Polynesia as a geographic area encompasses a vast triangle of islands in the east-central and southern Pacific Ocean. The Hawaiian islands are at the tip of the Polynesian triangle with New Zealand and Easter Island at the base corners. Other islands are the Cook Islands, the Marquesas Islands, the Ellice Islands (now Tuvalu), Tokelau, Tonga, Tahiti, and Samoa. Fuji is also included in this area, because a large proportion of its population is of Polynesian descent. This geographic region is known as the Polynesian Triangle and the people who populate it are known as Polynesians. The Polynesian people have populated the tiny islands throughout the Pacific over the centuries. Polynesians are perhaps known best for the mysterious Easter Island.
There has been much controversy and confusion concerning the origins of the Easter Islanders. The controversial researcher Thor Heyerdahl proposed that the people who built the statues were of Peruvian descent, due to a similarity between Rapa Nui and Incan stonework. Archeological evidence indicates discovery of the island by Polynesians at about 400 AD - led, according to legend, by Hotu Matua. Upon their arrival, an impressive and enigmatic culture began to develop.Obviously, the remoteness of the island and its inhabitants allowed for a unique culture to flourish. In addition to the statues, the islanders possessed the Rongorongo script; the only written language in Oceania. The island is also home to many petroglyphs (rock carvings), as well as traditional wood carvings crafts, tattooing, string figures, dance and music.
The population of Easter Island reached its peak at perhaps more than 10,000, far exceeding the capabilities of the small island's severely limited ecosystem. Resources became scarce, and the once lush palm forests were destroyed and cleared for agriculture and moving the massive stone Moai. In this regard, Easter Island has become, for many, a metaphor for ecological disaster that many feel the Earth as a whole is facing today. After the local resources began to disappear, a thriving and advanced social order began to decline into bloody civil war and, evidently, cannibalism. Eventually, all of the Moai standing along the coast were torn down by the islanders themselves. All of the statues now erected around the island are the result of recent archaeological efforts. When Western civilization came to the island, this proved even more disastrous for the island population which, through disease and slavery had decreased to approximately 111 by the turn of the century. When annexed by Chile in 1888, however, it has risen to more than 2,000, with other Rapanui living in Chile, Tahiti and North America. Despite a growing Chilean presence, the island's Polynesian identity is still quite strong . Easter Island today, remains one of the most unique places you will ever encounter; an open air museum showcasing a fascinating, but unfortunately lost, culture. Perhaps Easter Island can serve as an example to the growing problem of limited resources having to keep up with ever increasing populations.
Sources
1. http://www.pantheon.org/mythica/areas/polynesian/
2. http://www.netaxs.com/~trance/rapanui.html
By, Ryan Quilling