Rapa Nui Journal: Journal of the Easter Island Foundation Volume 19 | Issue 2 Article 19 2005 What's New in Hanga Roa Follow this and additional works at: https://kahualike.manoa.hawaii.edu/rnj Part of the History of the Pacific slI ands Commons, and the Pacific slI ands Languages and Societies Commons Recommended Citation (2005) "What's New in Hanga Roa," Rapa Nui Journal: Journal of the Easter Island Foundation: Vol. 19 : Iss. 2 , Article 19. Available at: https://kahualike.manoa.hawaii.edu/rnj/vol19/iss2/19 This Commentary or Dialogue is brought to you for free and open access by the University of Hawai`i Press at Kahualike. It has been accepted for inclusion in Rapa Nui Journal: Journal of the Easter Island Foundation by an authorized editor of Kahualike. For more information, please contact [email protected]. et al.: What's New in Hanga Roa tion of the time. He was a brilliant and experienced naval cap­ depth at 15 meters, divers found a remarkably well-preserved tain and took with him 220 men, the cream of French science, skeleton. Encased in a thick layer of sediment, the skeleton including botanists, doctors, naturalists and a surgeon. was of a man of medium build, between 31 and 35 years. Be­ During the l8lh century, Britain and France were in con­ cause of the perfect condition of his teeth, he was almost cer­ stant rivalry for control of the world's seas and following the tainly an officer or a scientist. Pathologists at France's Insti­ success of Captain Cook's exploits in the Pacific, France was tute of Criminal Research in Rosny sous Bois, east of Paris, eager to match his achievements; Louis XVI personally con­ are still examining the remains. For some time the most likely tributed to the expedition. The voyage was expected to last candidate was the draughtsman Gaspard Duche de Vancy, but four years and cover 150,000 km. DNA tests were inconclusive. Working on a cast of the skull, La Perouse landed on Easter Island in April 1786; the Elizabeth Daynes, who specializes in making models for pa­ bay where he anchored is named for him. He was on the is­ laeontological exhibitions, produced a striking reconstruction land a very short time, eleven hours, but the French were ob­ of the man's face, but his identity is still unknown. servant and managed to see a great deal of the island during An expedition of more than 100 participants excavated their visit. They left behind a pair of hogs, three sheep, and a and searched in and around Vanikoro in May and June in the pair of goats; the expedition gardener sowed seeds: cabbage, hope that they may finally answer the question of what hap­ beets, maize, pumpkin, lemon, and others. None were ever pened to La Perouse's ships and crew. seen again. After Claudine Wiry, Guardian Weekly, April 2005. La Perouse described the curiosity of the Rapanui: some came aboard his ships and carefully inspected the cables, masts, anchor, steering wheel, etc. The Frenchmen visited Rano Kau and the quarry at Rano Raraku. La Perouse seems to be the first to postulate that the island once had a dense for­ THE RATIY OLD JAIL ON RAPA NUl has been declared est that was cut down by the islanders, causing the barren "unworthy" by the prefect of Police Investigations for Zone landscape they observed. V, who stated that it is not only too small but also in poor con­ The ships continued on into the Pacific. By 1788 they dition. The jail is in a house of only 500 square feet and ter­ were in Botany Bay, Australia, where they wintered, and sent mites have destroyed its wood doors and furniture. The Civil a last report to Marechal de Castries, the French naval minis­ Police invested $16,000 in an architectural study for a new ter. Then the Astrolabe and Boussole, the two frigates that jail. There was a proposal for $300,000 but the money never made up the expedition, sailed on, to the northeast towards was allocated. The island's chief of police stated that he hopes Tonga and New Caledonia. And they vanished. the money will be forthcoming because a new jail is a high But now the mystery seems to be solved. La priority item. Only the non-dangerous prisoners are kept in the Perouse's ships foundered about a mile apart on a reef off island jail; the real baddies are put on a plane and sent to Val­ Vanikoro, a tiny island in the southern Solomons. Amateur paraiso. divers began exploring the site in 1981 and made several El Mercurio de ValparaISo, April 18,h, 2005. finds. In 2003, the discovery of a skull gave impetus to the search for a solution to the mystery of the explorer's disap­ VANDALISM VS "CONCEPTUAL ART" pearance. Now a team of divers and historians based in nearby A CANADIAN ARTIST, MONTREAL-BASED William Vazan, age New Caledonia is trying to find the answer to one of the great­ 71, was detained on Rapa Nui in April. He was accused of est mysteries in France's seafaring history. It is still not moving rocks of archaeological value in order to create a known what caused the accident, what became of La Perouse, ground sculpture 10.8 meters long (35 feet) in the outline of or whether anyone survived and escaped from Vanikoro. an octopus. He also built stone circles ("nests") at Kari Kari, The earliest finds from 1981 were remarkable, including near 'Orongo's sacred site, Mata Ngarau, and at the site of Te thousands of items: a watch, china, glasses, silver salvers and Pahu. Attorney Oscar Vargas stated that he discovered another several sculptures. In 1986, to ward off accusations of pilfer­ "intervention" in the sector of Puna Pau, where Vazan moved ing, the group joined forces with archaeologists based in valuable archaeological pieces around. Noumea, thus improving the scientific quality of their work. The administrator of the Rapa Nui National Park said Many of the discoveries, identified and restored, are on view that Vazan's "creations" constitute vandalism because he re­ at the La Perouse Museum in Albi (the explorer's birthplace moved artifacts such as poro and paenga, but others said the in the south of France) and the Museum of Maritime History main problem was that he used a sacred place for a personal in New Caledonia. (foreign) purpose. Both Rapanui and Chilean authorities were The fifth expedition in 1999 discovered a "camp" on upset and angry and wanted Vazan jailed. Vanikoro and found flints, flattened musket balls, nails, uni­ Born in Toronto, Vazan taught at the Universite du Que­ form buttons, a measuring instrument, and a small cannon. bec ii Montreal and has been a "land artist" since the 1960s, These objects were spread over an area covering some 20 to producing works that combine natural forms with imagery 30 square meters, and confirmed a local tradition that survi­ reminiscent of ancient traditions. He has completed other vors from the wreck were able to land and built a boat in "land art" projects in Peru and Chile. Vazan was quoted as which to escape. saying that he paid an Easter Island resident, Genaro Gatica, A later expedition returned in the hope of finding graves 20 years old, to help carry the stones and identify sacred ones adjoining the French camp. But it was the seabed that yielded so that he could avoid them (however, Gatica is not a Ra­ a major find: hidden in a crack in the outside of the reef at a panui, so he is unlikely to know sacred from profane). Rapa Nui Jouma! 149 Vol. 19(2) October 2005 Published by Kahualike, 2005 1 Rapa Nui Journal: Journal of the Easter Island Foundation, Vol. 19 [2005], Iss. 2, Art. 19 Vazan's P.R. blurb describes him as being internation­ HANGAROA: NEW HOTEL DEVELOPMENT ally renowned for his Land Art creations, claiming that he The following report is printed with special permission from spent forty years "investigating the human-cosmos relation­ Wayne Bernhardson, whom we thank for sharing it with us. ship through his Land Art, sculpture, painting and photogra­ phy." Working at major sites of cultural and historical signifi­ THERE HAVE BEEN MANY wild rumors about a new hotel Ex­ cance around the world and drawing inspiration from diverse plora to be built on Easter Island. Rumors claim that the sources, his blurb continues, "... Vazan has evolved a per­ "Hosterfa de Mike" (which apparently will be its name) would sonal cosmology that is 'impressive in scope, mathematically have 500 rooms - effectively doubling the size of the island's precise in execution, and visually arresting' and 'the product accommodations. Another rumor suggested they were bring­ of a curious mind probing the universe.'" [Vazan should have ing in prostitutes, probably Russian women. These rumors are probed the mind ofthe Rapanui. His Euro-American imperial obviously absurd, but they do suggest both mistrust and lack mindset seemed to give him some sense ofprivileged right to of transparency regarding Explora's entry into the island's overwrite Easter Island's major sites of cultural and histori­ accommodations market. cal significance.] Explora is already operating on the island, having rented The decision of the Rapa Nui Court was to levy a US and refurbished two rather inconspicuous houses near the air­ $6,200 fine and forbid him to return to the island for two port. These are stopgap rentals until the new hotel is con­ years.