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When Rapa Nui (the
big island) was discovered by white outsiders
Abstract of Thesis "Cuando
el blanco descubrió Rapa Nui (isla grande)", Paloma
Huke.
In
middle of the Pacific ocean.
In 1722 Easter Island was discovered on Easter day by the Dutch
navigator Roggeveen ( April, 6) who named it Easter Island.
In spite of first arrive of European explorers was
not with the idea of conquest, there were some islanders that were
shot for little or no reason. Such occurrences caused fear among
the Rapa Nui people.
In the XVIIIth century, from first sighting by the
Dutch ship, expeditions from different nations (France, Spain and
England) arrived at the island with the idea of investigation. Although
it is well known that Easter island was claimed for Spain in 1770,
their intentions were aborted because of it was not a profitable
place for its colonization.
From that time Easter island was depicted on maps
by explorers and seafarers and exposed to several incursions that
brought misfortune to the people.
Islanders
sold as slavers
In 1805, tragical events happened when an American ship, Nancy,
arrived. It kidnapped 12 men and 10 women with the intent of taking
them to the Más Afuera islands -Sala and Gomez island. to
work as slaves in seal-hunting efforts there. However it was aborted
by natives that could escape swimming away. In 1822, a group of
native women were deceived and captured by the ship "Pindos".
After raping them, they were threw out of the sea without considerations.
Between the XVIIIth and the first part of the XIXth
century, there were several passing visitors that were greeted with
hostility by the native people because of their bad previous experiences.
The most traumatic event occurred between 1862 and 1863 when the
Peruvian slave raids began. Men and women were deceived, caught
and carried off to the guano mines of the Chincha islands in Perú.
Hundreds of native people were forced to leave their island forever.
In 1864 the missionary brother Eugéne Eyraud under apostolic
appointment of vicarage in Tahiti (French Polynesia) came to the
island. He stayed there to help the native people and made some
headway in gaining converts to Catholicism.
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Paloma Huke, modern dancer and modern dancer
teacher, has Rapa Nui origins. She wrote her thesis, "Mata
Tu'u Hotu iti", on history and culture of Rapa Nui.
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