an impressive lightening and speaker system. As the show started, people began emerging out of the shadows. Women and men, old and young, all dressed in traditional bark cloth, feathers and body paint. Some carried baskets with vegetables, others fish hanging in a string over the shoulder. Had it not been for little microphones glued onto their bodies, they would have looked almost like they were stepping right out of the past. The actors started making fire, preparing food and went about doing everyday things as if the stage was their home, while a voice seemed to tell a story in Rapa Nui.143 I did not understand anything of what was said, but the scene gave me the impression that this was the big Rapa Nui family transcending time, offering a glimpse of old village life. They did not have to play; they could simply be their ancestors.144

143 Andrade argued about another Tapati play that this double focus of the representation (one internal and another towards the public) created an interesting process of ―Brechtian distance‖, where the public becomes part of what the actors try to reconstruct (Andrade 2004:55).

144 Based on observation, Rapa Nui, 08.02.2002. After seeing several Rapa Nui stage shows, understanding some of the language and knowing most of the actors I could better see the acting. However, the first impression must be much like the impression of most tourists watching these shows. 102

Text 3.1b: Welcome to this Navel at the End of the World! ―Welcome world, welcome to Rapa Nui!‖ Powerful speakers broadcasted this greeting far beyond the festival area. It felt almost as if it could be heard worldwide and I was struck by the feeling that this island really knows how to act as a centre of the world. On the stage now the Rapa Nui mayor, dressed in a Polynesian flower shirt and jeans, repeated his opening speech in Rapa Nui, Spanish and English. The English version was a general welcome to the island and explained that the Tapati, or Easter Island Week, is a unique festival that shows the spirit of the Rapa Nui culture. That these two weeks are weeks of sharing, loving and celebrating. He also made reference to the terror attacks in the United States the year before (2001) and proclaimed: ―This is a small island that only wants love in the world‖. This, together with his last words, shifted again the focus, this time to the island as an end of the world, as he pleaded the tourists: ―When you leave, please tell the world that we are still very much alive‖.145

Most tourists still come to see the archaeological heritage of Rapa Nui, but once they are there, many become just as fascinated with the living culture and especially the Tapati festival. For two weeks every summer the Tapati gets hundreds of people to compete in numerous cultural activities and the whole island is literally boiling with life.

Illustration 10: One of the many dance competitions of the Tapati

Few agree on how or when this festival came about. Some trace it back to a party organised by the Chilean governor and his wife to celebrate the fifty years of the

145 Based on Mayor Petero Edmunds Paoa‘s Tapati-speeches, Rapa Nui, Feb 2002. 103

Chilean annexation in the 1930s. Others claim it was Chilean immigrants that tried to recreate a Chilean village party called Fiesta Primavera (―Spring Party‖) in the 1960s. Another version has the first Tapati as a fundraising event sponsoring the local school. The Municipality, which now organises the festival in co-operation with the Council of Elders, avoids this multitude of origins by simply stating in its information leaflet that the festival has been the cultural meeting point of Rapa Nui for more than 30 years (Municipality of Rapa Nui 2006). What I find important is that the Tapati seems to have evolved from an anonymous village party, with a Western style beauty pageant and carnival, to become a festival that now defines Rapa Nui culture. One can guess influences from Tahiti‘s Heiva festival and other festivals in the Pacific, and some would even say that Kevin Costner‘s film “Rapa Nui. The legend” (1993) has had its touch on the body paints. Some also draw a historical parallel to the ancient competition of the birdman cult and the intertribal tensions in the old settlement pattern of moitiés (McCall: pers.com 2002). However, this has all somehow become ―Rapa Nui‖ and is an important space for Rapa Nui identity maintenance and construction. Its visual expressions can now be distinguished from Hawaii, Aotearoa New Zealand, Tahiti or any of the other Polynesian island relatives. It is, of course, impossible to know if this present ―look‖ of Rapa Nui visual culture has anything to do with its prehistoric predecessor, but what now is Rapa Nui visual culture has been defined and reinforced with every Tapati since the 1980s 146 . Tourism has been an important motor in this change and some criticise it for having motivated the Rapa Nui to import Polynesian looks in order to please the tourist fantasy of the ―tropical South Seas‖. Yet with tourism, the Rapa Nui have gotten the motivation and financial resources to investigate, recreate and sincerely invent their past, and this is also securing their feeling of uniqueness. My visual memory of the timeless Rapa Nui family on stage fits the impression of the whole festival as an event that both is and recreates the past, for both the Rapa Nui and the outsiders. The importance is not whether this is an authentic147 representation or not, but what

146 Andrade thinks that dance and music can have survived through history as the ―innocence‖ and ―aesthetic beauty‖ of such artistic representations might have made them seem inoffensive and even positive in the eyes of foreign dominators (Andrade 2004:56).

147 ―Authentic‖ here used in the sense of ―historically verifiable‖. 104

matters, I think, is that it contributes to positive feelings of belonging and pride. And like the present Tapati slogan: “Rapa Nui. Una cultura viva!” (Rapa Nui. A living culture) the Rapa Nui seem to be proud of more than the moai.

The festival is a competition that has as its end the coronation of a new ―Tapati queen‖ for the following year, but it has become something quite different than a beauty pageant.148 It is a team competition between two or three extended families and neighbourhoods that compete collectively and individually in different artistic, athletic and productive skills. The competitions include dancing, singing, body painting, theatre play, horse racing, swimming, traditional cooking, fishing, stone sculpting and other disiplines that are added or removed from one year to the other by the organisation committee149. Each team has a young girl as their ―queen candidate‖, but she is more of a mascot than a leader and winning depends on the team as a whole. However, a charming candidate might attract more people to the team and thereby heighten the chance of winning. Outsiders might find that the candidates are not among the prettiest girls on the island, but beauty here is charm, kindness, knowledge and skills – or rather, the Tapati is not about physical beauty.150 Even when the candidates have to dress down to bikini during their presentation of ―Traditional dress‖, the judges focus on stage behaviour and the design of their outfits. Of course, one can hear the public make comments on body shapes, but apparently they do not influence the choice of queen favourites. The Tapati is more about the joy of competing, sharing and celebrating than winning and becoming the next queen – although I was told that some years

148 The Tapati is popularly compared with the memory of the birdman ritual where clans met in Orongo to compete in order to choose the island‘s king for the next year.

149 Most of these competitions are described and are already probably influenced by the thesis written on the topic by two young Rapa Nui students in 1991 (Madriaga Paoa and Tuki Pakomio:1991)

150 However, I heard a few expressing the concern that tourists might think that the Rapa Nui had a distorted concept of beauty or that all Rapa Nui girls were fat and ugly. Some would also say that ―beautiful queens‖ were more likely to get international media attention and representation work during their reign than ―ugly‖ ones.

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earlier the mother of a loosing candidate got so angry that she hit the mayor with a shoe during the closing show.

Usual prerequisites for becoming a queen candidate is to be Rapa Nui (i.e. have one Rapa Nui family name), speak Rapa Nui, be aged 18-24, be unmarried and childless. Some girls do dream about one day becoming the Tapati queen, whereas others are asked by their family to present themselves. 151 In both cases, a candidature demands months and maybe years of saving and preparation. It takes money to produce dance costumes, to pay expert artists to assist and to feed the hundreds of kins, friends and tourists offering their help. The candidates are presented up to six months before the festival and from that time people start watching their behaviour with new eyes. Normally people will sign up to help the candidate they are closest related to, but friendship ties and money can make people shift side.

3.1.2 Growing up in the Tapati. A socialising space for young Rapa Nui My informants have grown up in the Tapati, in the sense that this festival has existed beyond their lifetime and they have participated in it from an early age. It can also be called a space of socialisation, as the Tapati is an annual period of intense interaction across generations and family borders, where the young can learn traditional skills that can be useful both for future work in tourism and for their feeling of being Rapa Nui. The festival is also one of the first spaces where they get into close interaction with tourists. And as tourists are welcome to participate in the preparations, many Rapa Nui children learn the traditional skills along with the same tourists for whom they will later perform. In that sense they can also be said to grow up in the ―tourist gaze‖ (Urry 1990, 2001).

They can start their Tapati-career in the main street parade (farandula), like miniature ancestors in diapers, sitting on an adult‘s arm or laying in a pram

151 In 2003 it was so difficult to find a second candidate that the Municipality offered financial help to the family of a potential candidate.

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decorated with vegetation to make it look more ―ancestral‖152. Of course, some were already present in the womb of their dancing mothers, and pregnant women on stage are proudly showed off instead of being covered up. As soon as the children can walk they are encouraged to dance, and although many of the little ones just look terrified at the public instead of dancing, the cuteness of dressed-up babies seems to be universal.

Illustration 11: Tourist photographing Rapa Nui children

From an early age they get used to tourists and journalists taking photos and filming them. For the tourist gaze that seeks the ―exotic‖ and ―untouched‖ (MacCannell 1973), these dancing debutants might seem more ―authentic‖153 than the weekly shows by professional groups and thus the expression the tourists return to the dancers must be especially admiring and encouraging. Nowadays,

152 Most Rapa Nui refer frequently to the ancestors in daily conversation, yet this lightly ironic use of the word ―ancestral‖ was heard especially among the young and might even refer to a specific new song which was the object of much ridicule during my fieldwork. Being in such a small group, I could observe how words uttered on TV or in local events were repeated as jokes for weeks and become part of their internal vocabulary.

153 The word authentic is here used in the sense of the ―untouched, unspoilt and true‖that many tourists seek.

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many Rapa Nui parents are just as avid children photographers as the tourists, and the youngest children probably do not distinguish between who is behind the camera. They probably just guess that being shot by a camera is something that makes parents and adults happy. The Rapa Nui children still seem just as fascinated with photos as their grandparents154, and many even ask tourists to take photos while they do funny smiling poses. Only on one occasion did I see a child do a stop-sign to a tourist with a camera, like some adults would do, but the same child had asked me to take her photo two years earlier and eagerly accepted the copy I had brought back to her. Another girl of merely four was so fascinated by my camera that I let her try to use it. She quickly understood how to operate it and any time she could borrow it she would take pictures of friends, tourists, animals and anything around her with an intense smile itself worth a photo.

When the children have learned to talk and can remember sentences some of them participate in the competitions of kai kai (string figures) and takona (body paint), but a few get so scared by being alone on stage that they just run off. I particularly remember a boy of about ten trying to explain his body paint motifs to the public in Rapa Nui language, as is customary in these competitions. After some repetitions of: ―And this is…and this is…‖ he turned around and ran for dear life into the dark as if someone would go chasing him for having lost points for his candidature. There is a big contrast between this and the seemingly self- confident stage attitude of most Rapa Nui children, especially when they just dance and don‘t have to speak in Rapa Nui. However, even the queen candidates themselves get visibly nervous when having to speak Rapa Nui on stage. Knowing Rapa Nui is considered a prerequisite for becoming a queen candidate, but this gets increasingly difficult to fulfill as most young Rapa Nui do not speak the language, and the Rapa Nui of many candidates sounds like memorised lines. Competent Rapa Nui speakers, like Manahine, make fun of their Rapa Nui and say it is a disgrace to allow such candidates. That people laugh at their mistakes when they try to make an effort might also help to explain these contrasting moments of stage panic of young Rapa Nui and maybe even the reluctance of

154 The Rapa Nui themselves often do not have photos of their ancestors and this must be the reason for their fascination. 108

many potential candidates. When young Rapa Nui dance and sing they do it with such a confident naturalness that it looks almost as if they were born on stage. Staged performance seems to gain importance as a representation of Rapa Nui culture and being on stage in front of the Rapa Nui community and the tourist crowd can be seen as part of the socialisation of the children. Not all the Rapa Nui children participate every year of course and some boys seem to disappear from the dance groups in their teens, but almost everyone has participated in the Tapati or other staged presentations of Rapa Nui. And even teenagers show a pride in local heritage that is quite unimaginable 155 in my own country, even though Norwegians are proud of the Viking heritage and folk dances are popular among tourists.

When I asked my young informants what they think about the festival they responded that it was the highlight of the year, or as one put it: ―It is as if the Tapati is a cultural light bulb that is turned on for a few weeks every year‖.156 However, what they seem to appreciate the most is not the competitions and the performances, but rather that everyone takes time off to share with family and doing things together. The feeling of belonging and of group solidarity is felt especially during the Tapati and this ―team spirit‖ is probably also intensified because of the competitive aspect. Tapati time is also summer and holiday time, with students coming home from the mainland, family from all over the world coming to visit, and there might even be a summer sweetheart among all the tourists coming for the festival. It is a natural meeting point for everyone. Each team has its ―camp‖, normally a huge tent set up close to the house of its candidate, where people work together almost day and night the last weeks before the competitions.

During the dance rehearsals there can be literally hundreds of children, teenagers and adults gathered in the place, as it is not uncommon for each dance group to

155 Most young Norwegians think Norwegian folkdance is extremely boring and even ―embarrassing‖. It is considered a pastime for old ―countryside eccentrics‖ and uncomparable to salsa, tango, belly dancing and other foreign dances that are popular among Norwegians. 156 Interview, Rapa Nui, 2002. 109

have up a hundred performers. Both Continentals and foreign tourists are invited to participate in the dance group and they can even be displayed in the front rows on stage if they are good dancers and good-looking. This is sometimes a challenge to the team spirit, as some Rapa Nui feel they should be in the front no matter if they know the choreography or not, whereas the directors might prefer putting in the front those that dance best in order to secure victory. When I was once put in the front to replace a Rapa Nui woman that simply couldn‘t remember the dance, I experienced that this was not a joke. Just before entering the stage the woman in question whispered to me in a threatening tone: ―Watch out, clever one; if you do as much as one little mistake, it will be your fault that we lose!‖ Once in the spotlight on the stage, the woman apparently decided that I was not even worth the risk so she grabbed me, pushed me towards the back and continued dancing in my spot as if it was part of the show. This however was remarked by the judges and team dancers as bad manners.

My young informants deplored that the team spirit, or ―Tapati spirit‖ as it could be called, was unfortunately no longer as in their childhood memories and that it seemed to decrease every year. Some said that the adults have become more and more interested in money and that there is a year-long competition in having the biggest pensions, the biggest tourist companies, most cars and buses etc. So they have less time for the Tapati and many will not even help a family candidate without getting paid for it. Some said that Rapa Nui people also had become too used to getting prizes and rewards for everything, and that this was also a reason for not wanting to do anything for free anymore. In addition, the festival has long since become a tourist attraction, and whereas some see that as positive motivation, others see it as an obligation that makes it feel almost like work. However, to most of my young informants the Tapati is still a time of sharing, and anyone that has seen the song team competition Koro Paina has witnessed that this festival is a lot more than only performance for the tourists. In the Koro Paina competition, each team successively sing their way through the immense Rapa Nui song repertoire and the first one to repeat a song the other team has already sung loses. Although the tourists get quickly bored and leave, the Rapa Nui have 110

lights in their eyes and can go on singing all night.157 The competitive aspect is also something that makes the Tapati much more dynamic than other festivals and the simple pleasure of winning seems often bigger than the actual prize. Personally, I see the importance of the Tapati as a space for the Rapa Nui to reconnect with each other and with the past that they build their present sense of self and pride upon.

3.1.3 “Postcard images” and their possible influence on reality The Tapati could be said to offer a ―postcard image‖ of Rapa Nui life, as a staged representation accentuating all the beautiful, good and unique. Instead of ritual traditions elsewhere that use exaggeration and social upheaval in order to show a scary image of what the society could turn into, I find that the Tapati shows what the community should be –a big loving family where everyone is there for each other. Everyone knows that Rapa Nui life is not like that all year round and that there are problems back-stage, but like in tourist marketing and nation building (Anderson 1991) it is the positively unique that is put up front. And even when knowing that ―the postcard‖ is only a half-truth, I think it is easy to get influenced by such attractive images and ideas of one‘s own place. First because, as for instance Berger and Luckman (1967) noted, most humans are social animals who long for recognition by the bigger group. On the other hand, self-presentation implies self-stereotyping which both is influenced by and influences self-definition and the image that is eventually given off (Goffman 1959). Personally, I see my home-place as an invisible and almost physical extension of my body, a feeling which can be illustrated by the everyday experience that while I can criticise my place and my family myself, the same critics made by an outsider are somehow likely to be felt like a critique of me and my person. Like Erving Goffman wrote about impression management in ―The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life‖ (1959), I cannot stop myself from trying to give off an image that I think others

157 As this competition could easily last more than six hours the organisers have now decided to choose the winners based on the quality of the two first hours of singing. This way the judges can get some sleep that night, but most Rapa Nui find this to be way too short and continue singing after the competition is over. In the Tapati 2006 they also changed the set up, putting the two teams side by side on the stage facing the public, instead of facing each other. This made it lose some of the dual dynamic and looked to me like a failed attempt to make this competition more tourist friendly. 111

will like and hence I am probably influenced by my own perceptions of the others‘ expectations, while at the same time I am trying to influence their perception. About my place in the world, I can for example talk warmly to foreigners about polar bears, midnight sun and the pleasure of skiing, while forgetting the rainy days – and in a way, I believe in this ―postcard image‖ myself. In the same way, some young Rapa Nui admit that the island has its problems, but at the same time, and as will be seen later in this chapter, they repeat that the island is ―Paradise‖.

3.2 Everyday Rapa Nui. Young agents and nests of mana. 3.2.1 “Off-stage”. Rapa Nui identities in the everyday living

Performance (…) is just as much about the routine lives of members as it is about their more visible politically motivated activities. One is always on stage (…) (Hetherington 1998:19)

The festival stands out as a period of intensive cultural activity that can make the rest of the year seem ordinary or ―everyday‖ even in a special place like Rapa Nui. Yet, there are many organised cultural events throughout the year and culture is of course nothing that can be ―turned off‖. Cultural identity is just as embedded in everyday living as on the scene, but it can be more difficult to see precisely because of the familiar, repetitive and ―everyday‖ appearance of everyday actions. Henri Lefebvre (Elden 2004:111) suggested that one should do a study of a day in the life of any person or of a random date because everyday life contains both the ordinary and the extraordinary, and this might make us see ―the extraordinary in the ordinary‖ (ibid). For him everyday life was ―everything left once work is removed‖ (ibid) and he listed examples like clothes, furnitures, homes, neighbourhoods and environments. For me it is anything that the young Rapa Nui do as active agents on a repetitive, ―everyday‖, basis –and also all structures and spaces that these actions take place within.

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I choose to call these spaces and structures that the young grow up in and with for Rapa Nui ―nests of mana‖ (mana here in the sense of gift and empowerment). Some of these might seem to be nests of bad influence rather than good, but they all form the contemporary young Rapa Nui into what they are becoming – and in return the young themselves probably influence these social structures by their practices and their mana (here in the sense of making things happen). One of them is the folk festival Tapati, as has been seen in the beginning of this chapter. Those I will focus on here are the family, the school, the TV, a folklore group, the nightlife and the museum.

Illustration 12: The street Te Pito ote Henua, from the church to the sea

According to McCall the ―everyday culture‖ of Rapa Nui is getting more Chilean, whereas the ―public culture‖ is getting more Rapa Nui or Polynesian. This is the same that Miki Makihara (1999) has argued about the Rapa Nui language, which has become an important ethnopolitical identity marker and now is spoken more publically ―in the street‖ than privately ―at home‖. The generation that I study speak mostly Spanish as they have not gotten the chance to learn Rapa Nui and I think this might make them express their ―rapanuiness‖ with other markers, such as enchancing Polynesians ―looks‖ with use of pareau, tattoo, dance, song and ―anti-Chilean‖ attitudes. And even though some of my informants denied the 113

importance of fashion on Rapa Nui I argue that fashion or an ―anti-fashion‖ can be a marker of young Rapa Nui identification.

―Don‘t go about asking for the ‗essence of the culture‘, but ask for example how to make a canoe‖ was the advice of a professor arguing that the implicit self- representations are more valuable than the explicit.158 And like Manahine would say: ―It‘s not only what you do that makes you Rapa Nui, but it is how you do it‖, referring to the opinion that there is a Rapa Nui way of fishing, of planting, of making fire etc.159 So I participated in as many activities as I could, observed both conscious self-presentations for the tourists (or me as an outsider) and tried to look for less self-conscious Rapa Nui ways of doing things.

Illustration 13: Young Rapa Nui photographing his class

158 Arne Perminow about fieldwork on Tonga, seminar talk, Oslo, 16/02/2005. 159 Pers.com., Santiago, 08/05/2005.

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3.2.2 Walking like an ariki. First impressions of “the young Rapa Nui Text 3.2.2: Getting to know my “objects of study” During the Tapati, I got to know several young Rapa Nui, but as they looked almost all alike to me (especially when covered in body paint) I had a hard time remembering faces and names -and even mistook some Chilean tourists for being Rapa Nui. Being unable to identify my ―objects of study‖ did naturally not feel like good research performance and I felt more like an amusing object of study for the Rapa Nui who have seen so many researhers come and go. Once the Tapati final was over, the body paint and feather costumes disappeared along with the tourists, holiday visitors and Rapa Nui students who returned to their studies on the mainland. So this made the crowd of confusing faces and names a little smaller. Yet as new in the field, it was the time to make my entry in the social spaces of everyday living on Rapa Nui, and the continuing chaos of impressions was just as impressive as the festival. Only as I met people several times again and they repeated their names and explained where we had met before did I realise that they were one of the few I already knew! I will probably always get frustrated by the feeling that the Rapa Nui know me better than I know them, but finally I think that this might be a useful feeling.

My first scattered impressions of the life of young Rapa Nui were that they seemed to be characterised by a relaxed lifestyle, frequent contact with family and a strong love for the island. The main contact with the world seemed to be through television or socialising with tourists or family visits, as flying is expensive for the young and their opportunities to travel were probably limited. However I heard that it actually was not uncommon for the Rapa Nui to get the chance to travel through the Pacific, the States or Europe as members of folkdance groups, football or canoeing teams. In the spare time on the island they could choose between organised activities like football, folkdance, canoe paddling, table tennis, karate, aerobics and gymnastics, or unorganised activities like surfing, horse riding, computing, or other. But the most usual spare time activity seemed to be hanging out with friends or watching TV. The ones I had asked about what they thought of their home place answered that this is ‗Paradise‘, a place where one can live well without money – in contrast to Santiago where money, status and fashion is all that matters. They said they hoped the island would never change and that they never wanted to move away. At the same time, some admited that they got bored, and many complained that immigration and bad influence from ‗outside‘ had 115

resulted in drug abuse, violence, crimes and unemployment. Overall most seemed very proud of being Rapa Nui and descendants of the builders of the moai. From the first moment, I was struck by the seemingly self-confident behaviour of these young people I had come to study, and when I heard someone telling me that one can recognise the Rapa Nui because they walk like an ariki (king), I found that image very fitting.

3.2.3 Four young Rapa Nui. Manahine, Tea, Uka and Moana The following are short introductions to the lives of a sample of some young Rapa Nui who act as guides through the thesis. As already stated in the introduction, these are characters based on mixed aspects of the real persons I got to know on the island – so none of them are exactly as described here.

“Manahine”160 is a young Rapa Nui woman who has already been introduced through this text. Both her family names are Rapa Nui although her great grandfather was European, but there is nothing European about her looks and she is considered to be ―as Rapa Nui as one can get‖. Manahine looks like the kind of natural Polynesian beauty that photographers would kill for; tall, slim, long dark hair and brown eyes – but her unpredictable temper maybe could scare some of them off. This suits her name, which can be interpreted as meaning ―female power‖. She was born in Santiago, where her parents were living for some years in the early 80‘s, but they moved back when she was a baby. She was among the last children growing up with both parents talking Rapa Nui to her, and her mother Clara will never forget when Manahine came back from her first day at the local school saying: ―Our language is foreign there”. She quickly learnt Spanish and did well at school, but remembers other children calling her ‗negro‘ and teachers criticising her ‗indian‘ temper. Some part of her wanted to be like the seemingly blessed Continental children and some part of her hated them and everything Chilean for making her feel envious Even her friends said that she had been a terrible teenager, especially after her parents broke up. At school she was always rebelling against the Chilean teachers and was changed from her class to an

160 This name is my own invention as far as I know, yet it follows contemporary Rapa Nui naming practices of inventing powerful Polynesian names for their children. 116

evening class. When I met her she was nineteen and had eventually finished high school with good marks, but was still lingering on at home while supposedly trying to think of something to study. Her mother had kindly offered me to live with them during my study of the young islanders, saying jokingly: “Tengo un caso en la casa!” [―I have a case in the house!‖]. Manahine kept some distance during the first weeks and told me later that she had been quite suspicious of this white ‗gringo‘ girl – but in the end, we became very good friends. She also became my main informant and people were getting used to me following her anywhere she went. Manahine told me that she dreams of a quiet life on the island, in her own house filled with books, but first she wants to fulfil her mother‘s dream of getting a good education. While considering one career after the other, she spends her days doing all the housework for her busy mother, baby-sitting for cousins and working as a maid in her grandparents‘ hotel now and then. In the evenings or whenever she has some free time, she spends it with some of her many friends. She can be out all night, but early next morning she is up and cleaning the house again.

“Tea” is a young Rapa Nui Mestizo woman. Her mother is Rapa Nui, her father Chilean and she had a European grandfather. As a young child in the mid 80‘s she lived in Santiago, went to an English school and talked Spanish even with her mother. But she spent every summer with her big family on the island and when they moved back there when she was nine it felt like moving home. I met her when presenting myself in the local high school, and learning that I was European she eagerly invited me to meet her family and asked me in fluent English if her name was common in my country. On the island, Tea was apparently quite exotic, but with her light complexion and almost blond hair she could also have been named after the Rapa Nui word for white (tea-tea). She is the ‗white swan‘ or neru161 of a local dance group and admired for her looks, whereas her equally blond brother feels he doesn‘t get to dance as much as others because he doesn‘t look Rapa Nui enough. Tea is 18 years old and in the last year of high school. Once a

161 Métraux wrote that in prehistoric times white complexion was so highly valued on Rapa Nui that young virgin boys and girls were kept in caves for extended periods in order to bleak their skin – and these were called neru (Métraux 1971:104). 117

week she also assists in a youth programme for the local television, she is part of a voluntary archaeology group at school and then she has dance classes and shows several times a week. She also has many plans for the future, but she thinks her generation is very important for the preservation of the Rapa Nui culture, so she wants to study something that can both give her a living and serve the island.

“Uka” has a name that means ―young woman‖ in Rapa Nui. Her father is Rapa Nui and her mother is Continental. Uka is an elegant lady who often dresses in beautiful pareu (Tahitian wrap-around dress) and has her long black hair in elegant hairdos. She lives in the middle of the village, on the Hanga Roa side, and is always around with her big smile and diva gestures. Uka finished high school several years ago and is working in her mother‘s restaurant and making handicrafts. Nobody can make flower garlands and shell necklaces like her, and she is also an expert stylist that always helps and advises the candidates in the yearly Tapati festival. It was during this festival that I met her and to me she became ―Tango Rapa Nui‖ as she was the first to teach me this local version of tango162.

“Moana” has her name and personality like the ocean.163 Both her parents and family names are Rapa Nui and he lives on the Moe Roa side of the village. She grew up attending the tourists in the hostel of her parents and thus learnt both English and French, in addition to the Spanish and Rapa Nui that she already spoke. Now she has become the manager of one of the local pubs, but she still takes tourists on tour when she has time – because she likes showing them her island. She knows a lot about traditional history and would like to study archaeology or anthropology, but she has not gotten around to that yet. Moana was the first young Rapa Nui I met, as this hostel was the place I stayed when I first arrived.

162 Though some told me that tango always has existed on Rapa Nui there are several local stories about how tango was introduced by a certain Argentianian working for the company or by a tango loving Chilean in the 1930s or even 20s. Like the Rapa Nui passion for football, tango might be seen as an early Latin-American influence and I hope to write on this later. 163 The first missionaries baptised the Rapa Nui with names of Catholic saints and this custom continued up to the 1980s. However, many had Rapa Nui nicknames and seldom used their Catholic one. 118

We will follow my interactions with these young Rapa Nui, from the island to the Continent and back. And other characters will be introduced as we move along the trajectories of their lives.

3.2.4 Te Hua‟ai. The continuing importance of family belonging. Despite the growing importance of friends for young people in many places, nothing is like family, on Rapa Nui at least. And even though the Rapa Nui are so few that they could be considered to be one single family, they often seem to be in strong competition with each other.

In his Phd thesis “Reaction to disaster” from 1976, Grant McCall wrote extensively about the Rapa Nui concept of hua‟ai, defined as ―a grouping of individuals who claim common descent and association based upon kinship sentiments‖ (McCall 1976:85).164 It had replaced the ancient mata and seemed to be the only traditional Rapa Nui social structure that had survived all foreign influence, i.e. the hua‟ai was a major source of cultural resistance (op.cit:82). Members of a hua‟ai were thought to share the land they lived on and also physical and psychological characteristics (op.cit:102).

This Polynesian kinship structure is still very strong and is still mediated through land, the seemingly indissoluble tie between a kin group and its territory. But as the founding fathers of today‘s hua‟ai lived on small land plots in Hanga Roa after been relocated there in the late 1800s, few Rapa Nui live in their original territories and instead of extended families living in big hare paenga (boat shaped straw houses) the modern houses were designed for nuclear families. Most extended families do not own and work land together anymore, and many complain that not even brothers and sisters will share unconditionally today. Several old people live alone, although family is never far away. The family‘s importance as source of Rapa Nui cultural knowledge has to some extent been

164 McCall thought the term hua‟ai would probably soon be replaced by the Spanish familia, but he later experienced that the term is actually more used now than then. McCall, pers.com., Rapa Nui, 2002. 119

transferred to the school and the folklore groups, but certain families are recognised as the ―masters‖ of specific arts. However, in general and despite its transformations, the hua‟ai is still essential as a provider of the important Rapa Nui concepts of henua (land), aroha (affection) and mo‟a (respect).

The existence of a Hogar de menores (Children‘s Home) indicates that there are also children who do not seem to have family, or that have parents that for some reason cannot or will not take care of their offspring. Earlier, these children would be adopted and grow up in an extended family as a maanga (literally ―chicken‖, but also short for adopted child), wheras now there is a growing stigma and use of the name orphan. In the seminary He Hua‟ai o Angaringa (―The Family Today‖, organised by CONADI on Rapa Nui, 14-16 October 2004) several Rapa Nui women raised the concern of children being partly abandoned because parents still think that the island is so harmless that they can just leave small kids alone all day, whereas today even grandmothers are so busy working that they don‘t have time to look after any grandchildren. However, Rapa Nui is still a paradise for children, and all my young friends cannot think of a better place to grow up – precisely because everyone is family there.

Most Rapa Nui children live in variations of nuclear households, either with both their parents, only their mother or even only their grandparents. Many young single mothers actually leave the parenting to their parents for several years, often in order to work or study on the Continent. One can therefore also talk of a temporary household type of grandparents and grandchildren. Parents are often not married and it is not uncommon to have children with different partners before eventually marrying. 165 Rapa Nui children, when asked to ―draw their family‖, often include stepparents, grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins in the drawing.166 A major change in these extended families is of course that a growing

165 Up to the present, Chile had no divorce law and abortion is still prohibited because of a strong Catholic church.

166 A Rapa Nui teacher told me that the Chilean teachers at school had tried to make the pupils understand the concept of nuclear family, but that they eventually gave up. Pers.com. Rapa Nui, Oct 2004. 120

percentage of their members are Continentals that have married in or formed partnerships with Rapa Nui. The majority of today‘s young Rapa Nui have a Continental parent and therefore also an extended family on the Chilean Continent. This can make the family a space of maybe conflicting influences and as one informant put it: ―I think one of our challenges are to reconcile in each and one of us two cultures that are very different‖. Yet, as McCall (1976) noted in the 70s it could be a great advantage to have Continentals in the family, as such connections could secure access to material goods and support for Rapa Nui students on the Continent. This seems to be valid still. And as both cultures allow identification by behaviour it is possible for Continentals to be accepted as full- worthy members of the most ―anti-Chilean‖ Rapa Nui families. For many there seems to be an important line between Chileans in general and the ones that become family. The first group is more of an idea or an imagined collectivity, whereas the latter are individuals that one can become fond of.

In a sense, all Rapa Nui consider themselves family and descendants of Hotu Matu‟a, but in daily interactions there is often a line between those considered uncles, aunts or cousins, those who are simply somehow ―related‖ (hae-hae) and those considered friends (hoa). One is expected to feel and demonstrate more love (aroha) for a relative than for a friend, like for example to support relatives in local elections or the Tapati festival competitions. The Tapati festival could, as already mentioned, be compared to old inter-territorial competitions like the birdman ritual. And in the local political elections I saw friends putting their personal political convictions aside in order to support a candidate from the same family. However, one can also be such good friends that one calls each other here (―tied to‖ from hoa here ―friend one is tied to‖) and brother or sister (McCall 1976:140). Sometimes people can also choose to prioritise such friendships over family.

Children have the habit of calling anyone older than them ―uncle‖ (Spanish tio) and ―aunt‖ (Spanish tia), but they gradually learn by observation and comments who their biological relatives are. A rather painful way of learning genealogy is when young people in love are told they must forget each other because they are 121

too closely related. With the Rapa Nui history of successive marriages, adoptions and the custom of not differentiating between an adopted and a biological child, it is difficult to keep track of who is related to whom. This ―cousin tapu‖ within the fourth degree of relationship is no longer biologically necessary because of the immigration, but some young still experience being forced to split up because they are cousins. Although not biologically related, some couples are criticised for being incestuous simply because the man and woman grew up ―like cousins‖, for instance as neighbours. This could be due to the old view of family as those living on the same land, yet a young informant being accused for incest with her neighbour said it was just an excuse for people to criticise her family.

In the future not all families will be able to provide their descendants with the most important marker of belonging to Rapa Nui, namely land. Even though Chilean law forbade the land to be sold to outsiders, some clever Rapa Nui have bartered (or indirectly bought) lands from other Rapa Nui and therefore the land is accumulating on the hands of a few families. Yet, if McCall is right about the force of survival of the Rapa Nui the growing generations will hopefully transform this system to the benefit of all Rapa Nui. And the Rapa Nui family can continue as source of henua, aroha and mo‟a.

3.2.5 El Colegio. A nest of “Chilenisation” Since the first municipal school, now called Liceo Lorenzo Baeza Vega, opened on Rapa Nui in 1934, it seems that it is gradually replacing the extended family as a centre of learning and socialisation.167 Up to the present, this has meant a purely Chilean education and that all Rapa Nui knowledge had to be transmitted the traditional way through older family members or was lost. German nuns and a few teachers from Continental Chile taught Spanish language and basic disciplines – and speaking Rapa Nui was forbidden. Since the 1960s, the school has also had

167 Already in 1914 Chile tried to establish a school on the island, but the Rapa Nui did not see the use of sending their children there (Mikihara 1999:113). The school got its name after a Continental teacher who died while trying to save pupils from a drowning accident during the Norwegian Archaeological expedition in 1955-56.

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Rapa Nui teachers and since the 1970s they were allowed to teach Rapa Nui in special language classes twice a week. In these classes, they taught Rapa Nui as a second language, and my informants felt they did not learn much. It was not before the year 2000 that the MINEDUC (Chilean Ministry of Education) gave in and allowed the language-nest programme Immersion Rapa Nui.168 This pilot project tries to avoid the death of the local language by offering separate classes, where all subjects are taught in Rapa Nui and adapted to the Rapa Nui culture. But despite its success, the programme lacks resources and can only offer classes up to the 4th grade.

Illustration 14: "Welcome dear students", first school day 2002

In 1955, Rapa Nui children and adolescents got for the first time scholarships to finish their education on the Chilean Continent, and even now after the local school was upgraded to include highschool, many parents prefer sending their children away because they consider the schools on the continent to be better.

168 This programme is also called Programa intercultural bilingüe rapa nui and there is local disagreement on whether it should be bilingual or only Rapa Nui. The Decreto 235, 2004 the MINEDUC officially recognised the municipal primary school education as ―bilingual intercultural Rapa Nui‖ (Municipalid de Isla de Pascua 2005:309).

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This means that there are not as many pupils in the highschool grades on the island as there could have been. Most of my informants were in the single graduate class of 2002 and they were 39 students – whereas the school in total had 981.169 The Chilean school system is divided into Kinder (preschool), Básica (1-8th year) and Media (9-12th year). Students are normally around 18 years old when they graduate, but both adults and young can finish high school in special evening classes. Because of little space the highschool students had their classes in the morning and the primary students in the afternoon, until a new high school building was opened in 2005 on the outskirts of Hanga Roa. 170 This new high school building is part of a municipal UNESCO project called Honga‟a o te mana (Aldea Educativa Rapa Nui, ―Rapa Nui Educational Village‖ or literally ―Nest of Mana‖), which is also planned to include research exchanges and university studies in the future. For the first time in 2005, Rapa Nui high school students could choose Educación Técnico-Profesional as an alternative to the arts and social science education or instead of having to move to the mainland. The Rapa Nui name and even the architecture (literally looking like a birdman egg) of the school also seems to indicate a stronger focus on local knowledge and language. Rapa Nui history and language was in 2006 even making its way into the national Chilean curriculum, as part of a national recognition of Chile‘s indigenous peoples. Yet, in the beginning the architectural forms of the new school looked more promising than the content.

For my young Rapa Nui informants, who all passed through the municipal school, it holds many good and not so good memories. When they started school in the late 1980s, speaking Rapa Nui was still banished by the Continental teachers, in history and geography they only learnt about mainland Chile and the few Continental children always seemed to be the teachers‘ favourites. Everything was

169 School statistics show that generally, some 70-80% of the pupils are Rapa Nui, a number which includes the Mestizo (Municipalidad de la Isla de Pascua, PLADECO 2005:307). The statistics lack the exact numbers for 2002, but according to the calculations of the school inspector Lilly Gonzales, the numbers for the 4M class of 2002 were: 2 foreigners, 9 Continentals, 17 Rapa Nui and 11 Mestizos.

170 The island already has one small private primary school and another private Catholic high school was built behind the Church and opened in 2006 (Municipalidad de la Isla de Pascua, PLADECO 2005:301). 124

focused on a national curriculum and on passing national exams. The school has thus been a ―nest of Chilenisation‖ in the sense that they have grown up in a Chilean education system and are therefore the most likely to stay in Chile for any eventual higer studies. In order to succeed in this system it is considered best to learn to think like a Chilean, yet to succeed in the Rapa Nui society one must be careful not to ―lose one‘s (Rapa Nui) culture‖ in the process.

3.2.6 Television and the Internet. Eyes of young Rapa Nui. Television and Internet can be seen as windows to the world that have both a negative and a positive impact on people‘s lives. TV is not so much an arena of interaction as is the Internet, but Tea and other young people have worked for the municipal TV station, Mata ote Rapa Nui (literally the ―Eyes of Rapa Nui‖).

Illustration 15: Interviewing graduate students

When television was introduced to the island in 1976, some Rapa Nui thought it was high time for this sign of progress, whereas others, especially from the cultural organisation Kahu Kahu, warned against its possible acculturating 125

influences.171 ―The leader of the Council of Elders said television was a good thing and that we who protested against it wanted to stay in the Stone Age‖, remembers Clara from that time. The first twenty years, the island only received week-old video recordings from Chilean National television, but by 2002 the Municipality had had its local TV station for several years and two Chilean channels. The local station broadcasts local news and programmes in Rapa Nui several times a week, plus a selection of foreign films and documentaries. Tea was one of the hosts of the youth programme “E u‟i koe” every Friday after school. Some people called in to criticise her for not speaking Rapa Nui in the programme and thus being a bad example for the rest, but as she said: ―They criticise me even more when I do try to speak it!‖.172 A few think there should not be television at all or that they should receive international channels to equalise the Chilean influence. It might be difficult to objectively judge its cultural impact, but some blame television for everything from making the children more passive and teaching them Chilean swear words to turning young boys into gangsters.173 What can be observed today is that everyone watches television and that especially the young pick up words and expressions from popular programmes. In 2002 TvN (Chilean National Television) made a Brazilian dance group called Axé Bahia the big dance hit on the island that year, but it did not mean that the Rapa Nui abandoned their Polynesian dances – it was rather an addition.

Television is definitely a nest of socialisation on Rapa Nui now as elsewhere in the world today. Adults complain that children watch it too much, but just as the Internet, I think it also can be a useful source of information and orientation. In 2002 there was not a computer in every single home, but all my informants had been on the Internet and almost all had an e-mail address (even though some never used it). When I was helping out in the computer lab in school I observed

171 There has been a study done on the introduction of television on the island, but I have not been able to find any report. The PLADECO study of the Municipality in 2005 only mentions that the introduction had a deep impact on the population (Municipalidad PLADECO 2005:16).

172 Interview, Rapa Nui, 2002.

173 Some claim that even the first yorgos, young men living in the campo, were temporarily inspired by Rambo movies, as they all used to wear the same kind of head band. 126

how both teachers and students ran in to check their e-mail or surf during the breaks. Pages for downloading music seemed to be the most popular among the young. Their pride of Rapa Nui was reflected in the choice of passwords, but at that time I did not get to observe any active Rapa Nui identity performance online. There were many home pages representing the island, but it was difficult to distinguish the ones made by Rapa Nui from the many made by Chilean or foreign ―Rapanuiphiles‖. As I will get back to in chapter 4 it was during my fieldwork in Santiago that I discovered forums and mailing lists in the Rapa Nui diaspora –linking back to and keeping in touch with the island.

3.2.7 The Museum. A house of the ancestors or of outsiders? Up to now, the Museo Antropologico de Padre Sebastian Englert (MAPSE), the local museum, has probably had less influence on the young than the discos – but probably just as much bad fame. 174 It was established in 1973, based on the collections of the island‘s priest and patriarch of the 20th century, who was also an avid amateur archaeologist and writer. However, there have always been more spectacular collections outside than inside the museum, and, after rumours of disappearing objects, the museum has not been very popular among the local population. But by 2002 the museum had installed a much better permanent exhibition and organised a Rapa Nui Youth Archaeology Programme with the local school and the University of Hawai‘i. During winter a group of North American students came to spend some weeks learning excavation on the island, and this was a source of much excitement for the Rapa Nui high school girls (and the few boys) who participated. One of the young American students came back several years in a row and is now managing this youth involvement programme, called Āpō (―Tomorrow‖).175 On these weekly afternoons in the campo the young learn how to do archaeological surveys with the use of meters, GPS and pencil drawings; although the work was quite meticulous, the young Rapa Nui seemed genuinely interested. Both they and I also seemed to enjoy the simple fact of

174 Their web site won a Yahoo prize for good design in 2002: www.mapse.cl

175 The programme has it own web page: http://www.terevaka.net/apo/directorio.htm

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getting out of the village on a weekday and breathe in the open landscape – time after time rediscovering that archaeological treasures are everywhere here. Many of the high school students told me they wanted to study archaeology or anthropology, but that they were afraid that it would be too difficult. Luckily, with this programme, they gain confidence that they can, but the problem is still gaining enough points in the national school exams – as Chilean universities demand surprisingly high grades to enter anthropology and archaeology studies. The Rapa Nui have in some sense been excluded from Rapa Nui archaeology because none had the necessary degrees, but many have great experience from working in the numerous excavations led by outsiders. Apart from recruiting the potential island scientists, this programme can give the youth insight about their archaeological heritage, which will come in handy when they will be the ones to run the island.176

Illustration 16: Learning to use GPS in the field

I do not think many Rapa Nui would agree to call the museum a ―house of the ancestors‖, for that its history has been too influenced by outsiders or persons many Rapa Nui have come to distrust as rumours said that museum objects were

176 Since 2002, they have also learnt to process the archaeological data in the museum‘s computer lab, making three-dimensional survey maps that were presented in the Rapa Nui Journal and the international Easter Island Conference (Torres and Shepardson 2005). 128

given away. One of the Rapa Nui that guided the archaeologists of the Norwegian expedition in 1955/56, who wanted to persuade me that there are still many ―cave stones‖ in hidden caves around the island and that they should be taken out to be shown, said that one should rather make a new museum to exhibit them. He said the existing museum was ―no good‖ and told the story I had heard from others who had carved pieces for the museum when it was new and that these gifts where nowhere to be found now. Such stories have probably influenced the young‘s attitude to the museum too, but maybe the cooperation with the school and other inviting initiatives has improved the relationship with the Rapa Nui public. At least the museum seems full of local life on occasions such as the Heritage Day and Open Night at the Museum, and the digital photo archive in the museum library is a very local attraction. There are actually plans of a new museum, or rather a re-design of the existing one, which will try to make it more transparent and engaging for the community. And maybe that will make it look more like a nest of mana.

3.2.8 The Kari Kari . Learning through performing.

Illustration 17: Preparing for performance at the airport

Text 3.2.8: Performing Rapa Nui in tourist shows ―Time to put on the monkey suit!‖ one of the guys laughs as he arrives at the Hotel Hanga Roa and enters the dressing room. The Kari Kari dancers and musicians arrive one after the other on motorbikes, in taxis and cars. All with their costumes, head feathers and flower crowns on the arm and busy – but self confident – smiles on their faces. Pantu and Lynn are already 129

dressed up and are as usual waiting impatiently for the latecomers. While laughing and chatting, the dancers help each other to put on the costumes, and some of those that are already dressed rehearse a few steps. As by magic, they are all ready when the show is about to start. After a few critical comments, Pantu then tells them that they are wonderful dancers and that all they have to do is to smile. The stage is in the dining hall of the hotel and is just a little podium on the floor in front of the windows and some awful yellow curtains. Not a very pretty scene, but once the first dancer enters and blows in a conch shell to symbolically call the rest of the group, not even an ―experienced Kari Kari observer‖ like me notices the surroundings anymore. Both the eyes and mouths of the tourists are wide open and cameras are working intensively. In the back of the audience, friends and family of the dancers have come to see the show, although they must have seen it hundreds of times before. The girls enter with a dance movement that looks like they are paddling a canoe and the guys jump almost on top of the spectators on the first row. Pantu welcomes the crowd to the show in Rapa Nui and the greeting is then repeated in Spanish, English, French and German by different dancers. One hour goes by in seconds and when it is time for the tourists to entertain the dancers by dancing with the Rapa Nui themselves, the spectators still haven‘t blinked an eye. After the show, the tourists get their photos taken together with the dancers. Then, the dancers get back in the dressing room and come out in their normal clothes again, chat a little and disappear in taxis, cars and on motorbikes.177

Many of my informants, Tea included, spent much of their spare time training and performing with the local folklore group Kari Kari. Since the 1960s, the island has had various folklore groups to entertain the tourists and reinforce this part of their culture. The Tu‟u Hotu Iti group of the Huke family is one of the oldest and still active ones.178 I got the chance to get an inside view of Kari Kari as a ―novice‖ participating in all the trainings, gatherings and a few shows.

Kari Kari started out as a small group of young islanders in the late 90s. One of the first members told me how each of them approached old family members to collect songs and stories to make their own repertoire. They made the choreographies together, discussing and deciding how to interpret the words of the songs with hand and body movements. When I entered the group along with other novices in 2002, the Kari Kari had grown to include some twenty dancers and musicians, the group had travelled abroad representing the island, it had

177 Based on observation of the Kari Kari shows in the Hotel Hanga Roa, 2002. 178 See Paloma Hucke, 1995: “Mata Tu‟u Hotu Iti”, Santiago : Tiempo Nuevo

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published two music CDs and had a seemingly endless repertoire that we had to learn by heart. In the several hour-long training sessions in the Casa Azul (―Blue House‖)179 behind the post office, the songs and dances were repeated endlessly until everyone knew them. One hand to meet exactly on time, no chewing gums were allowed and the concentration had to be at the highest level during the whole class. The instructions of the teachers were mixed in Rapa Nui and Spanish and mostly in a criticising tone. To make a mistake also meant to make oneself an object of ridicule in front of the rest of the group.180 On the other hand, everyone was invited to give their opinion and even a complete outsider like me was asked to interpret a story into dance. When a new choreography was to be made, the teachers explained the story of the song, but seldom translated the Rapa Nui text, and when afterwards I asked my novice friends to explain the text, they often said that the language was so old that they didn‘t understand it either. I never heard anyone ask the teachers about the meaning or a translation of any texts, but they seemed to listen interested if explanations were given. In comparison to other groups that seem to be hibernating until suddenly reappearing for specific events, the Kari Kari is known for their discipline and constancy – with three training nights and at least two shows a week. The two male leaders, Lynn and Pantu, would always stress how important discipline is, not only during the trainings, but in life in general. The reputation of the whole group rested on the individual behaviour of each of its members, and being a member meant compromising oneself with the whole group. There would often be hour-long meetings after the training, where the leaders would repeat this to a quiet, but visibly bored public of dancers and musicians. The leaders called this professionalism, whereas other Rapa Nui called it commercialism and external influence. Others also criticised Kari Kari for allowing many Continentals dancing to represent the island, but the leaders of the group argued that these Continentals earned their entrance because they ―unfortunately‖ were more punctual and hard-working than the Rapa Nui. In an interview, Pantu told me that most of the young Rapa Nui are mainly

179 In 2004 the group built its own house for training and performances in the Fronti.

180 The teachers were not so harsh with me and the occasional tourists that were invited to join the training, but we were surely entertainment and relief for the other dancers. 131

interested in ―lo simpatico‖, by which he meant they just wanted to have fun and were not really interested in the culture. He himself had been like that too, but now he tried to help the new generation with discipline.

Illustration 18: One of many training sessions in the Casa Azul, 2002

After months of training, the novices would be allowed to participate in the weekly tourist shows and would get a modest pay – which they said was nice, but not enough to make it motivating. ―We dance for the love of the art‖, some would say with an ironic laughter, but somehow that is what they seemed to be doing. The weekly six hours of training and two shows, plus additional work like making one‘s own costume or doing maintenance work on the outdoor dance scene, would not be worth it only for the pay or the hope that one would get to travel with the group abroad some day. ―I feel proud when I dance‖, explained one of my informants; another informant said she danced so that her family would be proud of her, and the pride could literally be seen in the faces on stage. It often looked as if they danced just as much for themselves as for the public, and anyone who enjoys dancing knows how it can produce a euphoric feeling, and that feeling the gaze of an audience can increase the adrenalin. Even the guy that 132

jokingly and self-ironically compared the traditional dancing outfits to ―monkey suits‖ was a dedicated member of the group. For these young Rapa Nui, it seems as if performing also increases the pride of being Rapa Nui. Even if they had at least two shows a week, there would always be some excitement in the air from the moment they started preparing in the dressing rooms.

As member in the Kari Kari, one also really felt like being part of a group and this team spirit was actively cultivated by its leaders. And even if the leader style of Pantu and Lynn might make the dance group look like a space of disciplined socialisation they also welcomed initiatives from the young and inexperienced. New dance coreographies were made as a group discussion. Pantu or Lynn would explain the text and sometimes history of the song and then ask for ideas of accompanying movements. Even I was asked once, suitingly enough to express the word ―surprise‖, and it made me feel pride and certain attachment to the song where ―my‖ movement was part of the dance. So maybe this was all part of a team builing process, but I think it could make the young dancers feel their importance in the conservation of the musical heritage.

3.2.9 The disco and village life after midnight. Despite their bad fame, the local night clubs Toroko and Piriti are also nests of mana and the first time young Rapa Nui sneak out for the night could almost be described as a modern rite of passage on the island.

Apparently, it was the American military‘s visit in the late 1960s that introduced disco to Rapa Nui, and the people have been dancing in the Toroko and Piriti ever since. Chilean Ramon Campbell who investigated Rapa Nui music and dance in that period was astonished by how easily the Rapa Nui danced twist, rock and other modern North American dances, whereas it seemed impossible to teach them the Chilean national dance cueca (Campbell 1971:66).181 He was also sure that

181 He explained that the lack of criol mentality might make the cueca difficult for the Rapa Nui, whereas I suppose there might be other reasons why they preferred the dances of the white rich foreigners to the dances of the more familiar Chilean colonisers. 133

with the increasing tourism, foreign dances would pass through the island as successive new waves, yet he hoped the Rapa Nui would know to value their own dances (ibid). He might have been right in his observations, but Rapa Nui disco dancing seems to be a creative mix of appropriations. Tourists might think they recognise a techno beat until they see the crowd doing movements that look unmistakably Polynesian or just out of this world. And whereas some might expect Latin American salsa and cumbia moves on the floor, the big thing is zouk. This French Afro-Caribbean party dance is danced in many French colonies and probably came to Rapa Nui in the 1990s via Tahiti.182 In the eyes of a tourist, the zouk might look like a lambada, but for the Rapa Nui it is very different from anything Latin American – and that might be a reason why they like it so much. That identity politics can be at play on the dance floor can be illustrated with reference to the classic scene from West Side Story, and although there are no choreographed dances in the Rapa Nui night clubs I observed certain shifts of dancers depending on the music. The Rapa Nui dominate the floor when Polynesian or zouk music is played, but they often seem to let the Chileans have it for themselves a while when latino rhythms interrupt.

Toroko and Piriti are the classics, but another club called Maitaki used to function during summer and in 2002 the live-music bar Topatangi popped up on the scene. A normal weekend trajectory could be starting in the Topatangi around midnight and then start oscillating between Piriti and Toroko for the best vibes from three to seven, and then the bravest partygoers might go straight to the Sunday morning church service. However, going to the disco doesn‘t necessarily mean entering the place. In the beginning, I was fooled by this phrasing and could not understand why we had to wait outside when there was no queue. Outside, people sit like silent shadows in the dark or gather around a fireplace to drink with friends and watch people coming, going and sometimes fighting. Around six in the morning,

182 "Zouk" comes from the Caribbean Creole word for ―party‖ and ―zouk songs‖ are traditionally sung in Creole. The music style developed from music invented by slaves mixing African and European traditions and it has been merchandised since the end of the 1970s. Zouk is today to the Antilles what salsa is to Latin America. (http://membres.lycos.fr/fretless/english/def_zouk.htm, Aug 2005) 134

when the entrance is free, some take a peak inside, but sitting outside is part of what ―going to the disco‖ means.

For the young Rapa Nui, the disco is of course a place of excitement as long as their parents forbid them to go there and in that sense it could be called a rite of passage to a nest of mana that probably feels like a new world for the youngest. There is of course much more to Rapa Nui life than this, but after describing some of the arenas where the young meet and grow I will focus on some thematical aspects of growing up in a special place like Rapa Nui.

3.3 In the shadow of the moai? Growing up on Rapa Nui today Text 3.3: Without the moai the story would have been very different I think it must be because life on the island is so…pleasant! The place…and the people. We all love each other…and you know, how is it possible not to enjoy the fact that every day you walk out on the street everyone greets you, everyone knows you?! Ok, maybe they tell little lies about you sometimes, but at least that shows that they are interested in you! (…) That‘s the thing, you feel loved on the island! There you know everything; people from here, people from there; being Rapa Nui you can get opportunities to travel the world for free…how can you possibly not be happy in a place like that?! And on the island one can still live like human beings and not like machines. I don‘t know what we have done to deserve all this, but I‘m very thankful for it! If it hadn‘t been for the moai…forget it, then the story would have been very different!183

The first thing outsiders think of when hearing the name ―Easter Island‖ is of course the moai. Even if I had always been most interested in knowing about the Rapa Nui people (and did not even find the statues attractive to look at) I too was fascinated by them and wondered how it must be like to grow up in the shadow of these world-famous giants. When growing up among them and before knowing that no other place have moai, they probably do not seem so special. As Tea also once said, in a wording that sounded a little out of place on an island also known for its lack of trees: ―As children they just seemed like trees to us‖. I tried to ask different young Rapa Nui what the moai meant to them, but the question was probably too vague and most answers were variations over general expressions

183 Tea, interview, Santiago, 08.12.2004. 135

like: ―They are the portraits of our ancestors‖. Later, in one of the many TV- documentaries made about the island, I saw a young Rapa Nui girl explain to a foreign journalist that after having been away from the island for some time she had to stand in front of a moai and ―recharge her mana‖, but none of my young informants had answered me as spiritually as this. However, even if familiy and simply living is the most important in young Rapa Nui lives, I think they early understand that the moai must be something special as so many tourists come to see them and I think some also do develop a personal relationship with the moai. And at least I think it is beyond doubt that Rapa Nui would be quite different without the moai.

Illustration 19: Tourist friendly sign post

3.3.1 Meeting gazes. Watching and interacting with tourists. Text 3.3.1: Rapa Nui girls just having fun, or a cultural experience? Driving around the streets of Hanga Roa looking for some fun on a dull Wednesday night, Manahine and some friends got the spontaneous idea of stopping in front of some tourists and inviting them to see the sunset in Tahai – the hottest spot for taking the classic tourist photos of ―lonely moai in sunset‖. The tourists in question were five young blond and tanned boys, all looking like the tourist image of Australian surfers, and they actually introduced themselves as surfers on tour for an Australian magazine. They eagerly accepted the invitation, but half way to Tahai, the girls decided that they would rather have some beers, so they went to the shop and then to the house of Tuimata, one of the girls. The boys whispered in English between themselves that these Rapa Nui girls seemed quite wild, but they seemed to swap happily the sunset for an exclusive party with local girls. Once inside the house, the boys were placed on the sofa with a beer in hand while the girls walked around observing them. Tuimata was looking for 136

some music on her computer, but as it didn‘t work, she got a little angry and exclaimed: ―I‘m nothing without my pc!‖ Manahine pulled me out on the veranda and complained: ―This seems to be all a big mistake. You know, we liked their blond hair, but I can already see that they are completely uninteresting…and now we are stuck‖. This also seemed to be the impression of the other girls, and Tuimata soon turned from her computer problems to give the boys her opinion about them. ―Do you feel cool with your saggy trousers on your knees? As a woman I can tell you that such trousers are out‖, she told them all in self-confident English, before giving each and one a verdict. ―You, you have a sweet face, but nothing between your ears. Then you, you think you‘re sexy with your punk hair, but you are not. And you, you are like a barking dog that never bites!‖ At first the boys laughed, as if she was telling jokes, but then they got a little defensive and replied: ―This is not very nice. In Australia we are used to sharing, but you drink our beer and then you make fun of us!‖ They made for the door, but Tuimata stopped them and shifting to a cute face she explained that they had to understand that their cultures and languages were very different. ―You know, we invited you because we wanted to learn about Australia, but it is not easy when our English is not so good‖ she said. After some more smiling excuses, the boys sat down again and Tuimata got her karaoke machine to function. Later, when the song ―We‘re from Down Under‖ started playing, the problems seemed to have melted away and the boys got up to sing, making a little stage show and adding lines like: ―And we only speak English. And we don‘t know anything about other cultures!‖ This entertainment pleased the in-house anthropologist more than the girls, who only seemed relieved when the boys left in a taxi around midnight. The girls kept complaining about how stupid these boys had turned out to be and said they would never invite any tourists again. ―You know, for us all blond people look the same, so we cannot tell the stupid from the rest!‖ explained Manahine. I reminded them that they had been complaining about the local boys too, saying that they only spoke bullshit and couldn‘t make interesting conversation. They agreed and said it was precisely because they were frustrated with the local boys that they wanted to try something new, but then they concluded: ―At least with the Rapa Nui boys we understand their jokes and can reply accordingly. And even though they don‘t have many interesting things to say, at least they play the guitar!‖184

Having grown up with tourism, the young Rapa Nui are used to perform and to feel the gaze of tourists (Urry 1990). This gaze is part of the external structures in the Rapa Nui thirdspace that probably influences its agents and then their actions and returned gazes. Like Jean Mitchell (Mitchell 2004:372) writes about young ni- Vanatu, the Rapa Nui don‘t seem to let this gaze bother them much and instead they seem to take pleasure in returning it and to watch the tourists as spectacle or

184 Based on participant observation, Rapa Nui 2002. 137

even to interact with them as new friends. This returned gaze can be felt already in the airport where Rapa Nui can seem to ―window shop‖, arriving visitors while they primarily go there to work or to welcome or say goodbye to friends. It is also felt during the performances of the Kari Kari or almost any other dance performance when the spectators are dragged out on the floor to dance with the dancers. Tourists are thus allowed to participate, but it often looks as if it is just as much a moment of entertainment for the entertainers as they giggle over the akward movements of the tourists. Especially when one single female tourist is gradually encircled by all the male dancers of Kari Kari and then one male by all the female, it is difficult to judge who is watching who. The same goes for the dance competitions of the Tapati or other dance events where tourists are encouraged to participate.

As already mentioned, these moments are probably also moments of looking at oneself in a mirror and where the admiring tourist gaze can enchance the pride in one‘s own culture. Joan Mitchell (2004) showed how the tourist gaze might be returned by the inhabitants, yet whereas she seems to see this as a returned search for entertainment I also believe in the meeting of the two gazes. Like a farmer, tourist host and local politican from a small fjord community in Norway argued (pers.comm. 2007) something happens in the meeting of these gazes. The host feels pride and recognition and the tourist feels accepted and like experiencing the unique authenticity he/she was coming for. In addition they can be seen as moments of exchanging knowledge with outsiders that might someday restore the reciprocality (Mauss 1993 [1950]) by concrete gifts or good publicity. However, like McCall (1990) has reinterpreted the early descriptions of the Rapa Nui as bold pickpockets (going as far back as the Roggeween log from 1722), I, too, see this confident attitude as an indication of their capability of getting something positive out of the various situations. A top attraction for today‘s tourists is being allowed to interact with the inhabitants and in that way make the holiday destination a place for the individual tourist -somewhere he/she can feel momentarily part of the place (Dag Jørund Lønning, pers.com 2007). The Rapa Nui seem very open and generous in the way they invite tourists to participate in the Tapati festival 138

competitions, private parties and even familiy events as most tourists stay in b&b –and insist on calling them visitors instead of tourists. Yet, I also think that living in such place where tourists get very close, but only stay for a short time, must create ambivalent feelings of friendship and professionalism among the inhabitants. So for example, when young Rapa Nui almost aggressively shout ―Hola, amigo, amiga!‖ to tourists walking by or when yorgos ride by and look like they own the street, it seems more like a reminder of who the street and place belongs to. And when Rapa Nui tell tourists with cameras at the disco that they should take photos of the statues only and not of the people, it might be a reminder that some performances are not for tourist consumption. Tourists can feel the self-confidence and seemingly almost hostile attitude of some Rapa Nui as a little threatening, but it also even seems to attract the type of tourist that dreads mass-tourism and who is likely to interpret this attitude as an indication of an authentic or ―untouched‖ culture. The incident with the girls and the Australian tourists seemed to be something in-between all this and it still puzzles me. The girls seemed very confident in their attitude towards these boys when they picked them up in the street, placed them in the living room and told them their opinion. Yet when the boys reacted against this, instead of letting it pass as jokes, the girls then seemed surprised and a little insecure before they went on to save their faces (and seemingly the reputation of the whole island) with smiling excuses. Maybe it was just an example of girls who wanted to have some fun. Still, it seems to show that the young Rapa Nui are conscious of the tourist gaze and care about how outsiders look at them. Which again, like the ―postcard images‖, can influence the gaze and image they return.

3.3.2 Henua and subsidios. Rights to land and a house of one‟s own. Like Kahn (2004) writes about the Tahitians and Polynesians in general, land is the most physical tie of the young Rapa Nui to the Rapa Nui thirdspace.

According to Chilean law, only Rapa Nui can own land on the island and up to now, being Rapa Nui almost entitles you to your own piece of land for free. This is a material advantage that few people on the mainland or elsewhere have and, in 139

addition, Chile has a system of subsidio (housing subsidising) which gives every Rapa Nui with a land title enough money to build their own house. However, although this sounds very nice, there are negative implications that I will come back to.

Tea already has already been able to build her house, which she rents out to tourists during the year and that will help her finance her studies. She started working after school and saving for the start capital that one needs in order to get the housing subsidy. With the land title document from her mother and the reference letter from the bank, she could go to the local office of Bienes Nacionales (―National Property Office‖) and some years later she got her subsidy and could start building. Manahine did not have such an easy time. She had a plot of land that her father gave her, but he forbade her to get a titulo de dominio (land title). ―I cannot do that because that would be to accept that Chile owns our island, do you understand?‖ he tried to explain, but she didn‘t understand before he told her the story of the island‘s land politics.

The story of how this system came into place is quite long and complicated185 and few young Rapa Nui know much about it, apart from the ambiguities of the so- called treaty in 1888. ―Our ariki pulled a piece of grass from the ground and told Chile that they could have the grass, but not the land beneath it‖ said a young boy, repeating lines often heard among Rapa Nui. Today many Rapa Nui mean that their ancestors were fooled into signing the annexation on false premises and that the treaty is therefore not valid. However, after disputes between Chile and private companies who also claimed land rights, the totality of the island was inscribed as Chilean public land in 1933, only allowing the Rapa Nui families small land plots to work and live on – as the land beneath the grass now belonged to the state. Many decades later Chile did start to give back some land, but as titulo de dominio (individual property title) according to Chilean law. As private land property was contrary to Rapa Nui tradition, many were against this way of returning the land and many also pointed out that Chile couldn‘t give back

185 For more detailed information on the topic of land rights on Rapa Nui see for example Mc Call 1976, Delsing 2005, Hito 2004, Ramirez 2000 or Rochna 1996. 140

something that never had been rightfully theirs. The rather massive return of land in 1999 was also done without consideration for the old kāinga (tribal territories) or the ecological and archaeological problems (Ramirez 2000). However, as practical people used to adapt to different strategies of survival many accepted the individual land titles when the Chilean state offered free houses (subsidio, housing subsidy), whereas at the same time they still fought for a collective return of the whole island and official recognition of the idea that their land never was Chilean (Rochna 1996:82).

What the young Rapa Nui do know is that, already now, there isn‘t enough land for all of them. Although land cannot be sold to outsiders, it can be exchanged between Rapa Nui, and in this way, rich families have accumulated whereas others have bartered away. One informant is the second of several siblings and their Rapa Nui mother doesn‘t have enough land for all of them, so she had pointed out rich uncles they ought to be extra kind with. Another informant has already inherited several land plots, but said she would not share because she had to think of her future children, grandchildren, etc. There are people on a waiting list for a second massive land return, but there simply will not be enough for everyone. In the future, the young generation will have to find new solutions to this problem, but for now they praise their luck of belonging to a place where you are almost certain to get a plot of land and a house of your own.

3.3.3 A paradox of a generation: being Rapa Nui without speaking it A problem – and a paradox – facing most young Rapa Nui in the generation I studied is that they do not speak the language that now is an important marker of Rapa Nui identity.

Based on estimations of linguists working on the island, less than 25% of the school children in the late 1980s spoke Rapa Nui and that the trend was towards even fewer speakers (Weber and Thiesen Weber, 1990). Today there are special Rapa Nui language classes (―Inmersion Rapa Nui‖, operating since 1999), so hopefully the trend is turning –yet the young people in my study could be called a 141

―non-speaking generation‖. These ―non-speakers‖ (or passive speakers) might understand Rapa Nui almost fluently, speak a little and easily use Rapa nui words and expressions in Spanish – but they feel incapable of keeping a normal conversation in Rapa Nui only. The few young ―speakers‖ on the other hand, are capable of conversing in it, but might not use Rapa Nui much more often – as Spanish is the dominant language at school, the media and among the youth on Rapa Nui (Makihara 1999). The paradox is that these non-speakers, who all say they would like to speak Rapa Nui, were not taught the language as children and now they are often criticised for not knowing it by the same teachers and relatives who refrained from teaching them.

A historical explanation for this paradoxical language situation can be seen as an example of how nation states, like Chile, Norway, Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia and many others 186 , have tried to ―modernise‖ and integrate ethnic minorities through education in a single national language. This was officially presented as a way to help minorities to a better life in the national society, whereas this is now seen as discrimination and social control. Also, as many Rapa Nui suffered discrimination for not knowing Spanish, because of an increasing number of mixed Chilean-Rapa Nui marriages and because they too thought Rapa Nui had no value, the parents voluntarily ceased speaking Rapa Nui to their children. This is a classical scenario of language death (Denison in Weber and Thiesen Weber, 1990:119).187 When asking my young informants about this they told me that when they were kids, speaking Rapa Nui was discouraged at school and that even their Rapa Nui parents wanted them to speak Spanish, because they wanted a better life for their children. It was also thought that learning Rapa Nui at the same time would complicate the learning of Spanish. The parents probably

186 In Norway this was the case with the Sámi population (see for instance Hovland 1999), in Chile the Mapuche and the Aymara are other examples and similar politics seem to have been tried by most nation states with minority populations.

187 The percentage of Rapa Nui-speaking children started to fall, and even after 1975 when the Ministry of Education authorized Rapa Nui language education in the local school. According to analyses made by the Webers, this percentage fell from 76% in 1975 to 25% in 1989 (ibid., 1990:119-136). My personal impression, based on my interviews with young Rapa Nui and their teachers, is that this percentage might had fallen as low as to merely ten percent in 2002 –whereas it could seem to have risen a little by 2008.

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remembered their own difficulties all too well, and didn‘t see that with the increasing Chilean presence on the island the language the children would risk not learning on Rapa Nui was Rapa Nui itself (Weber and Weber, 1990:124).

Today minority languages have gotten new value as ethnopolitical markers and the political attitude has changed in most of the world – also in Chile and on Rapa Nui. Some Rapa Nui never lost faith in its value and defended it both against the Chilean state and fellow islanders. In 1999 and inspired by the Maori in Aotearoa New Zealand, a Rapa Nui Immersion programme was allowed in primary school, offering a class where all subjects are taught in Rapa Nui. As Makihara (2005a) observed in 2003 when children of this program did a public performance in fluent Rapa Nui asking the adults to help them take care of the language they provoked both admiration and feelings of guilt among the adult population. The same thing seemed to happen when I presented the exhibition ―Being Rapa Nui without speaking it?‖ on the Mahana ote re‟o Rapa Nui (Rapa Nui Language Day) in 2004.188 The Rapa Nui adults now seem to understand that they have –unwillingly or not- contributed to the near extinction of their language. Yet, many parents seem to have transferred the responsibility of language teaching to the school alone, whereas a successfull language revival will depend on Rapa Nui being practised in the homes too. And quite a few Rapa Nui elders still think learning this language is a waste of time; some because speaking Rapa Nui will not give you a better job and the leader of the Council of Elders says it is useless to teach a language that not even the teachers know how to speak properly.189 However, the majority of my young informants still don‘t speak Rapa Nui and they have few possibilities of learning. They are too old for the immersion programme, there are no organised courses and at the moment they seem to have to learn it on their

188 This exhibition was based on a conference paper by the same title presented at the International conference on Rapa Nui and the Pacific in Reñaca, Chile 2004 (Andreassen 2005). I also ―tested‖ this paper on several classes in the local municipal highschool and cooperated with a class to present it as an exhibition for the Language Day. Each class had to prepare a pavilion with exhibition and the class in question was making an exhibition on Rapa Nui identity.

189 The leader of the Council of Elders also led a language study commission and because he finds that the language needs to be completely restrucuturated before being taught to new generations he will not cooperate with the younger teachers of the Inmersion program who insist that the language must be taught now in order to survive. 143

own -with the elders seemingly offering more ridicule and criticism than instruction.

When I asked non-speakers why they didn‘t try to learn to speak Rapa Nui almost everyone answered that the elders would laugh, criticise and making them feel ashamed for speaking it badly. Therefore they were afraid of trying to speak it and preferred keeping to Spanish. I didn‘t understand why the adults would criticise the young both for speaking and not speaking Rapa Nui, but accounts from Tonga (Perminow 1993) show that criticism and ridiculising from elders towards younger persons can be part of a Polynesian culture of education. The young are supposed to learn by quietly observering the older and ridicule is seen as constructive criticism. Adult Rapa Nui could tell me that criticism was the method of education that they had grown up with too, but that with the introduction of Chilean attitudes and global children‘s rights the children showed no respect anymore and did not accept critics.

So even though most non-speakers consider the language as important for the local culture and are happy for the children in the Inmersion program, they are not sure they would be able to learn it and that it would survive. A few even said that survival was impossible, and that efforts should rather be put onto making recordings of conversations to store in the museum and make it survive that way. However, they all seemed eager to sing in Rapa Nui and use Rapa Nui words and expressions very naturally in their Spanish conversations. When asking them why they couldn‘t speak it if they could sing it, a girl replied that it is just as with English, that it is easier to remember lines than to speak – and that some of the fun was that singing in Rapa Nui felt a little like knowing to speak it. Some were more optimistic about learning Rapa Nui and even said that they hoped to start speaking more when studying in Santiago! They explained that many students on the Chilean continent actually say they speak more Rapa Nui among themselves there than they do on the island. They said this was because of longing for the island and the convenience of speaking a ―secret‖ language the Continentals don‘t understand – but also because they would be far away from the ridiculising elders. 144

Speaking Rapa Nui on the Continent surely also bounds the Rapa Nui students as a group and communicates their difference to Chileans, yet it might indicate that the fear of shame is a real reason for not speaking Rapa Nui.190

Not speaking Rapa Nui does not mean that these Rapa Nui speak Chilean Spanish like most Chileans either. They say that even if they try there will always be a tone or accent that identifies them as Rapa Nui, or at least not Continental Chileans. Many also mix Rapa Nui and Spanish to a degree where outsiders will not understand everything of what is being said.191 Makihara (2005b), call this a new Rapa Nui Spanish speech style that Spanish-speaking children use to express Rapa Nui belonging by using Rapa Nui words, pronounciations and grammatical elements in their Spanish. In other words, the stigmatised Rapa Nui Spanish of their great-grandparents who wanted to speak Spanish has now become the basis for children who want to speak Rapa Nui. And Makihara shows that by participating with this new Rapa Nui Spanish in the Rapa Nui conversations of adults the children are actually influencing the adults to make this an accepted form of communication (Makihara 2005b:5). I too heard adult Rapa Nui –like people elsewhere too- laughingly repeat language errors of small children and even using the same erroneous words when speaking with the child in question, as if accepting that such was the personal language of the child. Yet I suppose that as the children grow they receive more criticism for their language mixing, unless this acceptance is a new phenomenom of the ―Inmersion generation‖. Both my young informants and I received criticism from Rapa Nui speakers who said there was nothing uglier than language mixing and that it was better to keep to pure Spanish. This does not keep young Rapa Nui from language mixing though, and several told me that they thought that like this they would at least maintain a certaing vocabulary of Rapa Nui words and expressions –which later might help them learn speaking fluent Rapa Nui. Typical examples of such mixing are phrases

190 Shame actually also influenced my own attempts at learning the politically correct language for an anthropologist on Rapa Nui. As a shy person I already struggled with the ridicule over my beginner‘s Spanish and that might have made me refrain from testing out my Rapa Nui.

191 This was the version of Spanish that I learnt, without always understanding which words were Rapa Nui and not –until trying to speak with Chileans in Santiago.

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like: ―Matu! Vamos al hare!‖ (Let‘s go home!) where subjects like ―house‖ (here in the sense of home) and the short expression ―Let‘s go!‖ are in Rapa Nui and the rest in Spanish. In addition to adding Rapa Nui words in their Spanish they also use words and expressions that they have picked up from TV or invented. For example, laser is used as synomym to ―cool‖ and was apparently inspired by a cartoon called ―Rayo Laser‖. Mager (meaning ―woman who acts like a girl‖) was an invention inspired by the mother of a Continental girl in school and this word is now is used by young and old –including authorities- to name the women dancing in the Tapati festival. For more examples see the vocabulary of this thesis.

As the language is gaining more and more political importance, and as many younger children now do learn it, the language still is an important part of the present Rapa Nui thirdspace –but the ―non-speaking generation‖ can become a challenge in this respect.192

3.3.4 Attitudes, feathers and tattoo. New language of identification? Text 3.3.4a: To dress for success on Rapa Nui Everyday life on Rapa Nui presented me an odd dilemma about something as seemingly trivial as ―what to wear‖. Getting comments from my Rapa Nui friends that I dressed a bit too much like a tourist I tried to change style to blend in, but it was almost physically impossible for me to mix styles and colours that in my eyes strongly mismatched. Forcing myself to wear, for instance a romantic flowered shirt with striped gym trousers, gave me an interesting feeling of how strong my ―clothing habitus‖ could be. When I told my friends about the comical physical discomfort this gave me they naturally had a good laugh, but also admitted that there was a certain resistance to fashion on Rapa Nui –at least in their generation. And when getting back from longer stays in Santiago they too sometimes felt they needed to ―dress down‖ in order blend in. The younger children had embraced what they called Chilean youth fashion, which in 2002 was jeans with matching belts and tops in bright and clean colours, similar to what I had seen both in Sydney and Oslo the same year. However, many older youth seemed to have ―Chilean fashion‖ as the guiding principle of what not to wear and this looked to me almost like a Rapa Nui ―anti-fashion‖ and expression of identification.

192 I will discuss this further in the chapter 6.2: Being Rapa Nui without speaking it. 146

Due to the lack of Rapa Nui language mastery I found it likely that the non- speakers would express their ―Rapanuiness‖ through other expressions. Inspired by my studies in material culture and Cloë Colchester‘s ―Clothing the Pacific‖ (Colchester 2003) that shows how clothes were markers of the changes brought by colonisers and missionaries I looked for Rapa Nui uses of clothing, accessories and tattoo. Today invitations to official events and parties on Rapa Nui often even say: ―Polynesian attire‖ or ―Polynesian dress gives free entrance‖ in order to give the event an ―island atmosphere‖. For some Rapa Nui this feels like putting on a costume, but far from as much as the traditional bark cloth and feather skirts that they only use for tourist performances and in the Tapati festival. I was curious if these trival matters could mean something to the Rapa Nui.

In the everyday I thought I could detect something close to a Rapa Nui street fashion, but Manahine and several other friends said that Rapa Nui do not care about fashion and superficial things, like the Chileans. Manahine had already given me a lesson about the purely functional dress of the yorgos and repeated that on Rapa Nui the important thing is who you are and what you do. Physical beauty is for instance long shiny hair and healthy-looking skin. Yet I had experienced how many Rapa Nui still are willing to pay a high exchange rate (normally in small moai or other souvenirs) in order obtain from tourists a special shirt or cap they fancied. Manahine herself was an expert in bartering clothes. And the fact that they distanced themselves from what they called Chilean fashion victims did to me seem like a material expression of Rapanuiness –almost as a Rapa Nui ―anti- fashion‖. And like the classical ―anti-fashion‖ of the punk movement, whose major defining element would be resistance to dominating fashions, this style of resistance somehow becomes a fashion itself.

So what I call a Rapa Nui youth fashion style in can tentatively be described as a generally informal, contrast full and sporty style including Rapa Nui elements such as feather adornments in the hair, bone or shell necklaces and tattoos. Contrastingly, the grandparents who grew up during the difficult times of the Balfour Company and the Chilean Navy, surprisingly enough seem to like 147

conservative Western clothes and navy uniforms. I could not understand why so many elders smiled at my navy blue t-shirt with a white anchor, but maybe they liked this style because it was the only one available at the time and now it reminds them of their childhood and youth.

The pareau (wrap-around cloth) is an interesting element of the Rapa Nui youth style. Whereas many elders regard it as a Tahitian import and not proper clothing it is popular both as a belt or hood for the macho-looking yorgo and as feminine everyday dress or scarves for the women. It is also used as bath towel, shoulder bag, table cloth and curtains. One of the many things young Rapa Nui girls say they miss when being away from the island is that they cannot simply ―throw on‖ a pareau and walk out the door, but some even feel that this is getting difficult there too, as tourists and newly arrived Chileans look at them as exotic objects. However, they still seem just as popular among Rapa Nui as with tourists. The so- called Tahitian pareau is supposedly made in Bali and its style is dominated by large flowers designs or Gauguin-motives. What can be called the Rapa Nui pareau style uses designs of moai and petroglyphs. The printed ones are probably made on the Chilean mainland, whereas there also are a few women who stamp and dye pareau locally. A little surprisingly to me, Rapa Nui girls seem to prefer the Tahitian style when it comes to pareau and when a new shipping came in from Papeete Manahine could often visit the shop selling these –just to look and dream. Yet, for some purposes, like performing Rapa Nui dances, the pareau is ―too Tahitian‖ for many young people too. On these occasions they prefer the hure-hure feather skirt or the hami loincloth. I wondered a little about their critique of the over-touristic Tahiti and their everyday use of a Tahitian icon, but I think they mostly like the pareau as something practical and beautiful to wear.

Something that not even Manahine can convince me to have a purely practical value are tattoo. In ancient times it did of course, as it marked belonging and shift of status of the child growing up, but this Polynesian tradition disappeared generations ago. The last tattooed Rapa Nui died in the 1930s and when some young Rapa Nui sailors got tattoos in Valparaiso in the 1960s (Arredondo 2004) 148

they probably did not even associate it with their old tradition. However with the cultural revival on Rapa Nui some young men tried to make Polynesian tattoo motives again and today the majority of the Rapa Nui in their twenties, thirties and forties have tattoos, wheras it is almost non-existant among the older ones. Many parents do not want their children to get tattooes, so for many it seems to be part of the ―teenage riot‖ to get a tattoo without the parents knowing. These modern tattoos are quite different from the traditional ones that were documented by early visitors to Rapa Nui, even though a few have copied such traditional tattoos too. Most of the tattoos done on Rapa Nui today seem inspired by Marquesan and other Polynesian styles, but apart from the popular honu (turtles) and moko (lizards) the motives can be something more specific Rapa Nui, like tangata manu (birdman) and rongo-rongo symbols. I have sofar not seen many moai as tattoo motifs (apart from in Arredondo 2004: 72-81) and I don‘t know whether this is because it is difficult to make beautiful or if it is not suitable to have one on one‘s body. Some of my youngest informants said getting tattoos was mostly a fashion and they therefore did not want any themselves whereas many of those who did have tattoos explained that they had a personal meaning to them. ―You know, I would not do like the tourists and just get a honu because it is beautiful‖ explained one and explained that her two tattooed birdmen symbolised the birth of her two children. So maybe as increasing numbers of tourists get tattoos as a souvenir of their visit to the island, their value as expressions of Rapanuiness decreases. And maybe the younger youth will define itself against the older ones with their own ―Rapa Nui style‖. For the time being the tattoos are blooming and at least for some many are expressing belonging to Rapa Nui.

Text 3.3.4b: Tatu, the tattooer signing walking artworks ―You might not believe me, but I like tattooing people as a way of sending my signature out and around in the world‖ laughed Tatu, and he was right in that I did not believe that this was his main motivation. Yet, with all the tourists getting one of his tattoos as a souvenir from the island it is true that people all over the globe walk around with his artworks on their bodies. His own body is also covered with tattoos and with his long hair feathers and ―ariki attitude‖ he attracts many tourists. He is not the first nor is he the only tattooer on the island, but with his performative behaviour and outstanding workshop in the main street he is the one who 149

most tourists remember as the Rapa Nui tattoo artist. And whether he practices tattoo for the art, the money or for the feeling of Rapanuiness it might give him as a mestizo, he keeps the art alive.

Another traditional element of style that has been revived in the last decades are the female hure-hure feather skirt and the male hami loincloth. The first can be seen on photos of females dancing for visitors in the 1950s whereas the latter made a scandal when the Rapa Nui rock group Matato‟a performed on Chilean TV in the late 1990s. Today the hami is the normal outfit in almost all the athletic competitions of the Tapati and for male dancers in the folklore groups. Girls and women can also wear hami in cultural performances, but normally with the rest of the body covered in takona (bodypaint) or with something covering the breasts. But even though the hure-hure and the hami could seem to be the closest thing to a Rapa Nui ―national costume‖, I think most Rapa Nui still feel like putting on fancy costumes. However this feeling of mine can be influenced by my automatic comparison with the century old Norwegian tradition of a traditional dress called bunad. As a teenager in Norway I was surprised that tourists wanted to take photos of me in my bunad because this dress was so normal to me that I would feel a little naked if wearing something else on the National Holiday. Maybe the Rapa Nui will develop a more personal relationship with their costumes as time passes and they might become traditions and symbols of Rapa Nui.

However sofar I find that the most meaningfull visual ―style element‖ of Rapanuiness among young Rapa Nui on Rapa Nui is the resistance to what they see as Chilean fashion. This resistance also extends to more than clothes of course, but this more general negative attitude to the idea of Chile will be discussed in chapter 6.5 ―To love to hate. Chile as the defining Other of Rapa Nui‖.

3.3.5 A Paradise for young and old, but no perfect idyll Text 3.3.5: Manahine‘s grandfather about Paradise Manahine‘s grandfather, who she called Papa Yota as a child because he used to drive a Toyota, got seriously ill and had to stay in the local hospital. 150

The rooms of the old and worn Hanga Roa hospital looked rather sad, but Papa Yota did not seem to mind. When Manahine and I came to visit him he exclaimed cheerfully: ―My precious granddaughter!‖ Seeing that she had brought a friend he repeated proudly that she was his granddaughter. He looked weak, but managed to get up in a sitting position and smiled from ear to ear. ―This is Paradise!‖ he said spontaneously and I did not immediately understand what he talked about. Unsurprisingly though, he meant the island and repeated that the island is a paradise that he hoped would never be lost. He asked if I studied and said that studying is very important, actually the most important thing there is. That good education is needed everywhere now, because life is difficult and one cannot get a job without it. ―Apart from here of course‖ he added jokingly. ―This island is Paradise and I was born here!‖ he repeated with a smile.193

―Paradise‖ was the simple and exact word I often heard both young and old use to describe the island to me. I was a little surprised to hear this from the old who had grown up in the rather hard times of the Company and the Marine, but Papa Yota might be right in saying that not everything was bad back then. And, like Paloma Hucke (2005) found in several of her interviews with Rapa Nui that experienced the Company time, time does seem able to heal bad memories on Rapa Nui too and some only seem to remember the aboundance of work and sheep. However, both old and young would add that the island had its problems. For the old one of the problems are the young, who naturally are not like in the old days. The old say that today the young do not know how hard life used to be and only care about having fun. The young are impatient and individualistic. They take easy jobs in tourism, like renting out rooms that their parents administer while the young just collects the dollars on the way to the next party. However, in the old times people worked together and all had time for each other, they would say. The young people I asked to comment this generally agreed that it must have been true that life was harder before, but they also thought that the old have become too materialistic. The old would always repeat that before the Chileans came they had no running water or electricity, and that therefore Chile was good for the island. The young said they can understand that being used to have nothing, the older adults now competed in having the most and the nicest of everything from tea cups to cars and rooms to rent. However, they criticised the

193 Based on conversation, Rapa Nui, December 2002. 151

adults for being too uncritical to modernisation and the Chilean immigration, whereas they themselves wanted to halt this process. ―I hope there never will be a traffic light on the island‖ was a phrase several used to visualise what too much modernisation would look like. They said they want the island to stay as much as possible like it is today, yet when it comes to the Rapa Nui people itself they hope there will be less competition and disagreement between the families. On a more everyday level, some said the island life could feel a little slow sometimes and that the island does not have as much to offer to restless youth –compared to how exciting and magical they remember it to have been in their childhood. And as will be described in the next chapters the fact the education still is not necessary in order to get a job on the island can actually be demotivating for going away to study. But apart from that, the island is Paradise and there is no better place to live.

Illustration 20: View towards Hanga Roa, from the Terevaka hill

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3.4 Chapter conclusion: Sweet home, even when being home In this chapter we have been introduced to the lives of some young Rapa Nui and to the ―nests of mana‖ (social structures and arenas of socialisation) of contemporary Rapa Nui society that they grow up within.

Like young people many other places they live in families, go to school and enjoy television, internet and having fun with friends. Unlike many other places they live on an island that is small and geographically peripherical, yet also a world-famous destination for international tourists and for Chileans seeking a better life. Like one said, this island life would have been very different without the moai, yet what seems to be most important to the young Rapa Nui is Rapa Nui itself –as home place and family.

We have heard the young saying that they want the island to stay like the paradise it is, yet in the introduction I argue that they themselves change the island simply by living –as people, and especially the young, rework ―the social relations and knowledge systems toward an infinite future‖ (Herdt and Leawitt 1998:3). Even though we have not seen many such changes yet I still believe this is so and that most changes will only be visible in the next generation. One such change that already can be stated is, like Mikihara (2005b) has described, that children have contributed to the creation of a new Rapa Nui way of speaking Spanish. I want to add that by growing up with the Tapati festival and mostly without speaking Rapa Nui, the young might have contributed to possible new ―languages‖ for articulating Rapa Nui belonging, like looks, performative arts and attitudes. Equally I think that growing up with Continental family ties and Chilean education in times of ―Rapanuisation‖ will lead to a redefinition of Rapa Nui identity and maybe eventually a reconciliation of these two cultures that many of my mestizo informants find difficult to unite. Here I think that also the dialectic both of ―postcard images‖ and of ―meeting gazes‖ vis-à-vis tourists and the outside world can influence this.

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As also argued in the introduction the Rapa Nui thirdspace is formed by historical coincidences, external influences and the actions and reactions of the Rapa Nui people. In this way what I call nests of mana are both social structures and ongoing results of the past that try to form and influence the young Rapa Nui, yet also structures that the young influence –and that in the future will show their mana for better or for worse.

Illustration 21: Child watching young Rapa Nui surfing in Hanga Roa bay

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PART TWO

TE PITO O TE HENUA, AS THE FUTURE END

Illustration 22: Rapa Nui seen in the Western horizon

After having seen how the young Rapa Nui live on their island, this second part will show the contrasting experience of going away to study. The title of this part refers to the alternative interpretation of the name Te pito o te henua as ―the end of the world‖ (instead of the centre), which I here use it in the sense of seeing the island from the outside and as the future final destination for the Rapa Nui.

Here, we will follow young Rapa Nui who study in the Chilean capital, Santiago de Chile. Although not representative for the whole of Chile, Santiago is what most Rapa Nui associate with ―the Conti‖, ―Chile‖ or ―Hiva‖. Many of these students are the same we followed on the island while they finished high school and tried to plan the future. Several, like Manahine, did not want to go to Santiago at all and some ended up having careers they never had thought of having. What I will focus on is their experience of being Rapa Nui in an unfamiliar territory, how they express their cultural identity in this environment and what living so far away from home does to their relationship with their home place. 155

Chapter 4

YOUNG LIVES AWAY FROM THEIR NAVEL

Text 4: “Ina ho‟i” -song by Ito Manutomatoma Pakarati194

He tikera e au I saw ko ŋaro a koe you disappear e to‟oku Henua my Land

I ruŋa ite manu rere High up in the airplane i au e taŋi nei I am crying i to‟oku manau rahi while thinking ki to‟oku matua of my parents

Kia Tire ho‟i au Today I‟m going to Chile mo hapi mai to study mo ma‟u to‟oku kaiŋa to lift my land ki te roa o te hetu‟u far up to the stars

I tu‟u era au heŋaroa When feeling mai te o‟one o te tokerau the windy earth he huruke au I felt sad Haŋa au mo hoki ki I want to go back to‟oku kona maea to my rocky place He manau au ki I am thinking of to‟oku Henua my Land

With this song about the pain of leaving the island the young Ito won the Ka Tangi te Ako song contest195 in 2002 and at the end of the following summer he was among the many young Rapa Nui going away to study. Ito went to the United States, others have gone to New Zealand, Cuba, Argentina, Europe, even India

194 Translation by Baihere Tuki Haoa and myself. Ina ho‟i can mean ―Not today‖ or maybe also a negation of the common affirmative expression “E ho‟i” equivalent to ―Yes, that‘s sure‖.

195Ka tangi te ako can be translated as ―Sing the Song‖ and this new Rapa Nui festival was first organised by several individuals, groups and the CONADI in October 2002. People could compete in all Rapa Nui song genres, plus in Rapa Nui tango. It was advertised as an initiative to make cultural events happen in winter too and it has been organised on a smaller scales in the subsequent years.

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and other far away places. However, most of the Rapa Nui students go to the capital Santiago or smaller towns on the Chilean Continent. 196 This kind of worldwide travelling is not, and has probably never been, unusual for Pacific Islanders (Hau‘ofa 1993, 1998, Alexeyeff 2004, O Ka‘ili 2005). Much has been written on the ―Pacific diaspora‖, but in most pan-Pacific studies, Rapa Nui is not included (Spickard et. al. 2002).

Illustration 23: Watching a plane departing for Santiago

Why study? For the future or for the parents? It was only in 1957 that the few first Rapa Nui were allowed to leave the island to get education on the Continent, and for this generation it is still considered a great privilege.197 However, today when almost everyone has the opportunity and going away to study can be considered a new rite of passage (Van Gennep 1909, Turner

196 Although many want to study in Polynesia, studying within Chile is normally the easiest because of the language, the possibilities for scholarships and cheaper flight tickets.

197 Like the Company, the Chilean Armada also forbade off-island travel for the Rapa Nui, but with a Chilean organisation called ―Sociedad de Amigos de la Isla de Pascua‖ some Rapa Nui students were allowed to study on the Continent from 1957 (Grifferos 1997:76). Through the accounts of these returning students, among them Alfonso Rapu, the Rapa Nui discovered how neglected the island was compared to the mainland. 157

1969), many young Rapa Nui feel that it is more of an obligation than a privilege. Van Gennep (1909) would probably call the stay away from the island a period of alienation, yet as a period filled with choices, possibilities and insecurities regarding the future it is also what Johnson-Hanks (2002) calls a vital conjuncture. Higher education is seen as an entry ticket to a successful life in Chilean society, yet on Rapa Nui success can still be obtained without studies and studying might seem like a sacrifice with uncertain future benefits. Contrary to the Rapa Nui in the 1950s, who lived in so hard conditions that some even tried to leave the island in small rowing boats, the young Rapa Nui of today have comfortable lives that many do not want to leave. In almost all my interviews my informants used similar lines as in Ito‘s song when answering why they wanted to study: ―To improve the island‖. This was even before Ito wrote his song, so I suppose these must be words that teachers, island authorities and parents have used when trying to motivate the young to study.

What seems to matter to most Rapa Nui parents, and maybe therefore also Rapa Nui students, is not so much what one studies, but that one studies something and gets a degree. One of my informants put it like this: ―On the island they always ask you if you study, and if you say yes they smile and say that‘s good. But they never ask what you study‖. Many of my respondents said openly that they just wanted a degree for the sake of their parents and therefore choose the shortest and easiest ones. However, many also responded that they wanted to choose a career path that would be useful for the island, which on the one hand would help ―lift up the island‖ and on the other secure the student relevant work at home. Until now careers in tourism have been very popular, but the generation I studied said there had been too many studying tourism so they had to choose something else. And very often it would be the available scholarships for specific careers that decide. Of my informants that I found in Santiago three study graphic design, two study psychology, two English, two law, one journalism, one anthropology, one public administration, one environmental studies, one publicity, one tourism, one nutrition and several are in various commercial engineering courses. Only a few of them were studying what they had told me on the island the year before. And 158

several were already changing careers after finding that their chosen study was not like they had thought it would be.

Looking to Polynesia, but going to Chile

Illustration 24: View of Santiago

Manahine surprisingly decided to study anthropology and got accepted in the distinguished Universidad de Chile. During the year I spent with her on the island, she and her family had considered all possible careers, from flight captain to hotel manager. Her childhood dream had been to drive a trailer and she always said that she didn‘t think that what she wanted to study would be taught at university. However, her family expected her to study and her mother had worked hard to be able to give her daughter an education, so Manahine had finally accepted to follow her mother‘s dream and study Polynesian linguistics in Tahiti. But before starting to learn French and preparing to move to her Rapa Nui relatives in Papeete, she changed plans again and decided to go to the place she had said she would never go. Santiago is somehow closer to the island than Tahiti – even if not culturally so-, Manahine has her boyfriend and more friends or relatives in Chile, she got a scholarship there, the plane ticket is less expensive and she already spoke the language. So ironically enough, although Tahiti is within their beloved Polynesia and the Rapa Nui should feel more at home there, most end up choosing Chile.

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Anthropology and archaeology were the career dreams of surprisingly many of the young Rapa Nui, and it is probably due to the fact that on this island of research children learn about these sciences at an early age. They see researchers pass by and hear them say that archaeology and culture is what makes Rapa Nui so special. However, many think they would never get work in such a field in Chile. Manahine is one of only a handful of Rapa Nui that actually have enrolled in anthropology, and so far only one has successfully completed the four years that are required for the licenciatura (undergraduate degree) in anthropology- archaeology in Chile.198

Illustration 25: The Catholic university in central Santiago

Tea chose psychology not because it was her first choice, but because she got a scholarship for that specific career path. She had enjoyed working as a tourist guide during the summers and wanted to study something relevant for that business. However, she always seems to have a positive attitude and said that although there are few public work positions for psychologists on the island and people aren‘t accustomed to seek therapy, one can always make a living of it if one

198 For this licenciatura, one has to pass exams in both anthropological and archaeological topics, and to receive the professional title one has to do a fifth year consisting in researching and writing a thesis. There is therefore a difference between egresar and recibirse; the first means to pass all the exams and the second means to have done the thesis in addition and get the professional title. Most Rapa Nui do not write the thesis, but no distinction seems to be made about this on the island. 160

really wants to. Tea is in a private and less prestigious university than Manahine, but she is doing well in her studies and she is a source of support for many other Rapa Nui students. The dance group that she established with friends and younger siblings is a kind of ―home away‖ for students coming to Santiago. Tea and her family used to live there when she was younger, so she already knew quite a bit about urban life and she has a much more positive attitude to studying and living in Santiago than Manahine. Yet she also feels that studying is a compromise with the island and sometimes it is only this that keeps her motivated, but she thinks one should try to make the most out of the years in Santiago. She is aware that she is being taught psychology from an occidental point of view, which might not apply to island reality, but she thinks that, as with everything on the Conti, one should know how to extract the useful knowledge from the total and take only that part back home.

4.1 Young temporary migrants on “the Conti”. 4.1.1 From “Paradise” to the asphalt jungle of Santiago de Chile It is understandable that Ito and others might cry as the plane leaves the island behind and heads towards the South American coast. The contrasts are big. In the Rapa Nui airport almost all faces are familiar and people come to say goodbye by giving you Polynesian ―farewell-come-back-soon‖ necklaces.199 During the flight it is almost as if the island‘s relaxed spirit is still in one‘s body and clothes. But as one steps out of the Santiago airport and is met by hordes of competing taxi drivers, the dirty air and busy traffic, also I felt like a lost nature child meeting ―the City‖.

Santiago de Chile has six million inhabitants and because of its location between the Andes and a smaller mountain chain to the west it is one of the most polluted

199 The Polynesian custom of welcoming and saying goodbye with flower or shell necklaces seems to be closely related to the development of tourism on Rapa Nui, but I didn‘t get any local explanations apart from a woman commenting that they had to start using shell necklaces for saying goodbye because flowers were not allowed aboard the plane.

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capitals in the world.200 The road from the airport feels like an endless avenue that goes from the poor slum areas in the south to the incredibly rich neighbourhoods in the north.

Map 5: Satellite image of Santiago, downloaded from Wikipedia

The dividing line is at Plaza Italia in the centre, which used to be a rich part of town with nice 18th century French style architecture. ―Below the Plaza Italia‖ is now forbidden land for many rich kids, and my Rapa Nui friends also warned me against walking down there alone, although it seemed quite harmless. 201 Down

200 I was informed about this ―merit‖ by a Santiago guide who said it in such a tone of voice that he sounded proud of it or as if this was the only thing that makes Santiago a special place.

201 Even the old upper-class Universidad Católica, situated some blocks from the plaza, is considered to have ended up in an unfortunate location after the rich left the old centre and migrated up towards the Andes. Despite being one of the best Chilean universities, some parents find its 162

(south) in the poblacion (poor areas) many houses still have dirt floors whereas up (north) in the barrio alto (rich area) fancy modern apartment buildings keep rising and extending the new ―Sanhattan‖ skyline of glass and steel. Every morning, there is a flow of poor people on the buses going ―upwards‖ to work as maids, guards and gardeners, and every night the same people return to their own world. Some defenders of the Pinochet dictatorship (1973-1989) still try to excuse the horrors of the military regime by arguing that Chile progressed economically, but the contrasts between rich and poor are still shocking to outsiders like myself. Where cars have to stop for the red traffic light, poor people seem to pop up from the ground trying to sell anything one might need, washing the car windows, doing a performance or simply begging in the hope of earning a few pesos. On the other hand, the drivers of the nicer cars can be rich teenagers that find it quite natural that their parents give them nothing less than a car for their birthday. Even Manahine, whose Chilean boyfriend Pedro is from the barrio alto, was surprised to see me surprised by this, as she knew that my country was a lot richer than Chile. However she would often criticise Chile, saying that is still a developing country where the riches are kept within a few families and the poor will always die poor. Fortunately, Chile seems to be going in the direction of a more just society, but politics are not the main concerns of the Rapa Nui students we will follow in Santiago.202

Most young Rapa Nui seem to arrive in the city with the only goal of getting a degree and maybe some work experience, and then go back to the island. Some say they enjoy being in a bigger place, but most suffer various degrees of cultural shock. On the island they have grown up hearing that their home is ―a paradise without traffic lights, where you‘ll always be fine, whereas in Santiago everything is money and superficial things‖.203 This image even influenced my own meeting

location too dangerous for their children, and there is a beginning trend of private universities moving to new campuses in rich areas to suit their clients. 202 For a more indepth study on the Rapa Nui living in Santiago see the interesting thesis of Diego Muñoz Azócar (2007).

203 Pers. comm. High school students on Rapa Nui, 2002. This comment sums up what most of my informants told me about Santiago.

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with Santiago, and probably the first impression of many of my Rapa Nui friends. However, like almost any place Santiago might also be what one makes it to be and some of the young Rapa Nui admit that it isn‘t that bad.

4.1.2 Difficulties and temptations for urban islanders All young Rapa Nui know that going away to study means facing problems of nostalgia, cultural adaptation and hard work. They have heard this from other Rapa Nui that have gone before them and come back to the island, either with or often without the degree they went for. It is actually thought that less than half of them actually finish their studies, whereas the rest change careers, drop out or fail the exams.204 They fear returning without the degree, because that has made many feel like failures in the eyes of their parents and the whole island. On the other hand, some also fear making it and getting the degree, but not finding a suitable job on the island -thus ending up working as unskilled labourers or having to live on the Continent. Finally, many fear ―loosing their culture‖ and being treated as a pascuense (pejorative for Rapa Nui that behave like Chileans) by the other Rapa Nui when they get home, because even if the adults motivate the young to go studying, they always tell them not to bring back the ―bad habits of the Chileans‖. However, there is so much social pressure that to choose not to study is almost no longer an option. When getting the possibility, one has to go and hope for the best.

Adaptation and culture shock are the first obvious problems for Rapa Nui going away, even if it is within the same country. After growing up on such a small island where everyone is family and everything one needs is right there, it is understandable that adapting to the size, noise and space of Santiago can be difficult. The distances are enormous compared to the island and getting to the university often means more than an hour of navigation in the chaos of different

204 Wieteke Khan (pers.comm. 2004) got a comment from a consultant working in the Rapa Nui Municipality, saying that maybe only a fourth of the students completed their studies.

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buses and metrolines.205 Those that haven‘t been away from the island before have actually never seen traffic lights and tall buildings, apart from on TV. In addition, one has to live without one‘s parents and has to find the fine balance between new freedom and responsibility for own economy and time management.

Illustration 26: Appartment block in Nuñoa, central Santiago

Shopping, cinemas and other entertainment possibilities are new temptations, and with the lower price level, it can even seem rational to consume as much as possible. ―We become big-time consumers here‖, said one girl, laughingly explaining that ―everything is so cheap that we feel that we have to buy everything to save money!‖ But of course, although most Rapa Nui have access to more scholarships than most Chileans, they are seldom rich students and have to plan their spending carefully in order to make it to the end of the month. Living alone means responsibility for paying rent and bills, buying and making one‘s own food, keeping some kind of order and getting time to study. These are problems most young persons have to face at some point, but for the Rapa Nui the difference is that the change is very abrupt, the parental back-up is normally thousands of kilometres away and the fear of failure can be more of a burden than a motivation.

205 TranSantiago, a modernisation project of the public transport system, had by 2008 made the chaos smaller by limiting the numbers of buslines, but the time of transport had ironically increased. 165

4.1.3 Island nostalgia. Not as nicely exotic as it might sound. It had surprised me to hear how often the Rapa Nui mentioned the words ―nostalgia‖ and ―depression‖ when talking about their stay on the Continent. To me these were very strong words, so I thought they were using them in an exaggerated manner.

However, when I went to see how my informants were doing after a year in Santiago, I learnt that some had already dropped out and returned home, whereas others looked visibly down and some openly said they were in psychological therapy. From her classes in psychology, Tea could inform me that depression is currently over-diagnosed in Chile today, but in the case of her fellow Rapa Nui students she thought most of the cases were real depressions and disagreed with my question that it might be easy excuses to the parents back home. ―It is not easy admitting suffering from something that Rapa Nui are supposed to be immune against‖, she argued and explained that many think that depression simply is not something Rapa Nui. And parents will not easily accept depression as a reason for being allowed to go home. They can understand that their children miss home and they themselves miss the children, but as they too are afraid of failure they will not listen to complaints about depression. Clara who had told me how she had suffered when studying in the 1970s would always tell her daughter to stop thinking so negatively.

It seems clear that the situation of Rapa Nui students on the Continent used to be much worse earlier, when most Chileans looked down at them for being ―indios‖ and not speaking good Spanish. As mentioned in chapter 3.3 this discrimination made many Rapa Nui parents refrain from teaching their children Rapa Nui. In the later years Chileans have become positively fascinated with the island, and even if this fascination seems close to exoticism, the Rapa Nui students of today experience more positive discrimination than negative. 206 Today, simply being

206 Rapa Nui students told Chilean anthropologist Diego Muñoz Azócar similar experiences for his thesis ―Rapanui translocales. Configuración de la etnicidad rapanui en Santiago de Chile‖ (2007). 166

recognised as Rapa Nui can make you a popular centre of attention everywhere from private parties to class roms and offices of public services. Most Chileans can recognise Rapaa Nui by their accent when they speak Spanish or by their looks, and many young consciously use small Rapa Nui identifiers like feather adorments and flowers. And if they actively use the ―Rapa Nui passport‖, like giving away a shell necklace or showing some dance steps, even functionaries in public services can go out of their way to let the Rapa Nui get special treatment. Some Rapa Nui do not like this favouritism and want to show that they can succeed well in university without any help. Others especially dislike the expectation that the Rapa Nui will dance all the time and one told me how she as recently knee operated in hospital had been asked by a nurse if she could show her some dancing. But even Manahine reluctantly once went to the university administration with a shell necklace in her pocket to get some extra goodwill.

Tea thought that most of the students got rid of their depression after the first year or so and that opinion fitted my ongoing observations. ―And there is actually a good side to the nostalgia too‖, she added, ―Because it also make us love the island even more‖. She knew several cases of young Rapa Nui that had been rather uninterested in the culture while living on the island, but who changed opinion in Santiago. ―So in a sense nostalgia has recovered quite a few lost souls!‖ she laughed.

4.1.4 A happy student on the Continent. One of the exceptions to the rule. Of course, not all the Rapa Nui get depressed and many admit that they like city life. In the ―Rapa Nui House‖ in Viña del Mar, on the coast an hour from Santiago, I found a Rapa Nui student that had come to the Continent entirely of her own accord and who wasn‘t sure she would ever live on the island again.

The ―Rapa Nui House‖ is a boarding school for secondary pupils from Rapa Nui and was created in 1992. The house itself changes address every other year, as the institution rents houses depending on the size of the student group. In 2004 there

This seems to be an excellent thesis on the Rapa Nui in Santiago, but unfortunately I received it too late in order to read all of it and include more specific comparisons. 167

were about 30 students in a picturesque blue wooden villa a ten minutes walk from the main square of Viña. Most of the students were in high school, but at the moment 4 were university students. The only Rapa Nui element on the outside was a sculpted wooden sign with a moai and the inscription “Hare Rapa Nui Lojamiento estudantil” (―The Rapa Nui House Student Accomodation)‖. When I arrived unexpected a Monday afternoon, there were few students, and as the director was out I did not get permission to observe more than the reception hall. In the hall two young guys were playing the guitar and a girl was chatting on the Internet. Some students went up and down the stairs to the dormitories upstairs. I got to talk with the secretary, a Margarita in her forties who has been working here for 14 years. She told me a little about her own experience, but finally allowed me to talk with one of the students, and called the girl who was sitting at the computer.

The girl came here when she was only 13 years old, and is now in the first year of landscape architecture. I was curious why she had come here so early, and she told me: ―It was my own choice to come here and in fact it was partly because I wanted to know how it is to fly! I was only 13 and had never been in a plane!‖ She laughed when saying this, as if she was sharing a secret. ―But it was also because I wanted to see other places and I haven‘t regretted it‖, she continued: ―Here I learn more than at school on the island, and so the transition to the university is easier. Many who come here directly to the university can‘t adapt to the change and don‘t finish their studies. I was accepted in the course I wanted and now I just finished all my exams – without failing in a single one!‖ However I expected that, like everyone else I had asked, she was longing to get back to the island to work and live there. ―Maybe‖, she answered surprisingly: ―I know I can work there, but I wouldn‘t return right away anyway, and if I find a more interesting job elsewhere I might stay there‖.

I had also heard stories of depressed students in the Rapa Nui House, so there probably isn‘t such a big difference between studying in Santiago and Valparaiso/Viña del Mar. However, the students on the coast do at least have one 168

big advantage, namely the ocean. The few informants I had on the coast really liked to be able to watch the ocean and feel a little closer to home.

Text 4.1.4: “Santiago might be OK for those that haven‟t been elsewhere” A night when I went out with some Rapa Nui friends in Santiago to celebrate their successful exams, we all ended up getting nostalgic about the island again. We were sitting at a popular terrace bar under some of the typical blue flowered trees of the Santiago spring. The sky looked pretty, but of course one couldn‘t even smell the flowers, and an endless noisy stream of cars, taxis and buses went by on the street a few metres from our table. Yet the people around us looked perfectly happy and excited. ―I guess that if you grow up here and don‘t know any other place, this might be quite OK‖ said one of my friends. ―But then we know that Paradise does exist‖ concluded the other one. We smiled a little at ourselves and at the irony of the situation.207

4.2 Making islands in Santiago and staying in touch So how do you avoid letting island nostalgia getting you down and making life miserable? I try to get together with other Rapa to divide the sorrow between two, three and four…that is a lot better than keeping it inside oneself.208

As many migrants experience, there is nothing like meeting other compatriots to have a good time and feel like home once in a while. While a few Rapa Nui students told me they tried to avoid all social life in order to finish their studies as quickly as possible and thereby go home sooner, most of them seem to prefer the company of other Rapa Nui than trying to get Chilean friends – even when they don‘t feel down. Another said: ―The only new friends I‘ve made here are persons that have visited the island or who are genuinely interested in its culture.‖ In this sense one might describe the Rapa Nui as ethnocentric and/or worshipping their sense of living in an island (Hylland Eriksen 1993b). However, instead of seeing this as a negative attitude against integration, I think that in some cases, like the Rapa Nui one, it can be understood as a strategy of survival for temporary migrants and minority cultures. The Rapa Nui students risk being criticised for

207 Based on observation, Santiago, December 2004.

208 Comment, Santiago, 2004. The young Rapa Nui often say ―Rapa‖ in short for a Rapa Nui. 169

having ―lost their culture‖ when they go back and the whole Rapa Nui society is in a constant struggle against Chilean influence. I will discuss this further in chapters 5 and 6 and here I will first look at examples of Rapa Nui islands in Santiago and the ways of fighting homesickness.

4.2.1 Sending fruits and other ways of staying in touch with home ―Send fruits‖ (“Manda frutas”) is an expression I thought to be very literal and Rapa Nui, before I learnt that it is a young Chilean expression for ―Stay in touch‖. However, food gifts are and have been nurturing human relationships as tokens of care and reminders of home; and maybe particularly so in Polynesia (Alexeyeff 2004; Hau‘ofa 1993, 1998; O Ka‘ili 2005). Whenever a Rapa Nui is going to or leaving Rapa Nui, food is brought along, or sent with tourist friends, as gifts to Rapa Nui family. Pineapples, guava, tarot and tuna fish travel from the island to Santiago (as long as the sanitary inspection allows it) and meat, apples and oranges travel from Santiago to the island.209 Some of these items exist in both places, but for example, island pineapple and tuna are said to taste much better than the Continental ones and meat is much cheaper on the mainland. Manahine would not eat tuna bought in Santiago because she didn‘t find it fresh enough, but she would indulge in any tuna that had travelled at least a day from the island and then probably spent weeks in her freezer waiting for a sufficiently special occasion. Food brought to Rapa Nui can also take on another value and like Manahine once commented in Santiago: ―Strange how for example oranges are like made of gold on the island, and here it is only an orange‖. Sometimes the food gift will be accompanied by a little note, but such notes are usually sent if friends are travelling and for some reason cannot take along anything more.

Other obvious ways of staying in touch and showing care is by calling, sending e- mails and chatting on the Internet. Telephone calls between the island and the mainland are very expensive, so after mobile phones became available on the island offering special prices, several parents have bought mobile phones simply

209 These are just the most popular examples at the moment and there also exist whole networks of exchanging other items, such as chicken feathers for dance costumes and pigments for body painting. See thesis of Diego Muñoz (2007). 170

to call their children in Santiago. Some parents also communicate through sms, e- mails and chats, but that is more common among younger people. Lately the Santiago-based Internet forum www.kitemate.cl/foro actually seems to have become a major channel of communication between young Rapa Nui across Chile. It started out a the forum for the new Rapa Nui party concept “Taote ote Zouk” (discussed in the next section) and has a lot of the normal flirting and bullying of many web forums, but in between there are serious cultural debates and study- related messages. On one occasion, even one of the municipal deputies on the island had posted a note asking students in Santiago to call their parents to make them go to a meeting on the island, i.e. she used the web forum instead of calling these parents locally!210

4.2.2 Taote ote Zouk, a place to see and be Rapa Nui in Santiago When the Rapa Nui have free time, they meet in each other‘s flats just to hang out, to listen to island music or to celebrate someone‘s birthday, and the last years some of them have rented night clubs in order to have big Rapa Nui parties in Santiago.

Illustration 27: A night at Taote ote Zouk, 2005

210 Forum message, www.kitemate.cl/foro, July 2006.

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The latest and so far most successful of these party organisers are Kitemate (―Till death‖ or ―Till we drop‖, young Rapa Nui slogan), who every month rents a Cuban club for a night and transform it to the Rapa Nui concept Taote ote Zouk (―Zouk doctor‖). The Cuban sign outdoors is covered with the big red and white Taote ote Zouk-banner looking like the Rapa Nui symbol and flag, the reimiro (half moon-shaped wooden pendant)211. The guards at the door are some big Chilean guys, but normally one of the Rapa Nui organisers sells the entry tickets. In the bar they sell island specialties like poe (sweet soft bread) and tuna empanada (local variation of the Chilean pie specialty) along with the beverages. As the name indicates, the music is mostly zouk, the French Caribbean dance rhythms that the Rapa Nui picked up via Tahiti and that became the sound and dance of the local nightclubs Toroko and Piriti on the island in the 1990s. This music is unknown in the discos and salsa clubs of Santiago, and can also be seen as part of what makes the Rapa Nui so attractively exotic to Chileans while, at the same time, it can also make the Rapa Nui feel more Rapa Nui. The Taote ote Zouk is a place where the Rapa Nui in Santiago can feel at home, even though zouk is now actually played more among Rapa Nui in Santiago than on the island where the latest Latin American music fashion, the reggaeton, has swept the younger Rapa Nui off their feet. Someone commented that the only thing that differentiates Taote ote Zouk from the Toroko are the lack of horses waiting outside, and although I find the differences to be more than that, it can be described as a little piece of Rapa Nui recreated away from the island.

Taote ote Zouk is also a place to see and be seen as Rapa Nui. As the party takes place in a popular nightclub area of Santiago, many of the partygoers drop in by chance, attracted by the different music and feel of the place. Also, as the party is always organised at the same place, the news about it spreads out to people fascinated by Rapa Nui, and after some months there were more Chileans and

211 An older Rapa Nui criticised this banner for dishonouring the flag by using it to represent something that has nothing to do with the Rapa Nui political cause. The organisers responded that they did not want to offend anyone, but had chosen the reimiro because it is also a ―symbol of reunion for the Rapa Nui in distant lands‖ (www.kitemate.cl/foro, 06-07/06/2006).

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strangers than Rapa Nui in the place, although most of them were friends or friends of friends. The organisers did not mind this, but Manahine complained that: ―It is ridiculous to see all these tire (pejorative for Chileans) with tattoos and feathers in that place‖, and said she preferred going to private parties.212 Another of my informants once pointed at some teenagers in the disco dancing zouk saying: ―Do you know the Rapanew? That‘s something new for your study!‖213 Rapanew is an invented word game referring to and making fun of Chileans that are so fascinated by the Rapa Nui that they try to copy their looks and habits by going to the Rapa Nui party to get Rapa Nui friends. I had never seen the persons in question before and to my eye they could look just as Rapa Nui as Chilean, but as I knew that a Rapa Nui might be offended to be called Chilean I would always ask people if they were Rapa Nui and not the other way round. A European friend did not know that and when a guy she met defensively answered that he naturally was Rapa Nui, she had the unfortunate innocence to comment that he did not look like it and that her Chilean friend actually looked more Rapa Nui than him. The Rapa Nui‘s immediate reaction to this was a punch in the face of the Chilean standing next to this girl while screaming: ―You hurt my pride, you bitch!‖ This incident, which could be explained as simply a result of too much alcohol, got further implications as the police got involved and closed the club for the night. On the Internet forum of the party organisers (www.kitemate.cl/foro), angry partygoers who probably had not seen how the fight had started, criticised the gringa (white girl) for ruining the party. Manahine was afraid that they might be angry with me too, as this girl was my friend, so she wanted to post a comment on the forum to explain that it was the Rapa Nui that was at fault for his violent reaction. She said that he could not blame it on the booze and that he had acted freely because he knew that everyone in the party would take his side simply because he was Rapa Nui. She thought it had become an act of discrimination, of Rapa Nui and their Chilean followers against the gringos. Tea had been present at the party and could tell that she almost had to protect the girl against the crowd, but she also found that telling a drunken Rapa Nui that a Chilean looks more

212 Comment, Santiago, May 2006.

213 Comment, Santiago, November 2005. 173

Rapa Nui than him and especially when at a place that can be called ―Rapa Nui territory‖ is not the most sensible thing to do. Even Tea, whose grandfather came from the same country as the girl in question, had hesitated before deciding to defend the foreign girl.

The incident was already forgotten by the next party, but it had illustrated some interesting identity issues. First of all, it was another example of how proud many Rapa Nui are of their origin and, more generally, that putting someone‘s ethnic identity into question can be felt as a personal insult. And on an arena of ―Rapa Nui coolness‖ as Taote ote Zouk the humiliation of having one‘s belonging put in doubt in front of people that one might want to impress can be an additional insult. Such a comment is probably also felt more as an insult by Mestizos and Rapa Nui that are insecure about their identity or that do not have the ―look‖ (i.e. Polynesian traits) and are therefore not automatically recognised as Rapa Nui by outsiders. Secondly, the comments of Manahine and Tea illustrated once again that for themselves being Rapa Nui actually has very little to do with looks. Tea questioned how this girl apparently thought that one could tell if someone is Rapa Nui just by looking at them, and Manahine repeated that it is what one does and how one does it that indicates if someone is Rapa Nui. For her, the most important ―things to do‖ are to speak Rapa Nui, or at least try to, and to participate in cultural activities. However, they acknowledge that persons that have the ―look‖ are more easily recognised by outsiders and sometimes even chosen by themselves to represent Rapa Nui in cultural events with an outsider public. Tea‘s European look made her be called the neru of her dance group, but the ancient Rapa Nui fascination with light skin seems to have changed during the last decades. Now both tourists and Rapa Nui seem to treasure the slightly darker complexion as more Polynesian and hence exotically authentic.

The party can also be seen as an arena for identity display and for refilling the self- esteem by enjoying the admiring gazes of outsiders, although some feel uncomfortable being looked at. The act of preferring to make their own club, and to dance to their own music instead of going to other night clubs can even be 174

seen as resistance. However, first and last, Taote ote Zouk is a place where the Rapa Nui can recreate a piece of their island life and feel at home for a while in order to better resist the everyday life in Santiago.

4.2.3 Tautanga, dancing ambassadors and a home away Dear ladies and gentlemen, we are the cultural Rapa Nui ballet Tautanga. We are all students coming to Santiago to study, because we have no university on our island. Now we would like to share our music, dances and culture with you. Iorana e maururu!214

Why we call ourselves Tautanga? Well, because symbolically, we are training like the ancestral Tautanga preparing for war in the past. Of course, we do not train to kill, but we want to give the dance a deeper meaning. It is kind of training for survival! Not exactly like a cultural war academy, but you could almost call it something like that. In the past we Rapa Nui made many wars and today it is cultural.215

When I came to Santiago I found that many of my friends and informants from the Kari Kari dance group on the island had made their own group, and not surprisingly Tea was the one organising it. They chose to call it Tautanga (literally ―youth militia‖216) to symbolise their stay in the city as a cultural battle, and, as far as they know, it is the first Rapa Nui dance group on the Continent set up by Rapa Nui students. Another student group was created in the 1970s and many of the parents of the Tautanga-dancers were part of that one, but it was headed by a Chilean woman and not by the students themselves. Rapa Nui folklore is very popular in Chile now, so there are many Chilean Polynesian dance groups, and in 2004 there was even a Polynesian festival, but in the eyes of the Rapa Nui these are pure fakes and they do not want to be associated with them. When Tautanga presents itself before a show, they always emphasise that it is a ―Rapa Nui dance group with Rapa Nui dancers from Rapa Nui‖ and that they are in Santiago only

214 Excerpt of opening speech for the Tautanga performace in the Norwegian Embassy in Santiago, on the occasion of the exhibition ―Aku Aku From Afar‖, Santiago, May 2006.

215 Based on conversation with a key member of the group, Santiago, June 2006.

216 In Englert‘s dictionary (Englert 1978:260) it is translated as “youth militia in war training” and they were training units for the warriors in ancient times on the island. In contemporary Rapa Nui it should be spelled Tautaŋa, as the letter g does not exist in the language.

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because they have to study there. However, as dancing diplomats, they consider the fact that the public is Chilean and therefore add that they are very grateful for getting the opportunity to come to Santiago to go to university and they thank the Chileans for being so welcoming. Tautanga performs in any venue for which they are hired, which has included dancing in shopping centres, hotels, international fairs, embassies and private parties. This gives the young students a welcomed little extra earning, but although some of them always ask how much the pay will be, they say that they would also do it for free. On several occasions, the dancers perform for free in the Taote ote Zouk, and once, in a shopping centre when they were only paid for singing, the dancers spontaneously did their performance anyway simply because they felt like it. ―The moment I enter the stage, feelings of pride and well-being dominate my body‖, explained Tea and nodded as I told her about my own experiences of representing my home culture through dances.

Illustration 28: Tautanga performing in a shopping mall, 2005

In some settings, like in the shopping centres, the stage and the public might look quite ―anti-cultural‖, she continued and added, ―However, it is an opportunity to show our culture to people who might have never gotten to know it otherwise‖. Some dancers had complained that the public was only interested in watching their half naked bodies and not the dance, but Tea meant one could dance with an attitude that shows more of the culture than that. The time when the dancers 176

spontaneously started dancing in the shopping centre although they were not hired to do it could show such an attitude, I thought while observing the dancers and the public. There was no naked skin to look at because they hadn‘t brought their costumes and danced in their casual jeans and t-shirts, but the happy expressions on their faces and in their movements was as touching as ever.

―I think the main thing is that with this group we have a nest here in Santiago and keep practicing our culture‖, explained Tea when I asked her about Tautanga‘s importance. ―It is like a home away from the island‖, said several of the other group members and Tea added, ―Yes, being together makes you feel closer to the island and that helps against depression!‖217 The group members normally practice once a week and have some show every month, but they meet often only to hang out with other Rapa Nui and ―island friendly‖ friends. Several of the Tautanga dancers and musicians have not been part of Kari Kari or other groups before, so for some, Tautanga also functions like a school and as a way of connecting with the Rapa Nui roots. Just as with people elsewhere, quite a few Rapa Nui have to get away from the island and see it from the outside before discovering their identity. Although a few then discover that they do not feel Rapa Nui, most of them become more interested in the Rapa Nui culture and some even speak their first Rapa Nui words in Santiago. This effect of travelling is known on the island and in my early interviews in 2002 several of the high school students said they hoped the same thing would happen to them; i.e. that the fact of being away would motivate them to speak and learn Rapa Nui. Tea doesn‘t speak much Rapa Nui, but she is proud of being able to teach other young Rapa Nui how to dance and thinks that both dancing and speaking Rapa Nui are easier to learn from other young people than from adults. ―There is more confidence when the learning takes place between young people‖, she said and explained that ―Adults make you obey them just because they are adults and the system on the island says that they are always right‖. This confidence also makes the young feel that they can do things by themselves as a group.

217 Comments, Santiago, May 2006. 177

Tautanga can also serve as a good example showing the island that the young do not spend their study years only drinking and partying like many parents fear. And to the people in Santiago, the Tautanga is a good representation of the island and real Rapa Nui culture, said Tea with an extra emphasis on ―real‖ referring to all the Continental dance groups. Even more surprising is maybe the growing political importance of Tautanga, although anyone familiar with Polynesian cultures might know that dance is not always simply about aesthetic pleasure or rituals. As the only organised group of Rapa Nui students in Santiago in 2005, the Tautanga got an important role in the protests against the plans of making a casino on the island.

4.3 Young Rapa Nui defending their place Text 4.3: ―Our generation has to save the island!‖

Gonzalo, a Chilean photographer, was telling Tea about his recent trip to Tahiti and how disappointed he was with the young Tahitians working in the hotels without knowing anything about their own language and culture. He had been living for seven years on Rapa Nui and was happy that things are different there. Tea then started a long and energetic speech of how important the current youth generation is for the future of the island – to prevent Rapa Nui from turning into a new Tahiti.

―If we don‘t do anything, the island will be lost! We are the only generation that has experienced both sides of the big change. The old only remember how it is to have nothing, so they still want all the material things they can get. And the children are used to getting everything, so they think that‘s normal. I remember the times with paraffin stoves and no TV, whereas my ten-year-old brother has grown up with computers. We are the first generation where everyone can study and develop a career, but we must be prepared for the island expecting things from us because of that. We might be afraid of being criticised for having changed while we are here on the Conti, but remember that the ones who stay behind on the island and therefore are considered ‗more Rapa Nui‘ don‘t seem to be doing much for the future of the island! Personally, I feel bad about the fact that I don‘t speak the language, but I think I can contribute with other things. You know, we are studying on the Conti because studying abroad is too complicated, but instead of hating everything that is Continental, I try to adapt in order to bring back ideas that can help my island. We have to try to form a strong group of likeminded youth when we get back. The biggest problem on the island is the lack of unity, so we have to try to convince many enough in order to save the island. And we need to deal with all the envy concerning who earns what. These are maybe cultural traits of an 178

island society, especially when it is so small, but we need to make the others understand that it damages the future. That will take time, but again, if we don‘t succeed, the island will be lost.‖218

When I interviewed young Rapa Nui about their hopes for the future of the island they seemed very conserned about it and several expressed –if not as strongly as Tea here- that they had a responsibility for their island. Yet, during my time on Rapa Nui, I had gotten the impression that the young, like many young people elsewhere, were either excluded from or not interested in politics. Although Alfonso Rapu was only in his mid-twenties when the people elected him to be the first Rapa Nui mayor in 1965, the unwritten rule still seems to be that a younger person cannot raise their voice against a senior without being accused of lack of respect.219 Even some adults in their fifties had told me that they sometimes have to remain silent in public meetings, because the speakers they want to criticise were older than them. Most young would not vote in the municipal and presidential elections either, because they say they do not have a voice anyway, that Chilean politics do not concern them or that once they registered as voters they would have to pay fines if they did not vote one year.220 This impression changed during my fieldwork in Santiago.

4.3.1 CasiNO! Young mobilisation against casino plans In July 2005, when those Rapa students who could afford it went home on winter vacation, they sent back rumours saying the long feared ―Casino project‖ for the island was going ahead. A Rapa Nui hotel owner allied with the owners of the successful casino in Viña del Mar were presenting ―Enjoy Rapa Nui‖, a project for a casino with eight play tables and two hundred machines – plus a ―cultural entertainment centre‖ of shops, restaurants, bars, a museum, an open air theatre

218 Based on observation, Santiago, Dec 2004. Tea‘s ―monologue‖ was triggered by the account of a recent trip to Tahiti, a place that many young Rapa Nui see as ―lost‖ to mass tourism.

219 This might even have been reinforced after the establishment of the Elder‘s Council in the late 70s, as it claims to be the traditional governing body and bases its authority on seniority. But Alfonso Rapu was rather an exception at a moment of history when the Rapa Nui had no senior leaders.

220 To argue for their refusal to vote for such practical reasons sounds like a lack of interest, and is a little ironical as giving the Rapa Nui the right to vote was one of Alfonso Rapu‘s contributions. But it is of course a global problem that young don‘t vote. 179

and a ―children‘s section‖. The Rapa Nui mayor and the leader of the Council of Elders were also involved, whereas the governor was against it and the island was once again divided in two irreconcilable groups – this time for or against a casino. Those in favour argued a casino would be a unique source of income for the whole island and would thereby support the culture whereas those against it warned about the dangers of gambling disease, criminality, outside investors and creating new social differences among the Rapa Nui. Rapa Nui spokesmen were interviewed in Chilean media, one elder saying: ―What do they want to protect? The culture of Rapa Nui is already dead!‖, whereas the governor repeated Chilean President Ricardo Lagos‘ words: ―There are many casinos and beaches in the world, but only one Easter Island‖ (El Mercurio, 28.08.2005). The international network of researchers and people interested in the island had also caught up on this and e-mails circulated all over the world motivating people to send protest letters to the regional government in Valparaiso. In the streets of Hanga Roa protesters started organising demonstrations against the casino, but many municipal functionaries were afraid of participating out of fear of loosing their jobs, and nobody really seemed to know exactly which authorities to aim the protests at. So Manahine and Tea were pretty pessimistic when they came back to Santiago and told me the majority seemed to be in favour of the casino. Manahine literally sobbed: ―I don‘t even want to say this, but it makes me so disappointed and ashamed seeing that my people can be so greedy…this is cultural prostitution…‖221

Sadly surprised that even people with education could be so easily seduced, we went to an ―Enjoy Rapa Nui‖ project presentation that was announced for the Rapa Nui students in Santiago. But we were almost prepared to be asked to leave because of our opposition, and personally I felt a rush of disillusion when I entered the room and saw so many of my friends supposedly in favour of the casino. Maeva, a young adult Rapa Nui living in Santiago, but working for her father‘s casino project, was giving the presentation in the auditorium of one of Santiago‘s universities.

221 Comment, Santiago, Sept 2005. 180

Text 4.3.1a: Maeva presenting the casino project With her long blondish hair, high-heel boots, YSL handbag, secretary and power point slide show, Maeva looked pretty confident at her little public of younger fellow islanders. A Continental girl acting as her secretary handed out nice leaflets with the title ―Rapa Nui, kona mo haka koa. Rapa Nui, un lugar de cultura y entretencion‖ (Rapa Nui, a place of culture and entertainment) and contact forms asking the students for their opinions and whether they had already worked with Petero Riroroco (her father). But as Maeva started to show the architectural plans and praise all the cultural benefits this casino would bring to the island, the young students did not look at all impressed. Calmly, but in a determined way, some thirty students in eco-tourism, law, psychology, anthropology, journalism, architecture, engineering, agriculture, administration and marketing started interrupting her with critical questions.

How can one call a casino a cultural project? How can you say that they are doing the casino to help the culture? How can you guarantee that there will be jobs for Rapa Nui? Do you not see the danger for the future if outsiders are now allowed to establish business on the island? How can a few powerful persons decide something that will have long-time consequences for the whole society? Why are you presenting us this if we do not have any say anyway?

With repeating references to ―my dad‖ Maeva tried to explain that a casino would bring more quality tourists because studies had shown that the quality of tourism on the island is low compared to the price and that they would like more entertainment. But one student after the other commented: ―So you think tourists would come to Rapa Nui to visit a casino? We already have all the attractions we need, the moai, the petroglyphs, the living culture – a casino would only ruin it. And the prices will go up, not down – we know that from the Kevin Costner filming. Did you really ask the tourists if they meant a casino when they said they wanted more entertainment? We don‘t think so!‖222

Maeva tried to answer saying that some other world heritage sites also have casinos and that it is the only way the island could finance all its needs, like making a better hospital, conserving the archaeological sites, teaching the kids the Rapa Nui language , etc. And she almost sounded as if trying emotional pressure by asking: ―Do you know how many lives could have been saved with a better hospital? And what about your own work opportunities? I suppose you don‘t want to live all your lives here in Santiago, so far away from your family?‖

But the students kept their focus on the facts. One pointed out that the other world heritage sites with casinos are cities and much bigger places than Rapa Nui. Another said she was not sacrificing herself studying in order to work in a casino and would prefer working in other ways to solve the problems of the

222 Field notes, Santiago, 24.08.2005

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island. Others asked how they could trust that the Municipality would spend the supposed 10 or 20% of the Casino money in a fair manner without creating new social differences. ―It all sounds like nice promises, but history is circular‖, said one. ―Do you know how the black birders fooled our ancestors down to the slave boats?‖, the same girl asked and answered: ―By winking at them with mirrors and shiny things‖.

An older Rapa Nui woman stood up introducing herself in Rapa Nui and asking permission to say a few words. Despite Maeva‘s invitation to say it all in Rapa Nui, the woman continued in Spanish: ―I am so proud of you young people and when I go back to the island I will tell everyone about this meeting! On the island many have not dared to protest because their work positions depend on the Municipality, but you are showing us how it should be! I am so proud to see this!‖

Several of the students addressed Maeva again: ―Why are you here if what we say will not change anything? Of course, we applaud you for having come to talk with us, because nobody has ever asked for the opinion of the young. This is historical. But can you promise us that you are listening?‖

Maeva promised and said that she would arrange meetings in Iquique, Valparaiso and more in Santiago until she had talked with all the young Rapa Nui on the Continent. She had not had the faintest idea that there were so many students and that they were so critical – because when she was their age everyone only thought about partying! She even said that if she discovered that all the young are against the Casino, she will pull out and supposed her father would stop the project, because he would not do anything the people are all against. The students could almost not believe their ears when she said this, and several made her repeat by asking: ―So, Maeva, you are actually promising that you will pull out if we are all against the project?‖ Maeva looked a little hesitating, before answering: ―Yes, I would…But I don‘t think it will happen because I think many agree with me, too. They just do not dare to say anything now!‖ 223

After two and a half hours the meeting had to end and our initial fear had been turned to positive amazement. People kissed farewell, happy over having discovered that most agreed, but also insecure as to what to do next in order to stop the project. This would take more than just verbally defeating the project leader‘s daughter.

In earlier interviews, all these young had answered me that they wanted to work for the future of the island and I was convinced that it had not been only nice

223 Field notes, Santiago, 24.08.2005. 182

words, but it was only now that I could see them put into action. Already during the presentation, they were secretly circulating a list people where could give their email and mobile phone number in order to organise meetings on their own. Although most of them had never been interested in politics, they now saw the necessity of it, but the problem was still how to get the authorities to listen to young people. Older Rapa Nui could probably ignore them simply by saying that their protest is lack of respect and a proof that they have become so ―chilenised‖ after living on the Continent that their opinions are not valid as Rapa Nui voices. Despite the existence of mobile phones and the Internet the distance between Santiago and the island seemed more than the five-hour flight away. However, as Rapa Nui politics work through family ties, they could try to get their opinions transmitted through them and as the final decision concerning the casino would be taken by Chilean national authorities on the Continent, they could try to appeal to them. And sympathising Chilean student activists advised them that they had to act loud and get media attention.

Demonstrating and protesting in the streets is not something Rapa Nui are known for on the Continent. In contrast to the Mapuche Indians who have repeatedly organised violent protests against the State, the Chilean image of the Rapa Nui is still more of an exotic image of beautiful smiles and dances – although many have heard that many Rapa Nui do not really like Chile. When Chilean students went on strike against privatisation of the universities and occupied the campus of Universidad de Chile in May 2005, almost none of the Rapa Nui students participated – and those I asked told me that it did not concern them.

However, with the casino it was different. The young wanted to protest, but they did not seem sure about which attitude to take or how to get organised. Many felt they needed more arguments first and others did not want the same violent line that they associated with Chilean protests. These young Rapa Nui were often criticised for only caring about fun and having a nice time – but now even birthday parties became discrete political arenas. As Kioe, the nineteen-year-old son of the possible future casino owner, entered the party everyone greeted him 183

cheerfully as normal. But during the typical singing and guitar playing at Rapa Nui parties, I suddenly heard from the background: ―Enough! I‘m tired of this!‖ Kioe was arguing with one of the girls about the casino, while at the same time playing the guitar. In between the songs they whispered angry arguments at each other, but the rest of the time they sang together as best friends. Between the songs, word got round that there would be a meeting soon in order to get organised. However, before any meeting was held, a letter in favour of the casino and signed by four young Rapa Nui appeared in El Mercurio, the most important newspaper in Chile.

Text 4.3.1b: First letter in the news paper Señor Director, we are a group of young Rapa Nui, that like seventy percent of our youth, are studying on the Continent – and we want to express our view on the planned entertainment centre, containing a casino.

Continental Chileans and foreigners have protested against the project from a comfortable and intellectual position, as they have not experienced the necessities of our people. For us, this is an opportunity of opening doors that we cannot afford to miss.

To be far away from our parents, to lose the dialect because of little practice, often having to emigrate because of few work opportunities…that is what is threatening the conservation of our cultural heritage.

The cultural heritage cannot be conserved without resources. And a responsible entertainment centre that is recognised by the Parliament, that takes all necessary precautions and that will be taxed by the authorities, cannot be a threat to anyone.

There are many world heritage sites that do have casinos and that have not suffered any negative consequences.

The project for Rapa Nui also includes the necessary infrastructure for developing our dances, music, and for contributing to the development of our old arts among the children of the island.

The important increase of employment it will give the island, the training of our people in order to attend better our visitors, the important surplus that our municipality will receive, these are benefits associated with the project that certainly will not get to Rapa Nui in other ways.

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We feel that the opposition against the casino is unfair, because this is a unique opportunity to achieve a better life quality and because it can only reinforce our cultural heritage 224

The letter was published the same day that most of the Rapa Nui community of Santiago was gathered for an annual curanto (traditional earth oven meal) and two of the young Rapa Nui appearing with their signatures at the bottom of the letter were present. One of them, who was known to be in favour of the casino, said he did not know about any letter and had no idea who could have written it. The newspaper circulated in the crowd, together with a ―No-list‖ for signatures and speculations whether it could have been the project people themselves that had written the letter. Many young were particularly upset by a phrase in the letter that made it sound like seventy percent of the young Rapa Nui were in favour of the casino and several started to write protest letters to the same newspaper.225 The planned meeting was held and the natural main topic became how to respond to this first public statement in the name of ―the young Rapa Nui‖ and also to set a date for a street protest. They agreed to use a rather long letter written by a Rapa Nui with a degree in anthropology, slightly older than the rest of the students.

Text 4.3.1c: Second letter in the news paper:

Sir, We, the 24 young Rapa Nui signing this letter, are seriously concerned with the development of the proposed ―Casino project for Easter Island‖. This project is in the hands of a Continental and is supported by some island authorities and a businessman – but they do not represent us. We are against this project because Easter Island, as a World Heritage site and a unique millenary culture, could be affected by such an installation.

First of all, the Rapa Nui culture stays alive thanks to the traditions and customs we have inherited from our ancestors (read: songs, dances, rituals, beliefs, language, art, alimentation, clothing, games, ornaments, norms and values).

224 My translation, excerpt from El Mercurio, 11/09/2005. The letter was signed with names.

225 As I read it, this phrase could also mean that these ―seventy percent‖ is simply the percentage of the young Rapa Nui that study on the Continent versus those living on the island, but the other interpretation was easy to make.

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Secondly, it is our cultural heritage, so tangible and poorly conserved, that fills us with pride and allows us to present ourselves to the world as the largest open-air museum of the planet…226

The letter was two pages long, and several in the meeting suggested changes, but finally they decided to send it like it was. The most important was to publish an answer to the first letter within the first week. One of the critical points was that the letter asked for a referendum on the island and several said they were afraid such a vote of the people would be manipulated by the Municipality or even that the majority would vote in favour. ―We have to admit it, most of the Rapa Nui who are in favour of the casino are in favour because of ignorance‖, said one of the girls and explained: ―Few of our parents have higher studies, so if the local authorities tell them to vote yes they will do so‖. Others argued that a referendum is the only right solution and that the eventual manipulation could be avoided; the final decision was to leave the request in the letter. Some wanted to attach to this letter the almost one hundred Rapa Nui ―No-signatures‖ they had gathered during the last weeks, but to include signatures of persons not present would be to do the same as the first letter had done, so it was sent with only twenty-four. However, only a small alternative newspaper (―Diario Siete‖) published this letter, and two other protest letters that other young Rapa Nui wrote were never published. But the street protest that they decided to do the coming Friday (23/09/2005) turned out to be a success.

Illustration 29: Flyer inviting "all who loves Rapa Nui" to protest

226 Paloma Hucke, letter published in Diario Siete, 18/09/2005, and sent to the Chilean President Lagos, 23/09/2005. My translation. 186

There had been a first protest announced in an anonymous e-mail some weeks earlier, a supposed ―chain-protest‖ at the same hour on the island, in Valparaiso and in the capital. But in Santiago, only a dozen of the students showed up, and although some arrived with homemade banners and high spirits, the majority decided they were too few. Some later explained they didn‘t go because of the cold rain that night, others that they wanted to know who was in charge first and some had already gotten tired of all the talk about protesting without anyone taking on a leader role. Tea was looked upon as a leader by many, as she was the organiser of the student dance group Tautanga and was the one that had taken the initiative to organise the former meeting – but she said she did not feel like she had enough experience. None of these young Rapa Nui had organised a protest before. So several were a little nervous about how many would turn up the second time. Tea had contacted a senator who had helped to get a permit to protest on the Plaza de Constitución in front of the government house La Moneda in the centre of Santiago, and there would probably be good media coverage. The success would only depend on the performance of the young Rapa Nui.

Illustration 30: The protest, with public

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Text 4.3.1d: The dancing protest in front of the presidential palace At the hour that the protest was supposed to begin it was mostly Tea and members of the dance group that were already present, but they had brought their music instruments and some dance outfits. Some girls were making a drawing of the island on a big piece of paper and a guy proudly displayed a cloth with ―Ina casino‖ (No casino) written with kiea (body paint pigment). Others had made more mainstream protest banners with red and black text on white backgrounds. Quite a few had followed Tea‘s idea of dressing in the colours of the reimiro (island flag), red and white. Some had made flower hei (crown), some wore their hair in pukao (topknot), some wore tropical pareau (Tahitian style wrap-around) and two of the girls put on the Rapa Nui white feather skirts. The visual look of the whole was a new combination of the traditional Rapa Nui symbols mixed with the typical posters of street protests. On the same square, which is a classical venue for protests, there were several other protests going on and they had larger crowds. But when the Rapa Nui guys started playing a drum, their guitars and ukulele, while the growing crowd of casino-protesters started singing cheerful Rapa Nui songs, the stage was wholly theirs. The contrast between the determined ―No Casino!‖ on the posters and the happy singing faces and soon dancing girls in front of the government house was impressive. People passing by the crowded square stopped to watch, journalists seemed to pop up from the ground and even people from the other protests seemed to forget their own demonstrations. Some of them started imitating the dancing and after a while a voice from a loudspeaker asked if the Rapa Nui could please stop singing for a minute, so that the other protests could also be heard. Together with the senator friend, two of the Rapa Nui were taken to the entrance of the government house in order to present their letters and signatures to the Chilean President. The first letter was the one Paloma had sent to the newspapers and the second one was a more personal letter to the President from Tea, as representative of the Rapa Nui students. The letters were put in a decorated handmade envelope of mahute (barkcloth) and the two Rapa Nui were wearing traditional outfits, but at the entrance an officer stopped them and accepted the letter on the behalf of the President. On the square, the dancing protest continued to the applause and cheering of the public, and as often when Rapa Nui start singing, they seem to forget time and place and just go from one song to the next. After several hours one of the girls from the dance group did a short final greeting as they normally do during dance shows, but this time she said: ―Thank you everyone for coming! We are a group of young Rapa Nui coming here to show Uncle President our opinion concerning the proposed casino on our island! No casino!‖

Even after this they sang a few more songs, and then the crowd slowly broke up, happy and relieved. One of the national Chilean television (TV UC) channels showed a few minutes of the protests on their midday news, and the next morning it was on the front page of El Mercurio. It was only a close-up photo of 188

the dancing girls with the title ―Rejection of casino on Easter Island‖ and a short text explaining that they were doing a dance show during a protest against the proposed casino. The photo looked like an exotic eye-catcher associated with less serious newspapers, but at least the message got to the front page of Chile‘s largest paper. However, the same day, in the Saturday supplement of the same newspaper there was a three-page long interview with the Rapa Nui mayor. As if he had foreseen the photo of the dancing girls, he stated that those who were against the casino were so only because: ―They want to keep us dressed up in feathers, showing them our bottoms for their amusement‖ (El Mercurio/Revista Sabádo, 24/09/2005).227

However, the news about the successful protest of the young students reached the island and the international research communities through the media – showing once and for all that the young Rapa Nui are concerned about the future of their island. Almost a year later, in May 2006, the casino plans were finally stopped once and for all. It was a legal technicality due to the lack of taxes on Rapa Nui that made a casino impossible, yet it was anyhow a victory for the casino protesters.

4.3.2 Assessing Rapa Nui in the International Easter Island Conference The Easter Island Conference of the Easter Island Foundation is the meeting place for the international group of ―Easter Island researchers‖, who are normally a few hundred professionals and amateurs from North-America, Europe, Japan and other places. A few researchers from Rapa Nui, like archaeologists Sergio Rapu and Sonia Haoa, have participated several times, but the crowd is predominately North-American and English speaking, just like the Easter Island Foundation itself. In 2007, the VII International Conference on Easter Island and the Pacific: ―Migration, Identity and Cultural Heritage‖ was organised by the two Swedish archaeologists in the Foundation and it was therefore held in Sweden (more precisely in Visby on Gotland Island). Helene Martinsson-Wallin, interested in the social consequences of doing archaeology in a place like Rapa

227 For more information on this see the thesis of Diego Muñoz (2007). 189

Nui, wanted young Rapa Nui to participate and therefore took initiative to also organise a conference workshop for the first time in the history of the conference. Because of my work with the young I was asked to be one of the organisers.

With this workshop, called ‖World Heritage & Identity –Three Worlds Meet‖, the conference organisers wanted to connect the conference theme -identity and cultural heritage- with the actual context of the conference –namely, islands and World Heritage Sites. The workshop offered the opportunity for young scholars and students from World Heritage Sites to meet and discuss the possibilities and problems of being on the UNESCO list. It was also intended to be a forum where younger scholars and students could present and discuss their experiences in a less formal setting than normal conference sessions. The participants should also be able to build new networks with each other and with more senior scholars participating in the conference. This could help establish networks to strengthen local research, heritage management and conservation of these sites in the future.

The workshop invited young scholars and students from three World Heritage Sites: three from Rapa Nui, three from the conference location host city Visby and finally three participants from Stone Town on Zanzibar (Tanzania) which also is a twin-city of Visby. These three sites are found on islands with different historical and cultural backgrounds, but they all contain vulnerable archaeological heritage and have economies closely tied to cultural tourism. In addition the workshop also attracted participants from Samoa, Tokelau and Egypt and several researchers from the conference session on world heritage joined in on occasions.

The participants from Rapa Nui was a girl doing an MA in law, a boy doing a MA in architecture and a girl with an MA in archaeology; all Mestizos in their mid to late twenties, with studies from universities in Santiago and with just enough international experience to do a presentation in English228. As requested they had

228 Simultaneous translation would have been difficult because the participants were working in small groups, and anyway as it had been difficult to get enough founding to cover their travel expenses there was nothing left for hiring interprets. I therefore had to put English language as a requirement for participation. 190

prepared a Powerpoint presentation for the first day where they gave a general – yet impressive- presentation of Rapa Nui, its World Heritage Site and their own views regarding its management. Later they discussed issues common to all three sites, that are located on islands and living off tourism.

Text 4.3.2: Young Rapa Nui opinions about the heritage management

Although the World Heritage titles determine specific monuments and geographic boundaries it is necessary to keep in mind that these places are immersed in a cultural, social and historical context that enrich them and deserve to preserve as well.

Tourism (being one of the results of the recognition) brings benefits, but also generates risks. It is therefore necessary include this in a bigger plan with the purpose to diminish the damages and increase the profits for the local communities.

Regardless of the resources allocated, preservation must start from the residents and the ethnic groups belonging to the sites in question. It is indispensable to involve and educate the population about the heritage they have. This education and participation will generate a sense of ownership and sense of responsibility for the preservation of the patrimonial heritage.

The World Heritage title should not create a ―freezing‖ of the heritage site. The sites must be able to evolve and grow with the needs of the populations and the development of the communities. For this reason it is necessary to recognize the dynamics that the places face in order to incorporate them opportunely and appropriately.

Tourism development must represent an economic growth for the local communities –which ultimately, of course, is its main purpose. In order to achieve that goal it is necessary to accompany tourism initiatives with investment policies and more opportunities for the local enterprises. Without the proper law and policies in place an increase in the number of visitors does not necessarily result in an increase in income for the local communities.

The economic growth must reflect an increasing investment in preservation of the heritage. Unfortunately in these sites tourism is the major industry, but also the one which invest the least in heritage preservation. It seems that such appropriate invest will only happen with the right demands and the proper institutions. 191

Preservation is a group work, consisting of various disciplines and continuous planning along the way. It requires a deep reflection incorporating all the different elements that come together. 229

The Rapa Nui participants impressed both researchers and fellow workshop participants with their thorough understanding and critique of the heritage management. On the other hand, these young Rapa Nui were rather disappointed with the conference itself and were surprised that many scholars seemed to meet just to mock each other‘s studies and to give papers that were already old news. As I was one of the organisers of the workshop and the person who had organised their travels they maybe did not dare to critique the workshop and the fact that the normal outcome of such a meeting are article publications. Hopefully there will be more useful outcomes and if not, at least they got to experience the international ―Easter Island academia‖ and this inside view might be useful in itself to the future ruling generation of Rapa Nui.

Both the casino protest and the participation in this international research conference show that the young Rapa Nui are both willing and capable of taking the responsibility of their island.

4.3.3 The right to choose one‟s battles. Manahine goes home. The most difficult battles young Rapa Nui have to fight in Santiago are more personal than these collective performances of belonging to the Rapa Nui thirdspace. After successfully completing the first year of anthropology in the best university of Chile, Manahine felt as if she had put her life on hold in order to fulfil the expectations of her family and island, and that this was becoming physically and mentally impossible to endure.

229 Excerpt from concluding article by Tiare Aguilera Hey, Hetereki Huke and Susana Nahoe. To be published in 2008, in the proceedings of the Easter Island Conference 2007. 192

Manahine said she liked the idea of anthropology, but she found the texts that they had to read and comment too complicated and uninteresting. To her they did not have anything to do with the island, which was the only topic that really interested her. She understood that there was a certain amount of literature that one had to know in order to understand what anthropology is, but she found that the university was only a superficial arena, where students try to impress the professors and each other by repeating what other people have written and pretending to understand it all. To admit that one did not understand something was a shame and something her fellow students seldom would do. Manahine had followed the example of her classmates the first year, but she felt like living a lie.

Another problem was the writing. Correct orthography, written expression and abstract theory are known as a common problem among Rapa Nui students. As they say themselves, they are ―hands on‖ and express themselves orally. However, Manahine had been among the best pupils of her Spanish class on the island and was also one of the few young that master Rapa Nui orthography. She would write letters and e-mails in both languages, but felt completely incapable of writing essays for the university. First of all, she said she had to translate in her head from Rapa Nui to Spanish, then from her normal Spanish to academic language, and she did not even get the pen down on the paper. ―They write in a code that I don‘t get‖, she explained, ―and which I find too pretentious and pompous‖. I tried to argue that the language did not have to be so academic, my own writing being a good example, but I myself had to admit that I was afraid of being criticised for my informal style. I also had to admit that although anthropology should be the first discipline to open up for non-Western academics, it still seems dominated by the occidental academic code in which anthropology was established. And personally I found it difficult to imagine effective communication without a common disciplinary language. Manahine‘s solution was to get fellow students and friends to write her essays as she dictated them. But I once got her to write about her problem in her own words:

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Text: 4.3.3: This is not me! Manahine about living in Santiago My name is Manahine. I am, or rather I was, a student of anthropology…the truth is that my life changed drastically after moving to the mainland. I used to be a cheerful and outgoing young girl, with a lot of energy who always wanted to go out and do things. I had a lot of friends that I spent time with, going to the beach to swim or staying out till late, things that young people do all over the world…really, I‘m not that different. Also I liked working for my own satisfaction, without necessarily wanting money for it (…). I always loved my island, family and nature, I still do, but where I live now there is not enough of this. Since I started living in Santiago, I became a different person; melancholic, lonely, irritated… I‘m not happy anymore. The city makes me different, I speak differently, I look different, I think differently…I don‘t like the person I have become and every day I think of the moment when I will get back to the island and become the Manahine that I really am. I suffer here, and I‘ve come to think that I suffer too much, even if I don‘t know if it is because I don‘t try hard enough or if this really isn‘t for me… I know that there are many young people like me who come to the city to study and that they and their parents sacrifice themselves in the same manner in order to endure this place and to get an education that can benefit the island and let them live a peaceful life. I am constantly thinking of the day when this torture will end, and that when that day comes I will start living. Maybe you will think that I‘m exaggerating, but I don‘t care, because this is how I feel, this is what I have been living from day to day the last years…like a constant death. The university has been a difficult place for me, I haven‘t been able to socialise with people, the language, the essays, getting on the bus, all the buildings, the asphalt everywhere, the poor people (…). Humans are supposed to be capable of adapting to the environment, but I admit that I cannot and don‘t want to anymore (…). Until when will I be like this?230

This could probably have been written by many of the Rapa Nui students in Santiago, even though it has to be mentioned that some also enjoy their time in the big city and at university. And hopefully most of those who disliked the city as much as Manahine, do, like her, go through good and difficult periods during their time away from the island. What seemed to be Manahine‘s biggest problems in Santiago, like for many others, was city life itself, the distance to home and the family‘s expectations. And like for many, there came a point where Manahine was not physically capable of staying anymore, and despite the fear of being called a failure, she chose to go home.

230 Letter, my translation from Spanish, Santiago, May 2006 194

4.4 Chapter conclusion: Being away, feeling the cord In this chapter we have seen that leaving home and going away to study can be a difficult experience for young Rapa Nui, like it can be for young people all over the world. Like Johnson-Hanks‘ (2002) concept of vital conjuncture, studying is likewise an important period of choices and uncertain possibilities with results that can impact on the course one‘s life will take.

What seem to add to the Rapa Nui longing for home are the physical and cultural unfamiliarity of Santiago and the academic requirements of university studies. Yet there is also the fear that one can ―lose one‘s culture‖ while being there and therefore not be as well accepted when returning home. And at the same time they are also afraid of being regarded as failures if they return home without having achieved the diploma they came for. These multiple uncertainties makes the stay in Santiago a vital conjuncture that often ends with feeling depressed and reluctantly returning home without the diploma.

Being away often also results in increased interest in learning more about the home culture and history. Several young Rapa Nui have actually started dancing and speaking Rapa Nui in Santiago. Even though this can be an indirect consequence of home sickness and the fear of loosing one‘s culture, it can also be a result of leaving home and discovering who one is by experiencing contrasts. Similar experiences have surely happened to many other people away from home, like my own need of doing Norwegian folkdancing after a year on Rapa Nui. Being recognised as Rapa Nui can today lead to positive discrimination among Chileans –especially compared to years ago or to other national minorities- and this can almost make it beneficial to flag one‘s Rapa Nui belonging. No matter the reasons, ethnic pride can increase the will to succeed in the university and to show what young Rapa Nui are capable of.

These different consequences of being in Santiago can vary from person to person and all in all surviving the period of study is an individual battle. Why some succeed and other not is difficult to say on basis of this material, and what 195

interests me is rather what the Santiago experience does to their relation with Rapa Nui. About that I feel certain to say that no matter how good or bad the stay is the love for Rapa Nui remains strong.

Yet what remains to see is how this vital conjuncture of the study experience can have consequences not only for the individual Rapa Nui, but also for their home community.

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PART III

HOME AND AWAY, THE RAPA NUI YOUTH IN PERSPECTIVE

Illustration 31: Student, yorgo and moai in Tahai

In this part, we will follow the students back to the island again, where most are just on another summer holiday, but some have started working – either after having dropped out, gotten their diploma or having never left at all. However, the main focus of this final part is an attempt at summing up and analysing different matters of identity that have been described in the previous parts.

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CHAPTER 5:

RECHARGING THE MANA. SUMMER HOLIDAYS AT HOME.

In December every year, a Chilean Army plane (popularly called ―the F.A.C.H‖) loaded with happy students having survived a year on the Continent lands at the Mataveri Airport, where equally happy families and friends wait for them.231 Like the arrival of the manutara bird (sooty tern) on the islets outside Orongo used to be a sign of spring in the old times, the arrival of this modern manutara 232 marks the coming of another summer and holiday time. Many students sport their newest outfits from the capital this day and arrive loaded with tons of meat, fruits, clothes and other gifts. Family and friends greet them with flower garlands, crowns and hugs like returning heroes – or very special tourists.

5.1: Meeting the gazes of home Text 5.1: Arriving students feeling like tourists at home The first days after coming back to the island one feels a little like a tourist… And you know what, interestingly you feel somehow rejected by your own people! Not by the adults or the kids; the kids always receive you well and the adults are glad that you are back, but it is the very same young people, your friends, that did not go to study. Maybe it is because of frustration…that they see that you came back already and that time has passed, but that you did something useful during that time and they did not. I don‘t know, but I feel a bit like that the first days. However, this is always quickly forgotten and then we all have a great time!233

231 Many students also come in regular LAN-Chile planes, either because they have a scholarship that covers it or because their exams haven‘t finished by the date of the F.A.C.H.-flight. Even though this flight is free and reserved for students, one has to apply to the Governor ahead.

232 Manu-tara was the name for the sooty tern whose eggs were the objects of the birdman competition in Orongo. Manu means bird in Rapa Nui and manutara also became the indigenous word for airplane. Many, like Andrade in his thesis, make the parallel between the old and new manutara, both symbolising fertility either through the arrival of sacred eggs or dollar-coloured tourism (Andrade 2004).

233 Tea, interview, Santiago, 08.12.2004. 198

When I confronted Uka and Moana with these comments, they did not agree. ―No way‖, said Uka, ―I‘m happy for them‖. ―Of course, I hope I‘ll be able to go studying myself someday, but I‘m not jealous‖, she continued. This feeling of being tourist at home also reminded me of my own returns home and the kind of invert culture shock that often follows. It does take a few days only to get used hearing one‘s own language and to catch up with everything friends and people have done and talked about –which is necessary to understand the latest internal jokes and to fully participate in conversations. In addition some students feel, like in this text, that some people in the home community look at them as if thinking ―Que se croit?!‖ (French inspired young Rapa Nui expression equivalent of ―Who does she/he think she/he is?!‖). The feeling of returning students is probably also similar to the ―plastic feeling‖ described in a study on young students returning from Santiago to their home islands, the Juan Fernandez Islands off the coast of the Chilean mainland (Brink 2005). Although the people on these islands descend from Chilean colonisers and are considered Chilean ethnically, they distinguish themselves from the mainlanders –who they jokingly call ―plastic‖ people. ―Plastic‖ refers to anything artificial and negative, and when studying in Santiago they become influenced by this –thus ―plastified‖. This sounds like the Rapa Nui fear of getting ―Chilenised‖ and ―loosing the culture‖, yet that is more serious than feeling like a tourist for a few days.

So having stayed behind on Rapa Nui, Uka still worked in the restaurant of her mother, apart from making innovative shell adornments and giving styling tips to Tapati candidates and friends. She was very good at all of this and she also had enough time to hang out and have a good time with friends – and also giving people a good time with her jokes and diva acts. Moana had now bought the pub where she had often worked before and is running it with her new and first official boyfriend in years. They had even moved in together in an old house close to the hostel of her mother and she was very pleased about it all. The first thing she told me when I met her was: ―Moana has a fiancée!‖ Moana didn‘t seem to plan studying anthropology anymore, but she seemed happy.

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Tiare, a young Rapa Nui girl who so far is the only one to have finished her bachelor in archaeology, had now become the head of the local office of the national tourist information SERNATUR. Sitting in the brand new office by the sea, she looked as an inspirational tale for the future of young professional Rapa Nui on the island. Some other government services also had young Rapa Nui chiefs, but the young Rapa Nui professionals in leader positions were still a small crowd.

And Manahine, who dropped out out her anthropology studies because she could not stand Santiago anymore, seemed to return to her old self after some time on the island. She had done a short guide course in the museum and was now a certified UNESCO guide of the Rapa Nui National Park. In addition she kept helping as a maid in her grandparents‘ hotel. Like other young people she could earn more and easier money by building rooms to rent out to tourists, yet for the moment she was waiting to get her house subsidy in order to build a place to live.

Text 5.1: Manahine‟s dream of her future

Manahine took me to the piece of land in the interior of the island that her mother will let her inherit. ―This is the place where I will build my house‖ she exclaimed proudly and threw her arms up in the air. The land piece was in an opening of the eucalyptus forest that had been planted decades ago in an attempt to reforest the island. The reforesting had worked so well that Manahine would have to cut some trees to make room for her house. There were also big and small rocks all over like in most of the island, but instead of clearing it Manahine wants to incorporate them in her house. ―This will be the kitchen table‖ she said and pointed to a big rock. ―I want a simple house made of natural materials‖ she continued: ―And the inside covered with books‖. ―But first I have to go back and finish an education, not anthropology, but something shorter, like English‖ she said. ―Studying anthropology was a luxury to me and I never planned to exercise it‖, she continued and explained: ―I only wanted to study something that would fulfil my family‘s expectations and then simply live my life peacefully here on the island‖. Her plan sounded like Voltaire‘s Candide wanting to go home to cultivate his garden. However Manahine had a different concluding remark: ―I just hope that when I get my house and all I dream of, I hope I will feel as happy as I imagine that I will and that the sacrifice of studying will feel like worth it‖.

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5.2 A new generation Rapa Nui professionals in the making The ones who finish university and return with diplomas face the problem that older Rapa Nui and Continentals have the jobs that the young students hoped and studied for. So when most of the students were back on the island for another summer in 2006, a meeting was announced to discuss the future of the island and to start the first association of Rapa Nui professionals.

Text 5.2: Young professional preparing their future fields The meeting was held on a Friday afternoon in the beach restaurant Pea and several students that had not heard about the meeting were waved in as they came down to the beach for an afternoon swim. In the end there were some thirty students and young professionals gathered around a PowerPoint screen saying: ―To motivate and strengthen the participation of Rapa Nui professionals in all areas of development on Easter Island (Rapa Nui).‖ Most sat in shorts and swimwear whereas others, in shirts and with notebooks on the shoulder, seemed to come straight from the office. Half of them were informants of mine. Sofia, an employee of the governor‘s office headed the meeting, but specified that she was doing this in private. She also asked in Spanish what language they preferred her to speak so that nobody would criticise the language choice afterwards. The crowd mumbled that any would do, but an authoritative voice cut through saying: ―Let‘s keep it simple and use Spanish‖, and the crowd nodded. Sofia then explained that they were about ten Rapa Nui professionals who had gathered to start an association, but as they were so few they had waited for the students to come home for the summer. They wanted to include all students who were at university or were following professional careers and maybe even highschool graduates. The goal of the association was, as the writing on the screen indicated, to support the Rapa Nui professionals by creating a united group that could have influence on all levels on the island. This association would ideally get a seat in the Comision de Desarollo (the ―Development commission‖), would be an instance of consultancy for all local, national and international projects planned for the island and a voice of young people that could not easily be ignored – neither by the Municipality, the Council of Elders or others. A student in engineering, voiced a concern shared by many students: ―I am very happy that this is happening, because we are still afraid that when we come back as professionals we will either not find a job here or we will be eaten by the institutions where we work.‖ She had seen how young teachers had arrived full of initiative, but how they soon looked subdued by older teachers or drowned in the system. A teacher present nodded to this observation and explained that it easily became a choice between giving up the idealism and quitting the job, but hopefully this could be changed with such an association. Another teacher added that the association did not intend to use a confrontational line; it would rather offer its advice and opinions to the island authorities. ―Because you are not 201

coming back with your degree to kick out your own grandmother‖, he said and stood up to act out an imaginary kick. ―On the other side‖ he continued while pretending to drive a car: ―it is not right that the koro (―old man‖) tells you to study and promise you will get to drive his car, but then afterwards just ignore you when you have fulfilled your part of the deal.‖ The crowd laughed and nodded. Tea, who was a natural element in this crowd, explained to those that might not know that they had established a dance group in Santiago that almost functioned like a family for many Rapa Nui students there. They had also been thinking of offering their guidance to high school graduates on the island and organise a welcome event for them in order to lighten the arrival in Santiago –and hopefully this could also be a concern for this new association. The only problem would be how to organise and stay in touch between the island and the Conti. ―Oh, when we get the Wi-Fi 234 here in March we can write you e-mails from the beach!‖laughed Sofia. ―But seriously‖, she continued, ―We should have our own web page and forum for this purpose.‖ And the association would need a board of at least seven persons, they would have to contract a lawyer for the legal status, and for the next meeting everyone should think of the specific goals they want for the association. She proposed to do at least one other meeting during the summer, but the crowd said two would be better. Towards the end of the meeting a woman working in the Municipality stood up and gave an energetic pep talk to the young. ―You must be proud of being Rapa Nui and tell yourself that your people have suffered all these atrocities – but we‘re still here!‖ She put her hand on her chest and continued: ―Never forget who you are. When you leave the Conti then leave behind all the bad habits there and arrive here with Iorana, pe he koe? (Hi, how are you?). This is who you are.‖ The crowd applauded her loudly and everyone seemed quite exited about this new initiative.235

On this inspirational note, I left my young informants and friends, at the same time as another Tapati festival was under way and once again most of them would have to leave for another year of studies and preparation before hopefully coming back to take care of the future of their island – for good.

234 ―Wi-Fi‖ refers to a pilot project called ―Rapa Nui Global‖ organised between Microsoft, Entel Chile, Universidad Viña del Mar and the local Municipality. It is supposed to give the island wireless Internet access and additionally donate a hundred laptops to the students in the local school, plus create web page services for all the businesses on the island. The initiation date of the project was March 2006, but sofar it has not lived up to its expectations.

235 Observation, Rapa Nui, January 2006. The last news I heard about this new organisation was that it quickly had gone into a hibernating mood, but that it still exists (Rapa Nui, pers.com., August 2007). 202

5.3 Chapter conclusion: Back where the story started, and continues In this short chapter we have followed the young Rapa Nui students on one of their many returns to the island during their years of study and we have met some that already have started working.

We have seen that meeting the gazes of home can make the returning students feel like strangers and even a little unwelcomed –at least by some of the young that are not studying. Uka and Moana, representing this other category, denied envying or looking down at the students. Yet, there does seem to be some kind of difference between the two groups, if not a tension between the young themselves then rather disagreements within the community regarding the value of university studies versus experiences and traditional knowledge gained by living on Rapa Nui. On one side the community and the parents want the young to go to university and to become Rapa Nui professionals that can replace the Chilean functionaries, yet on the other side they should learn all this new knowledge without ―loosing‖ any of their Rapa Nui culture. This must be felt like quite a challenge for the students, yet they also know that seeing the island from the outside and getting to know the Chilean system can be useful knowledge for the Rapa Nui resistance. As a member of the pioneering cultural conservation group Kahu Kahu o Hera commented it is probably no coincidence that almost all its members were young Rapa Nui that had studied off the island. This knowledge might have inspired the creation of this new organisation of young Rapa Nui professionals. However, they still want to respect the traditional system of knowledge and despite the frustration of being dismissed because one is considered too young many said they just have to respect the old and wait for their turn.

Thus, these returns to the island seems to both let the students recharge their batteries –or mana- after a long time away, yet at the same time it probably reminds them of the expectations that the home community has for them. 203

CHAPTER 6:

YOUNG RAPA NUI IDENTITY MATTERS IN PERSPECTIVE

This chapter will look closer at issues related to identity and belonging as expressed among the young on the island today – and this will take us closer to a conclusion concerning how this might influence the Rapa Nui thirdspace of the future.

6.1: Why identity matters. The importance of being Rapa Nui. Both the lives of these young Rapa Nui and general globalisation theory show the importance of ―having an identity‖. In a world of constant movement, it is only getting more and more important to know who you are and where you come from – and after a long period of ethnic discrimination, many ethnic identities are now being celebrated and reinforced.

The Rapa Nui do not seem to have ever lost their cultural pride like other discriminated ethnic groups, but it is definitely more advantageous to be Rapa Nui now than some generations ago. During the times of the Company and the Armada, the Rapa Nui were not allowed to move freely outside the village fences, they had to work for free every Monday and they were not considered citizens by Chilean law. Therefore, before the massive Chilean immigration of the 1960s, the Rapa Nui political discourse insisted on equality and their right to be recognised as citizens and equals to other Chileans. After their demand was finally heard, and Chile installed its civil administration in 1966, the Rapa Nui experienced that this modernisation was threatening their culture and they realised that they were – and wanted to be – different.

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Today it is not only a pride, but also an advantage to be Rapa Nui. Only Rapa Nui (this includes the mestizos) have rights to own land on the island, there are special ethnic scholarships, people from all over the world are willing to sponsor projects on the island and many islanders get invitations to travel the world representing their home place. Through the tourists and outsiders that stream through the island, the Rapa Nui can today enjoy gazes of admiration simply for being Rapa Nui, the descendants of the people who created the unique moai. Now tourists also want to see ―living culture‖ and the contemporary Rapa Nui are no longer looked at as mere ―shadows of the past‖ (Routledge 1919).

Although everyone with a Rapa Nui family name has the same rights to scholarships and land ownership, there is at least a symbolic difference between the Rapa Nui and the ―Rapa Nui mestizo‖, which can be felt as quite important by the mestizo. Just like several of the young Rapa Nui in their childhood used to wish they were Continental, there are now many mestizos who wish they were ―fully‖ Rapa Nui. Manahine had never really thought about that before some of her friends recently said that they envied her for being a ―true Rapa Nui‖. The word ―mestizo‖ can be used in an excluding manner by Rapa Nui, and many mestizos think they would feel more accepted if both their parents had been Rapa Nui. The Rapa Nui seem to have more cultural capital and behave with self-confidence, whereas the mestizo might seem to have more to prove. Some Rapa Nui even criticise mestizos for trying too hard and for exaggerating their expressions by acting ―more Rapa Nui than a Rapa Nui‖. In some settings, being mestizo can also be used as an excuse. My informants never seemed to try to hide that they were mestizo and some often added: ―But you know, I‘m a mestizo‖, if they felt they could not answer my questions well enough.

The Chilean Indigenous Law (Ley Indigena, 1994) based the definition of ethnic affiliation on family names, including anyone that has at least one ethnic family name.

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However, being recognised as or feeling Rapa Nui seems to take more than a name, but so far none of my informants agree on what it takes. This was definitely the most difficult question in my interviews and I felt silly simply because of asking. I would get answers like ―you feel it in your heart‖, ―it is to love the island‖, ―it is in the blood‖, ―it is a way of seeing the world‖, and it was impossible to get more concrete answers. Many of them said it had to do with doing Rapa Nui things, speaking the language and showing respect for the culture – and some even said that in a sense some long-term residing outsiders were almost as Rapa Nui as themselves. Miki Makihara seems to have gotten equally varied opinions when she studied this in the 1990s (Makihara 1999:143-146). However, what was interesting with these answers is that most young Rapa Nui seem to put more weight on feelings than on looks and actions like speaking the language.

6.2 Rapa Nui without speaking it, or new languages of identification

Text 6.2: Rapa Nui in Santiago explaining “language mixing” Well, I can‘t criticise language mixing, because that‘s how we speak it here – and I do it myself. And I think it is better than not speaking any Rapa Nui at all. We also invent Rapa Nui words here, words that neither Continentals nor other Rapa Nui can understand. For example, we call a bad person a ‗mora‘, which only is used for ‗duck‘ on Rapa Nui. It becomes our secret language, which makes us more unified as Rapa Nui here. But when I‘m back on the island, I sometimes say these words, while forgetting that they don‘t understand them there. Yet some of the younger islanders pick them up and use them there, too!236

As seen in chapter 3.3 Rapa Nui youth seem to agree that speaking Rapa Nui is important and that it should be part of what defines a Rapa Nui. But despite the current focus on the language in the Rapa Nui community and the successful immersion programme making children speak Rapa Nui, the youth looks like a lost, or at least an ―in-between generation‖ in this aspect. As they were raised being taught Spanish, Rapa Nui has become a second language to most of them. And as many feel that adults are more likely to criticise than to help them learn

236 Interview, young Rapa Nui student, Viña del Mar, 2004. 206

Rapa Nui, they stick to Spanish – with their own mix of Rapa Nui accent, words and expressions.

However many non-speakers haven‘t given up the hope of learning fluent Rapa Nui and are optimistic about the new Rapa Nui Immersion programme in school –even saying that maybe they could learn Rapa Nui from their future kids who they by no doubt would send to the immersion classes if they still exist. Several informants said that listening to the Rapa Nui-speaking kids made them feel ashamed because younger kids know more than them, but at the same time they were happy about the revival.

Several informants even responded that they lack motivation. Although they get criticised for not speaking it, they know that they can survive perfectly well on the island speaking only Spanish. To obtain the privileges following the status as ethnic Rapa Nui, like land rights and scholarships, it is sufficient to have a Rapa Nui family name. And due to the presence of the many Chileans on the island and the importance of the tourist industry, it is a must to speak Spanish and a professional plus to speak English and other world languages. So as personal motivation is also essential to learn, some of the young non-speakers would actually like to be pushed a little, for example motivated by scholarships and jobs only for Rapa Nui speakers – and especially by an environment where one can practise the language without getting criticised for every word they get wrong.

The current situation is that the majority of the Rapa Nui youth do not speak the Rapa Nui. So even if the immersion programme succeeds in making the new generations speak Rapa Nui, will this mean that my informants will become part of a linguistic ‗in-between generation‘? And what will that do to what is left of the traditional power of the elders over the younger? Or will the shame of listening to their eventual kids speaking Rapa Nui ‗force‘ my informants to learn it? And is survival of Rapa Nui even possible without also these future parents learning it? Personally, I think that language revival is possible if the motivation is strong enough, but also that a meaningful ethnic identity is possible without the 207

language. Language survival is naturally important both for the cultural richness of the world and especially for the full understanding of a culture, but it is a fact that languages come and go – and cultures change without necessarily loosing their meaningfulness. However if one wants these young Rapa Nui to speak Rapa Nui, one might need to discuss what this laughter of the Rapa Nui speakers is all about and hopefully find that they will be laughing along with – and not at- the non- speakers.

Among the examples of similar language situations are of course the Maori of Aotearoa New Zeeland 237 , but closer to my own experience are the Sámi in northern Scandinavia and Russia (a territory called Sápmi). In the Norwegian part of Sapmi, the grandparent generation was so influenced by the earlier politics of ‗Norwegianisation‘ that many will still not admit being Sámi and they disapprove of the current youths‘ ethnic revival. Harald Eidheim (1969) showed how the Sámi in the 1950s would refrain from speaking their language among ethnic- Norwegians in order to avoid the stigma of being recognised as Sámi. By that time the almost century long assimilation politics vis-à-vis the Sámi were changing and eventually a Sámi Parliament was opened in 1989 and Sámi became an official language -but discriminating views have lived on among both ethnic-Norwegians and Sámi until today. Personally I remember how my grandfather always criticised the Sámi and denied his descent –even when Sámi persons said he was one of them. He was disappointed when I started showing interest in these roots, but eventually admitted that he probably had Sámi ancestors and even lent me his car to go to the yearly Sámi festival RidduRiddu (―Little storm from the ocean‖) in the little village Gáivuona/Kåfjord, Northern Norway. This festival was initiated in the 1990s by a small group of young people with Sámi descent and it has become one of the most visible signs of the Sámi revitalisation. Many ethnic-Norwegians now visit it in order to search for Sámi roots or simply learn a little about a culture long ignored in Norway. Like Arild Hovland (1999) showed with his study of one of this equivalents to a ―lost generation‖ of the Sámi, Sámi that grew up learning only Norwegian, seem to have succeeded in getting rid of the ―Sámi shame‖ and

237 For insight in a similar generation of the Maori, see for instance Ramstad 2001. 208

turning Sámi ethnicity into a meaningful proud identity in contemporary Norway. One can learn Sámi from kinder garden up to university level. In some communities non-speaking parents have actually learnt to speak Sámi well enough as to be using it as the ―home language‖ with their children and thus helping them to become fluent speakers and showing that adult language learning is possible. But the majority of the Sámi over 30 years old still do not speak Sámi and it seems to be an accepted view that feeling Sámi is just as important as speaking it.238

In addition to verbal language there might be new languages of identification. We have seen how the young Rapa Nui enjoy dancing and singing both in informal situations like the disco and for competitions and presentations. One of the teachers of the Kari Kari told me several times: ―You know, the young are really mostly interested in having fun and nothing more‖. This is of course nothing surprising about many young people anywhere, and neither about the not so young, but he and other Rapa Nui adults meant by this that the young Rapa Nui were not really interested in their culture. To the adults, the culture seems to be more in speaking the language and doing things in the ―Rapa Nui way‖.

However, I think that singing and dancing have become more than tourist performance for these young Rapa Nui who have grown up without learning the language and being educated in ―Chilean way‖ through the school and media. Dance and music probably was a greater part of ancient Rapa Nui culture too, both for ritual purposes and entertainment, but most of this disappeared with the missionaries, and little information is left. What today are called Rapa Nui dances are dances heavily influenced by or even originating in other Polynesian islands like Tahiti, Hawaii, Samoa and Aotearoa New Zealand. The older Rapa Nui have seen how these dances have been introduced and developed because of tourism, but for the young who have grown up with them, most of these dances are Rapa Nui and the act of dancing isn‘t necessarily only for the tourists. Like many informants told me, they feel physically good when they dance and being a good dancer is something that increases the feeling of being Rapa Nui. Of course, there

238 Based on interviews and observations during the RidduRiddu festival 2003. 209

are differences of opinion among the young, too, and some say that ―A real Rapa Nui will never dance for you if you ask him‖. 239 This can again point to the difference between mestizos and ―Rapa Nui Rapa Nui‖; in that the first is much keener to demonstrate his or her ―Rapanuiness‖ and is more likely to do so through artistic performance than language. However, I see this as a new or renewed part of the contemporary Rapa Nui culture that has been motivated by tourism, but to which the Rapa Nui have given a distinct form and meaning -and thereby made it Rapa Nui.

In the same way, I think contemporary Rapa Nui music and Rapa Nui looks have developed and become part of the culture for the young Rapa Nui. The music has even Latin American and Occidental influences, although the texts are almost always sung in Rapa Nui.240 The Rapa Nui ―look‖ can simply be Polynesian facial traits, although older Rapa Nui often look more European, and white skin was a sign of beauty probably before the first Europeans arrived. The Polynesian physique is also something that has become more appreciated through tourism and might be another ―substitute‖ for young Rapa Nui who don‘t speak the language. Rapa Nui who don‘t ―look‖ Rapa Nui can ―get‖ the look by tattoos, feather adornments, necklaces or a relaxed cloth style, but the line between looking Rapa Nui and ―Rapa New‖ (Continentals who want to be Rapa Nui) is fine. To avoid crossing this line Manahine would for example deny her gradually Rapa Nui-looking boyfriend to meet other Rapa Nui in Santiago dressed in a Rapa Nui souvenir t-shirt, but by wearing this t-shirt inside out he was safe.

So even though many deny it I think looks are important in the culture of young Rapa Nui, and that this can be a new language of identification among those who do not speak Rapa Nui.

239 Rapa Nui, comment, May 2006. 240 See Daniel Benrup‘s forthcoming Ph.D. thesis on contemporary Rapa Nui music. 210

6.3 The heritage of the moai and the global industry of images As Tea said earlier in this thesis I am sure the story about Rapa Nui would have been quite different without the moai. Some researchers have played with the idea that Rapa Nui might have been considered a special place within the Polynesian world long before the Europeans created the current image of the ―island of the lonely moai‖ (Barthel 1978, Martinsson-Wallin 2005). Yet, the moai are the leading actors in the tourism that brings income to Rapa Nui. My informants have literally grown up in this industry and I think it must have influenced their cultural identity and love for home.

Some Rapa Nui say jokingly that the ancestors made the moai because they knew that in the future visitors would pay to come and see them, i.e. that they foresaw tourism and made the statues in order to secure the economical future of the island. This is of course just a local joke, but in economic terms the moai can be seen like a gift from the past, as they are the main attraction for the tourism to Rapa Nui. Tourism has improved the standard of living and it has given the Rapa Nui both an additional interest in reviving their culture and money to finance it. However being recognised as a unique object of research and becoming World Heritage attract foreign interests that even with the best intentions can be felt as interference in local matters.

The moai are the icons of the marketing of the destination Easter Island and are sold in all forms from plastic keyrings and candlelights to professionally handcarved sculptures in all sizes. The image of the moai is also used to sell other products than the island, like adverts for anything from credit cards to tooth paste. A Chilean alcohol brand sells the national drink pisco in bottles that look like moai, something many Rapa Nui feel is an offense whereas others happily buy them as popular gifts to give away to foreigners. The moai are also the cultural markers of the island and thus part of the basis that young Rapa Nui can build their own identities upon.

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From childhood they have directly or indirectly performed for tourists and like Goffman (1959) wrote about interpersonal behaviour, I think that tourist performance is also a dialectic of internal motivations and external expectations that influence both the spectator and the actor. This dialectic functions from the level of international tourist marketing down to the individual interaction between host and guest. Tourist destinations sell themselves through images of the place that highlight its uniqueness (Whitlock 1992). 241 This ―postcard image‖ then influences the tourist‘s expectations and the motivation of the host will be to answer to these expectations (Urry 2001). I also think that the repetitious presentation and performance of this image by the host makes him/her unconsciously internalise it even if knowing that it is a construction. This embodiment of a place image and its influence on the host‘s cultural identity is probably even stronger on children that grow up in a tourist destination, as children don‘t differentiate construction and reality in this context.

The heritage of the moai is therefore also part of who the young Rapa Nui are.

6.4: To love to hate. Chile as “the other” of Rapa Nui. The Chileans are people that the Rapa Nui seem to love to hate, but who most of them eventually marry or become family with. Tea, Uka and most of the young Rapa Nui have today either their mother or father from the Chilean mainland. In the beginning, I could not understand this apparent self-contradictory attitude, but I later came to see ―Chile‖ as a concept naming what the Rapa Nui hate, whereas a Chilean being loved by a Rapa Nui and becoming family somehow becomes an exception to the Rapa Nui rule about Chileans.

241 Many such images of place (like the one of Rapa Nui) have been constructed over time and before the arrival of mass-tourism, but they are now reinforced or modified by tourist authorities in order to attract more or different type of tourists. This is the case of Rapa Nui as well, although one would think the island already has a well-defined and attractive image (Irene Siklodi, Rapa Nui Camera de Turismo, e-mail 2000). 212

Manahine is herself a good example of this. Although she told me that as a young child she admired the Continental children at school and wanted to be like them, during the time I spent with her, she constantly criticised everything Chilean. The last thing she would do was to get a Chilean boyfriend. However, by the end of the year she came home with a boyfriend who was not only Chilean, but also a blondish surfer with apparent middle-upper class looks. He seemed to be everything she hated. ―Yes, isn‘t it ironic?‖, she later laughed at herself ―This is the revenge of the gods for having talked too loud‖. Manahine was looked upon as a leader and the kind of ―true Rapa Nui‖ that many of her mestizo friends would like to be, so they also laughed about it and seemed to take it as a proof that, deep down, everyone is human.

The Rapa Nui have many reasons for criticising Chile. First, Chile annexed the island with a treaty that most Rapa Nui today see as a fraud. Then, Chile rented out the island, including its inhabitants, to foreigners who exploited and mistreated them to the extent that many Rapa Nui tried to escape from the island in rowing boats. When Chile finally seemed to answer the Rapa Nui demand for citizen rights, it did so by installing a massive Chilean administration that the Rapa Nui soon came to see as a threat to their Polynesian culture. Today, the continuing immigration of mainland Chileans, most of whom the Rapa Nui classify as uneducated lower class people only attracted by higher pays and tax exemption, is the major target for Rapa Nui critics. These Chileans are criticised for keeping the jobs between themselves, not even trying to learn the Rapa Nui language, teaching Rapa Nui children low-class Spanish, introducing bad manners and taking the money they earn off the island. In general, the Chilean State is criticised for continuing neglect and lack of understanding that Rapa Nui is a special place that needs special treatment. In the eyes of many Rapa Nui, Chile simply uses the island‘s fame as an exotic adornment for their international relations, and beyond this superficial admiration, Chile does not seem to care about the island.

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As an outsider living among Rapa Nui, it is easy to take sides without asking questions. I unknowingly adopted a very negative image of Chile, a country I did not know, and I was very happy not to be Chilean on the island. Although no single Chilean of today is personally responsible for the errors of their ancestors or the State as such, they must feel guilty on their behalf. However, I also thought the residing Chileans sometimes got an unfairly rough treatment and almost admired some of them for their endurance -without knowing if it could be the result of ignorance or carelessness. It is probable that some Chileans come to the island only looking for personal profit and are not at all interested in the culture. There are probably also those that come because they are attracted by the exotic image of Rapa Nui or are looking for another identity than the diffuse Chilean national identity. Equally, there must be Chileans that genuinely want to make up for the historical errors of their predecessors. The Rapa Nui do recognise those that prove to be ―good‖ Chileans and several of these are considered ―one of us‖ (i.e. the Rapa Nui), but on a general level, ―Chile‖ is criticised almost as if it was the root of all evil.

Apart from the fact that the Rapa Nui have their reasons for criticising Chile, this can also be seen as a mechanism that helps maintaining Rapa Nui identity. Although Chile is first of all seen as a threat that will destroy Rapa Nui culture, this threat creates resistance and helps visualising what Rapa Nui identity is. Rapa Nui is what Chile is not. In order to maintain a sense of who one is, the easiest beginning is to define who one is not. This simplified dualism works to differentiate cultures that are much more similar than the Rapa Nui and the Chilean. National and ethnic stereotypes, criticising jokes and contemporary totem symbols help to create borders between ―us‖ and ―them‖. The definition of differences is more important than the actual content of these differences (Barth 1994 [1969]).

As a child, one is of course not aware of the possible identifying and unifying function of critics against other ethnicities and nationalities. I find it probable that growing up on Rapa Nui today can make the young Rapa Nui prejudiced against 214

Chile. These prejudices are probably reinforced when being almost obliged to study in that very same ―Chile‖ that they have heard being criticised when growing up, both by their family and the media. As one of my informants answered when I asked her if she was happy about having successfully finished her secondary school exams:

Well, yes, but you know, now I will have to go to Chile. And I don‘t want to. Here we live in paradise, here there are no traffic lights and everything is peaceful. Not like on the Conti where people are only interested in money and superficial things. All you see on the news are accidents and murders.242

However, as a few young mestizos commented, they are by birth both Chilean and Rapa Nui and therefore should find a way to conciliate the two different cultures. It is difficult, as the Rapa Nui culture seems much more attractive and better defined than the Chilean, but it is a challenge they almost have to face as they are growing up in both –or between- Rapa Nui and Chile.

6.5: Young and old. Paradoxes of learning and knowing Text 6.5a: The myth about the neck of the moai and young impatience Legend has it that when the ancestors made the first moai in Rano Raraku, it did not turn out very well, and six young men were sent off to ask the advice of the old master carver, Kave Heke, who lived on the other side of the island. When they arrived at his house in the morning, he greeted them and made a curanto (earth oven meal). In the afternoon, it was ready and the old man told them to eat so that they would be succesful in their work. In the evening, the old man asked them why they had come and the young men put forward their question: ―How do you make the neck of a moai?‖ The old man man did not answer and they passed the night in his house. The old man did not answer the second or third day either. The young men were frustrated, said goodbye and left. The old man asked them to stay a little longer and made a new curanto for them, but still did not answer their question. When they finally left the next morning the old man shouted after them: ―Listen, young men! Below, on you, is the secret of how to make the moai!‖ The young men did not understand and walked disappointed back to

242 Comment, Rapa Nui, February 2003. This girl eventually went to study English and tourism, but after a year she dropped out, went home and when I met her again on the island in 2006, she said she would accept any work rather than go back to the mainland. 215

Rano Raraku. But when one of them had to urinate he looked down at his penis and exclaimed: ―Look, here is the answer! This is how it should look!‖ They returned to the quarry and made many beautiful moai. They put the moai on the altars of the dead to watch over them. That is why they made the moai. The men said: ―If Kave Heke had died, we would not have known how to make a moai‖243

Text 6.5b: How to tell a myth when knowing too much Haumaka was a priest at the court of Hotu Matu‘a and he had a dream… Oh, but you know, I‘m about to tell it to you exactly like it is written in the books, the same books you already know, so I don‘t know if I am the right person to tell you this legend! You know, I am taking a class in ―Rapa Nui culture‖ at university now and I‘ve had to read all the books, the teacher has told us many things , etc.…so now I don‘t remember the story like I used to anymore! Do you understand? Now I know a little more, or not more, but I‘ve learnt some new details…so in my head the story has changed.244.

The myth of the young carvers and the elder master seems to confirm the popular suspicion that there probably have always been differences betweens young and old, and that the saying ―the young were better in the old days‖ is only a saying of the old. Just as the young of today are criticised for being too restless and impatient, the young men in this story get impatient and leave because the old man does not answer their question immediately. And vice versa, many young criticise the old for not sharing their cultural knowledge. Some informants told me that their grandparent or family head had died without telling the next in line about the entrance to their secret family cave and that these therefore were lost. Generally my informants seem to agree that the old have more experience and therefore know more than the young, but that there today actually are areas where the young know more than the old.

Rapa Nui probably used to have a Polynesian system of distributed knowledge, maybe similar to the earlier mentionned example of Tonga. On Tonga the degree of knowledge is seen as increasing with age and children who demonstrate more

243 Summary of the legend based on the personal communications of Rapa Nui and the renarration in Sebastian Englert‘s ―Legends of Easter Island‖, 2002:93-95.

244 Based on conversation with a young Rapa Nui, Santiago 2006. 216

knowledge than they are supposed to have get criticised for being fie poto (―too clever‖) – in the sense of ―imagining oneself to be clever‖ (Perminow 1993:122- 124). On Rapa Nui I was told that a child who asks many questions will be regarded as curious and intelligent in Chile, whereas on Rapa Nui the same child (or anthropologist245) would be called stupid and too curious. On Tonga this child would furthermore be seen as disrespecting the elders and as attempting to steal knowledge (Perminow 1993:124). The notion of respect for elders is still important on Rapa Nui too, and in this respect the Rapa Nui attitude to knowledge might still be more Polynesian than Chilean. The importance of respect can also be illustrated by a practical joke that some graduate students played on the Chilean headmaster of the local school at the occasion of their graduation in 2002 – namely throwing eggs at him. Although the headmaster had often been criticised by the adults, the same adults now criticised the youth for having showed disrespect for an elder. As Rapa Nui has been influenced by Chilean culture and contact with the wider world through tourism for several decades, the current youth is probably growing up with conflicting attitudes towards seniority.

Maybe growing up on Rapa Nui in the 1990s is similar to how Margareth Mead described the world in the 1970s:

Today, because the whole world is so closely linked by instant (…) communications, the young have an experience that they elders never had (…). Until recently, our elders could say: ‗I have been young and you have never been old, so shut up and listen to me‘. Today the young can reply: ‗You listen, you were never young in the world I am young in‘‖ (Mead 1970: backcover).

Although this was written a generation ago, Manahine immediately recognised herself in this quote and wanted to use it against her father the next time he would criticise her.246 As her parents were born in the 1950s, they should be part of the generation Mead is describing, but the elders seem to have kept their power

245 As anthropologists on fieldwork often are considered to be children in their host society I must admit that I understood this comment as personal advice for field conduct and became even more shy than usual. 246 Pers.com, March 2005. 217

longer on Rapa Nui, and a defining feature of Mead‘s vision of the future culture (that she called prefigurative) was that every generation will be a pioneer generation. And some Rapa Nui teachers jokingly complained that they shouldn‘t have taught the pupils the UNICEF declaration of children‘s rights, because now the kids use them to manipulate the adults.247 So although Mead wrote that ―For many Oceanic people, the future lies behind, not before‖ (Mead 1970:118), illustrating the importance of the past, the young Rapa Nui have also entered the age of computing, internet and video gaming. In many areas the young Rapa Nui now have more knowledge than their seniors and therefore want to be listened to. The elders on the other hand are probably concerned with maintaining their traditional power and might almost unconsciously defend themselves by saying that age means more experience or that today‘s youth is not really interested in their culture.

Mead saw the incompetence of the elders in managing the new conditions and their unwillingness of sharing their traditional power with the young or even listening to them as reasons for youth revolts. ―The young do not know what must be done, but they feel that there must be a better way‖ (Mead 1970:100). She concluded by recommending the present parent generation to accept the ―defeat‖ and to let the young guide them into the unknown future.

The young Rapa Nui students seem to understand this situation very well and say that they cannot expect the old to change, so instead the young have to be respectful and patient with the old –and simply wait for their turn.

6.6 Being there or not. Influences of student migration. Text 6.6a: We need to know that the island needs us all You know, I have studied for many years and I have acquired useful knowledge for the future of the island. Yet, I am helpless if you put me in a fishing boat! So in order to avoid the creation of a divide between those who leave to study and those who don‘t or who fail in their studies I think

247 Pers.com, Rapa Nui, May 2002. 218

we have to understand that the island needs all of us. We need to work together.248

If one calls the differences between young and old a generation gap, then there also might be a certain divide between the young who stay on the island and those who leave to study. Many of the young people in this study can seem to already personificate McCall‘s (1998) prediction about the creation of a class of educated Rapa Nui cosmopolitans growing away from the traditional farmers and fishermen of the island. There are even those who told me that if courses in traditional activities had existed they would sign up for them.

Yet being a cosmopolitan does not seem to be something to be proud of among Rapa Nui. Like Tea said she felt that those staying on island were considered more Rapa Nui than the students, even though they seemingly did not do anything more for the future of the island. And also other students or Rapa Nui living away from the island sometimes expressed themselves defensively, as if for some reason they had to justify why they were not at home. Maybe, as writes Amin Maalouf, leaving home allways makes room for complicated feelings of guilt and denial (Maalouf 1999:36-37). Even though the migration of young Rapa Nui is temporary and almost a forced migration (because the community motivates the young to study), it might still be felt as a personal choice – which can make leaving feel somehow like denying family and the home place. And the students know that even though the community wants them to study, it does not want them to ―lose the Rapa Nui culture‖ – so they will be studied with suspicion upon returning. Yet, as we have seen in the previous chapters, many young Rapa Nui experience a strong re-evaluation of the home culture while being in Santiago and actively trying to hold onto it. So this is another little Rapa Nui paradox.

The situation of Rapa Nui students who have problems with returning home might be similar to what Arne Perminow described on the Tongan atoll Ha‘apai in the late 1980s (Perminow 1993:166-185). There, the parents also eagerly sent children away to study and, likewise, most of them would drop out without

248 Comment, Rapa Nui student, Gotland 2007. 219

getting a degree. Perminow called this ―processes of qualification and disqualification‖, where experiencing city life and getting a qualification might actually disqualify the person for a career in the village (op.cit:185). As the Tongan concept of knowledge was still based on seniority, the old would always be considered as knowing more than the young and to protest against this would be lack of respect. This became especially difficult for the young school drop-outs, because to opt for city life would be problematic without any degree, while at home, their attempt at getting an education could even be criticised as ―trying to be above oneself‖ (op.cit:166).

The official Rapa Nui attitude is, of course, that the island needs educated young people for the future, yet those who stay on the island are sometimes considered ―more Rapa Nui‖ than the Rapa Nui students in Santiago. This is almost exaggerated in the image of the yorgo as a person ―working the land‖, speaking Rapa Nui, riding horses and sporting a ―natural‖ look. Of course, both institutional education and the experience gained through living on the island are important, and being considered more Rapa Nui doesn‘t mean he or she is a better person – yet it might be felt like that for the returning students. And there seems to be a certain cultural capital (Bourdieu 1980) that can only be obtained by living on the island. Yet I wonder if this attitude towards the students is not also often personally motivated, as the families of the students are positive about their ―Rapanuiness‖, whereas others can be suspicious, and as competition between Rapa Nui families is still fierce. This attitude might also be a way of comforting failing students, as I several times heard families explain the failure of their students with accusations that the students were becoming ―pascuense‖ (i.e. culturally Chilean) and that what can be learnt by staying on the island is just as useful for the island‘s future as university diplomas.

The young woman in the text, who is about to become one of the island‘s first lawyers said that she does not know how to fish -yet she thinks that it is an important thing to know. And she thinks that both the ones who have studied and those that have not need to understand that the island needs all of them. Maybe this is how one can interpret this song by the local rock band Matato‟a. 220

Text 6.6b: “Young People” –a song by Matato‟a249

Tau re‟a re‟a “Young people”

Ki haka piri tatou te tau re‘a re‘a Let‘s get together, young people mo haka ite ki te ŋa poki mo ma‘a i to teach our children te me‘e rapa nui the Rapa Nui culture o ŋaro ro mai to not to forget it

E te tau re‘a re‘a ma‘ohi Rapa Nui, Young Rapa Nui, ka haere riva riva koe a te ara take the right path ananake tatou, e aŋi aŋi nei all together, we will understand

A te tahatai koe i‘ piri mai ai If we meet on the shore e‘ haere ana koe ki uta ki tai as you‘re going from the hill to the sea ana piri mai koe, e‘ aroha mai when you see me, say hello Pehe ra ‗a koe, mo aŋi aŋi mai so I will know how you are

O‘ou e, o‘ou e It‘s yours, it‘s yours te henua Rapa Nui the land of Rapa Nui

249 Based on songtext and translation from www.matataomusic.com (last accessed June 2005) and corrections proposed by young Rapa Nui informants. 221

CHAPTER 7: CONCLUSION

TE PITO O TE HENUA, NAVEL CORD OF THE WORLD

This study has followed young people whose home place is Te Pito o te Henua, the navel, end or umbilical cord of the world –better known as Rapa Nui, Easter Island and the ―Mysterious Island of the moai‖.

This home place is a geographically isolated island that culturally has belonged to Polynesia since its discovery by Polynesian navigators exploring the East Pacific Ocean sometime between 600-1000AD. Yet since 1888 Rapa Nui has geopolitically belonged to Chile and is therefore also the only South-American colony in Polynesia. Today Rapa Nui is an international tourist destination with almost daily flights from both Santiago de Chile and Tahiti in French Polynesia, and at the same time it is home to a highly glocalised community of Rapa Nui, residing Chileans and various foreigners. Internationally the location and colonial history of Rapa Nui seems to be of little importance, as the island is imagined as an almost mythical place of archaeological wonders and mysterious traces of a lost civilisation. So despite the fact that most of the world has heard of the ―Easter Island statues‖, it seems to be a minority that knows where it is, that there are people living there and that they have for instance cars, phones, television and Internet. Even among its closest neighbours, people on mainland Chile, there are those who think the Rapa Nui live in huts and go dressed in grasskirts.

By studying young Rapa Nui I simply wanted to reach an understanding of how it can be to grow up in and belong to such a place today.

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Beyond that I tried to understand the young Rapa Nui as agents in a Rapa Nui thirdspace (Lefebvre 1974, Kahn 2000) where the inhabitants‘ ideas, actions and reactions to internal and external forces should be seen both as influenced by the past and influencing the future (Berger and Luckman 1967). Following Kahn‘s interpretation of Lefebvre thirdspace is a social and relational space generated within real and imaginary spatiotemporal dimensions where people live their daily lives at the glocal intersection of external and internal factors, like global politics, mass media and local beliefs (Kahn 2004:303). Rapa Nui seen as a thirdspace might seem dominated by the popular image of the ―Mysterious Island of the moai”. Yet as also stated in the introduction I further think that although external influences can seem overwhelming in a small tourist destination with a turbulent history like Rapa Nui the ideas and practices of the inhabitants should be seen as part of what Rapa Nui is and becomes. And as being in what can be called a vital conjuncture (Johnson-Hank 2002) –a period of taking life choices when the future seems both full of possibilities and uncertainty- I found the young to be a very interesting group to study.

The young Rapa Nui I chose to focus on are part of a generation born in the early 1980s that has grown up along with local processes of ethnic revitalisation –or ―Rapanuisation‖- following a period of ―Chilenisation‖ or integration into the nation state. Most of my informants were girls, but the topics are common to young Rapa Nui of both sexes. In this revitalisation period the Rapa Nui have continued insisting on their land rights, yet it has also made them redefine their ethnic identity and try to rescue their language (Makihara 1999). Stereotypic Rapa Nui ideas of ―Chile‖ has become the principal Other that Rapa Nui identity is defined against, in a continuing dialectical process of interaction (Goffman 1959). As the Chilean presence on the island has grown, being and being recognised as Rapa Nui has become much more important than before. Yet most of the young in this study are so called mestizos that have grown up in mixed Rapa Nui-Chilean families where Rapa Nui ways of doing things naturally have been influenced by Chilean ways. These young Rapa Nui can therefore find themselves in-between 223

two cultures that they see as very different, and where almost anything Chilean can be used as critique and to define what Rapa Nui is not.

These spatiotemporal circumstances of this generation young Rapa Nui seem especially important for the language they speak. Speaking Rapa Nui has regained value as a positive marker of ethnic membership, yet most of these young Rapa Nui were socialised in a Chilean school system at a time when learning Rapa Nui seemed like a waste of time and even an obstacle to learning fluent Spanish (Weber 1990, 1998). Today younger children can learn Rapa Nui in school, but there are no language programs for older young people and seemingly little understanding for its necessity. Instead of being helpful and understanding, the young non-speakers feel that the adults that earlier refrained from teaching them the language now criticise them for not speaking it –and even for speaking it badly if they do try. The adults on the other side might not understand how the language of their island could disappear so quickly, as they seem to believe that it will exist as long as the island itself (Makihara 1999). Their critics might be the results of frustration or a Polynesian way of educating (Perminow 1993) that is misunderstood as harassment by the young. For some the young mixing of Chilean and Rapa Nui is even worse than not speaking any Rapa Nui at all, whereas others accept it as a new Rapa Nui (Makihara 2005b) and a way of not making it disappear completely. Despite being criticised for every mistake there are those who really do try to learn the language and they now seem to become more as they approach their late twenties. If this tendency continues I think that instead of speaking of a lost generation between the older and younger speakers they might become a temporary ―in-between generation‖ that start to speak Rapa Nui later in life. However, their way of speaking or not speaking Rapa Nui, and therefore the language itself, will forever be influenced by the historical fact that they did not learn it as children. It will be interesting to see how the language of this generation will communicate with that of the younger generations from the school programme.

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Another spatiotemporal circumstance of this youth generation is that it is the first where the majority can get university education. This is motivated by the parents and the whole Rapa Nui community, as higher education and professional titles is seen as something good both for the individual lives and for the future administration of Rapa Nui. Despite a growing interest in getting to know and learn from other Polynesian societies most Rapa Nui students still go to the Chilean Continent, which is the easiest option because of language, family and costs. Therefore the current majority of the coming generations of Rapa Nui professionals return with studies and years of living experiences from the same place and culture that the Rapa Nui revitalisation movement is trying to resist. This can of course be an advantage, as seeing one‘s home place from the outside can make it easier to understand it as a whole and because it is useful to know the system one is resisting. Yet the home community seems to receive the returning students with mixed hopes and scepticism regarding how much they might have ―lost‖ of their culture. This can create difference between ―Rapa Nui professionals‖ and those who dropped out or never went to study, and a disagreement regarding which background is best suited for taking care of the Rapa Nui culture and heritage –and simply for being considered Rapa Nui.

The most pessimistic might say that there are no Rapa Nui left among the young, that they are all ―pascuenses‖ (i.e. culturally Chilean) and that only the island will exist forever. Yet despite the seemingly sceptical attitude regarding the youth generation I have simply stated that these will be ―the Rapa Nui‖ of the future –no matter what others might think about them and at least as long as being Rapa Nui will be meaningful to them.

One cannot blaim the young Rapa Nui for growing up in mixed Rapa Nui- Chilean families and for not being taught the language, or for having found new ways of expressing and feeling their Rapa Nui belonging. Adult Rapa Nui might call dancing and singing superficial fun, but seeing the emotions the young put into it and how they use performance as a political tool, like in the casino protest, I think they can mean a lot more. And even if some young are jokingly accused of 225

acting ―more Rapa Nui than a Rapa Nui‖ and of using feathers, tattoos or eager participation on the cultural scene as part of an individual identity search I think they actually contribute to keep the cultural heritage alive. Because, yet again (and even if this sounds like repeating a terrible cliché) they will be ―the Rapa Nui‖ of the future and what they do and how they react to local and external influences will make the Rapa Nui thirdspace of tomorrow. Senior Rapa Nui have to accept this, but that does not necessarily mean taking one‘s knowledge and opinons silently to one‘s grave because the young do not seem interested or ready. After all there are things to be learnt from history and many young say they would like to learn more about it, so hopefully they will insist more and rather soon than too late.

After so much time together it might seem difficult for me to be objective about my informants, yet I feel certain when insisting that most young Rapa Nui live and act with a deep love for their home place and culture as a guiding principle. The island is the navel cord of the world for them, no matter if they are home or away.

It might simply be that some people love their home and that others do not. However, I think that most people have a special relationship with a place they consider home and that its importance increases as the world seems to become more and more one of constant movement (Rapport and Dawson 1998). We humans seem to discover new value in whatever we fear to loose and being away from home can make one nostalgic of things one never thought it would be possible to miss. Yet, I also think that certain places attract more ―home love‖ than others and that Rapa Nui is one of them. First of all, like Tea said earlier, it is easy to love a home place where everyones knows you and make you feel loved, but in addition, Rapa Nui and its history gives its inhabitants a feeling of being unique. This is an empowering feeling in today‘s glocalising world where the fear of too rapid and homogenising change seems to increase the value of heritage as a remnant of a safer and more stable past (Hylland-Eriksen 1993c). Being Rapa Nui used to be a pejorative in Chile only a generation ago and many Rapa Nui wanted 226

to be Chilean. Now Chileans admire the Rapa Nui for ―having their own identity‖ rather than an undefined Chilean national identity (Larrain 2001, Allende 2003). And as their everyday lives become more and more global, the Rapa Nui past and culture seem to become more and more important as sources of symbolic capital and for the feeling of belonging on Rapa Nui. It remains to see how following generations will place themselves in relation to ―Chile‖, Rapa Nui and to the generation in this study.

―To be Rapa Nui is to love the island‖ was one of the definitions that young Rapa Nui gave me, remarking that loving also meant respecting and doing things for the island. Which I hope and trust they will keep on doing –and in unity- when it becomes their turn to lead Rapa Nui. The young Rapa Nui are so few that each and one of them can feel, and almost see, how they are forming the future of their home place. This might be the good and the bad of being young in such a small yet world-famous place. When home is the navel of the world one has great responsibility, but also great possibilities.

Illustration 32: Young Rapa Nui by the sea, Hanga Roa 227

Epilogue:

Processes of becoming, for Rapa Nui and anthropologists

Illustration 33: The anthropologist at Orongo

Writing up was almost impossible. Even though I had completed more than the required twelve months of fieldwork and should have interesting data, I felt that I knew less about the place than upon my arrival. I know this is normal in the process of becoming an anthropologist – in which fieldwork is known as the main rite of passage – yet I still doubt that this thesis was worth writing. Who am I to speak of the young Rapa Nui when some of them now also are writing theses on the very same topic?

228

So like many of my young Rapa Nui informants, I felt the expectations of family and friends, while at the same time I was not sure if I had taken the right choice among all the career paths there are to choose from. I had followed the sometimes frustratingly simple advice of my father, which was ―Follow your heart and you will become what you want in the end‖, yet I it was in doubt. I liked anthropology, but I was far from sure that I was becoming an anthropologist and where that would take me. In the end I only wanted to finish this project I had started, to live up to the expectations and to prove that I was worth them. Then I could not think of anything else than going home and live peacefully, like Manahine‘s dream about her life on the island. Yet after having invested so many years and spent so much time on Rapa Nui I know I will always be attached to it – and I hope to continue to follow ―my‖ generation from the sideline.

The young Rapa Nui that commented on the last draft of my thesis said it was fine and that it was fun to read an outsider‘s view. I am sure others will disagree and I feel my understanding is still only at its beginning. Yet at least I hope this ―paper‖ can please the growing Rapa Nui as reminder of their youth and of the simple fact that we are all in constant processes of becoming.

Ka oho riva-riva!

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