Hotu-iti

Last updated May 07, 2021

Hotu-iti (also, "Tongariki territory") is an area of southeastern Easter Island that takes its name from a local clan. Located in Rapa Nui National Park, the area includes Rano Raraku crater, the Ahu Tongariki site, and a small bay. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the Hotu-iti clan was one of two polities on Easter Island.

Geography

Hotu-iti contains Rano Raraku crater, which is the island's only source of a type of stone that was considered to be the best for carving statues; it was also a source of moss which was used for canoe caulking.^[1] Hotuiti Bay, a small cove, is protected by the cliffs of the Poike Peninsula.^[2]^[3] According to local legend, the god Tangaroa was killed in the bay and was buried in the vicinity.^[4] The Rano Raraku cliffs and quarry stand above Hotu-iti. The landscape has been described as a "wondrous spiritual landscape of striking beauty".^[5]^[6]

History

In the 15th and 16th centuries, the island was divided into two polities, described as either west (Tu'u)^[7] and east (Hotu-iti) confederacies, with Hotu-iti being the lower ranked;^[5] or northern (Tu'u Aro) and southern (Hotu-iti).^[8] In 1960, a tsunami, approximately 6 metres (20 ft) above sea level, crossed 500 metres (1,600 ft) of Hotu-iti, sweeping away ahu and moai (statues), and scattering them by 50–150 metres (160–490 ft).^[9] Fifteen statues of Hotu-iti's Ahu Tongariki site were damaged;^[10] a team of Japanese archaeologists restored the site between 1992 and 1994.^[10]

Leadership

In Polynesian mythology, Hotu-iti was the youngest and favourite son of Hotu Matu'a, the legendary first settler of Easter Island.^[10]^[11] One of the known chiefs of the Hotu-iti clan was Kainga, said to be a descendant of the sixth son of the first king who "proved himself a valiant warrior." He had a son who succeeded him named Huriavai.^[12] The Tupahotu, Koro-Orongo and Ure-o-Hei clans were considered part of the Hotu-iti clan.^[13]

Related Research Articles

Easter Island is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is most famous for its nearly 1,000 extant monumental statues, called moai, which were created by the early Rapa Nui people. In 1995, UNESCO named Easter Island a World Heritage Site, with much of the island protected within Rapa Nui National Park.

Moai Monolithic human figures on Easter Island

Moʻai, or moai, are monolithic human figures carved by the Rapa Nui people on Easter Island in eastern Polynesia between the years 1250 and 1500. Nearly half are still at Rano Raraku, the main moʻai quarry, but hundreds were transported from there and set on stone platforms called ahu around the island's perimeter. Almost all moʻai have overly large heads three-eighths the size of the whole statue. The moʻai are chiefly the living faces of deified ancestors. The statues still gazed inland across their clan lands when Europeans first visited the island in 1722, but all of them had fallen by the latter part of the 19th century.

The Rapa Nui are the Indigenous Polynesian people of Easter Island. The easternmost Polynesian culture, the descendants of the original people of Easter Island make up about 60% of the current Easter Island population and have a significant portion of their population residing in mainland Chile. They speak both the traditional Rapa Nui language and the primary language of Chile, Spanish. At the 2017 census there were 7,750 island inhabitants—almost all living in the village of Hanga Roa on the sheltered west coast.

Rano Raraku is a volcanic crater formed of consolidated volcanic ash, or tuff, and located on the lower slopes of Terevaka in the Rapa Nui National Park on Easter Island in Chile. It was a quarry for about 500 years until the early eighteenth century, and supplied the stone from which about 95% of the island's known monolithic sculptures (moai) were carved. Rano Raraku is a visual record of moai design vocabulary and technological innovation, where 887 moai remain. Rano Raraku is in the World Heritage Site of Rapa Nui National Park and gives its name to one of the seven sections of the park.

Katherine Maria Routledge, née Pease, was an English archaeologist and anthropologist who, in 1914, initiated and carried out much of the first true survey of Easter Island.

Aku-Aku: the Secret of Easter Island is a 1957 book by Thor Heyerdahl published in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, and Finnish, and in English the following year. The book describes the 1955–1956 Norwegian Archaeological Expedition's investigations of Polynesian history and culture at Easter Island, the Austral Islands of Rapa Iti and Raivavae, and the Marquesas Islands of Nuku Hiva and Hiva Oa. Visits to Pitcairn Island, Mangareva and Tahiti are described as well.

Rapa Nui National Park is a national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site located on Easter Island, Chile. Rapa Nui is the Polynesian name of Easter Island; its Spanish name is Isla de Pascua. The island is located in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeastern extremity of the Polynesian Triangle. The island was taken over by Chile in 1888. Its fame and World Heritage status arise from the 887 extant stone statues known by the name "moai", whose creation is attributed to the early Rapa Nui people who inhabited the island around 300 AD. Much of the island has been declared as Rapa Nui National Park which, on 22 March 1996, UNESCO designated a World Heritage Site under cultural criteria (i), (iii), & (v). The Rapa Nui National Park is now under the administrative control of the Ma´u Henua Polynesian Indigenous Community, which is the first autonomous institute on the island. The indigenous Rapa Nui people have regained authority over their ancestral lands and are in charge of the management, preservation and protection of their patrimony. On the first of December 2017, the ex-President Michelle Bachelet returned ancestral lands in the form of the Rapa Nui National Park to the indigenous people. For the first time in history, the revenue generated by the National Park is invested in the island and used to conserve the natural heritage.

Easter Island was traditionally ruled by a monarchy, with a king as its leader.

Rapa Nui mythology, also known as Pascuense mythology or Easter Island mythology, refers to the native myths, legends, and beliefs of the Rapa Nui people of Easter Island in the south eastern Pacific Ocean.

Totora is a subspecies of the giant bulrush sedge. It is found in South America, notably on Lake Titicaca, the middle coast of Peru and on Easter Island in the Pacific Ocean. The genus Schoenoplectus is closely related to Scirpus and sometimes included therein. This plant can reach a height of 6 m (20 ft) and commonly reaches 4 m (13 ft). The word totora comes from the Quechua language.

Ahu Tongariki is the largest ahu on Easter Island. Its moais were toppled during the island's civil wars, and in the twentieth century the ahu was swept inland by a tsunami. It has since been restored and has fifteen moai, including one that weighs eighty-six tonnes, the heaviest ever erected on the island. Ahu Tongariki is one kilometer from Rano Raraku and Poike in the Hotu-iti area of Rapa Nui National Park. All the moai here face sunset during the winter solstice.

Rano Kau is a 324 m (1,063 ft) tall dormant volcano that forms the southwestern headland of Easter Island, a Chilean island in the Pacific Ocean. It was formed of basaltic lava flows in the Pleistocene with its youngest rocks dated at between 150,000 and 210,000 years ago.

Ma′unga Terevaka is the largest, tallest and youngest of three main extinct volcanoes that form Easter Island. Several smaller volcanic cones and craters dot its slopes, including a crater hosting one of the island's three lakes, Rano Aroi.

Ahu Akivi is a particular sacred place in Rapa Nui in the Valparaíso Region of Chile, looking out towards the Pacific Ocean. The site has seven moai, all of equal shape and size, and is also known as a celestial observatory that was set up around the 16th century. The site is located inland, rather than along the coast. Moai statues were considered by the early people of Rapa Nui as their ancestors or Tupuna that were believed to be the reincarnation of important kings or leaders of their clans. The Moais were erected to protect and bring prosperity to their clan and village.

Maunga Puna Pau is a small crater or cinder cone and prehistoric quarry on the outskirts of Hanga Roa in the south west of Easter Island. Puna Pau gives its name to one of the seven regions of the Rapa Nui National Park.

Geologically one of the youngest inhabited territories on Earth, Easter Island, located in the mid-Pacific Ocean, was, for most of its history, one of the most isolated. Its inhabitants, the Rapa Nui, have endured famines, epidemics of disease and cannibalism, civil war, environmental collapse, slave raids, various colonial contacts, and have seen their population crash on more than one occasion. The ensuing cultural legacy has brought the island notoriety out of proportion to the number of its inhabitants.

Juan Tepano Rano ʻa Veri ʻAmo was a Rapa Nui leader of Easter Island. He served as an informant for Euro-American scholars on the culture and history of the island.

Enrique Ika a Tuʻu Hati was elected ‘ariki (king) of Rapa Nui in 1900 and led a failed rebellion. He was one of the last Rapa Nui to claim the traditional kingship in the early 20th-century. However, he is generally not remembered as the last king instead his predecessor Riro Kāinga is generally regarded as the last king, although neither held much power.

Aku-Aku, also known as Aku, Akuaku or Varua, are humanoid spirits in Rapa Nui mythology of the Easter Island.

References

↑ Diamond, Jared (4 January 2011). Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail Or Succeed. Penguin. pp. 94–. ISBN 978-0-14-311700-1 . Retrieved 21 July 2012.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
↑ Theroux, Paul (8 December 2006). The Happy Isles of Oceania: Paddling the Pacific. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. pp. 456–. ISBN 978-0-618-65898-5 . Retrieved 21 July 2012.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
↑ Russell, Jan Jarboe (1 November 2007). They Lived to Tell the Tale: True Stories of Modern Adventure from the Legendary Explorers Club. Globe Pequot. pp. 295–. ISBN 978-1-59228-991-2 . Retrieved 21 July 2012.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
↑ Englert, Sebastián (1970). Island at the center of the world: new light on Easter Island . Scribner. p. 169 . Retrieved 20 July 2012.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
1 2 Peregrine, Peter Neal; Ember, Melvin (2001). Encyclopedia of Prehistory: East Asia and Oceania. Springer. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-306-46257-3 . Retrieved 20 July 2012.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
↑ Tilburg, JoAnne Van (1 April 2003). Among stone giants: the life of Katherine Routledge and her remarkable expedition to Easter Island . Scribner. ISBN 978-0-7432-4480-0 . Retrieved 20 July 2012.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
↑ The Enigmas of Easter Island. Oxford University Press. pp. 212–. ISBN 978-0-19-164719-2 . Retrieved 21 July 2012.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
↑ Gillespie, Rosemary G.; Clague, D. A. (19 August 2009). Encyclopedia of Islands. University of California Press. pp. 249–. ISBN 978-0-520-25649-1 . Retrieved 21 July 2012.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
↑ Dudley, Walter C.; Lee, Min (1998). Tsunami!. University of Hawaii Press. pp. 142–. ISBN 978-0-8248-1969-9 . Retrieved 21 July 2012.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
1 2 3 Stanley, David (1 January 2000). South Pacific Handbook. David Stanley. p. 296. ISBN 978-1-56691-172-6 . Retrieved 20 July 2012.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
↑ Craig, Robert D. (1 October 1989). Dictionary of Polynesian Mythology. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 76. ISBN 978-0-313-25890-9 . Retrieved 20 July 2012.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
↑ Thomson, William J. (2007). Te Pito Te Henua, Or Easter Island. Forgotten Books. p. 138. ISBN 978-1-60506-953-1 . Retrieved 20 July 2012.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
↑ Akadémia, Magyar Tudományos (1961). Acta ethnographica. Magyar Tudományos Akadémia. p. 399. Retrieved 20 July 2012.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)

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[Diamond2011-1] Diamond, Jared (4 January 2011). Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail Or Succeed. Penguin. pp. 94–. ISBN 978-0-14-311700-1 . Retrieved 21 July 2012.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)

[Theroux2006-2] Theroux, Paul (8 December 2006). The Happy Isles of Oceania: Paddling the Pacific. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. pp. 456–. ISBN 978-0-618-65898-5 . Retrieved 21 July 2012.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)

[Russell2007-3] Russell, Jan Jarboe (1 November 2007). They Lived to Tell the Tale: True Stories of Modern Adventure from the Legendary Explorers Club. Globe Pequot. pp. 295–. ISBN 978-1-59228-991-2 . Retrieved 21 July 2012.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)

[Englert1970-4] Englert, Sebastián (1970). Island at the center of the world: new light on Easter Island . Scribner. p. 169 . Retrieved 20 July 2012.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)

[PeregrineEmber2001-5] 1 2 Peregrine, Peter Neal; Ember, Melvin (2001). Encyclopedia of Prehistory: East Asia and Oceania. Springer. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-306-46257-3 . Retrieved 20 July 2012.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)

[Tilburg2003-6] Tilburg, JoAnne Van (1 April 2003). Among stone giants: the life of Katherine Routledge and her remarkable expedition to Easter Island . Scribner. ISBN 978-0-7432-4480-0 . Retrieved 20 July 2012.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)

[The_Enigmas_of_Easter_Island-7] The Enigmas of Easter Island. Oxford University Press. pp. 212–. ISBN 978-0-19-164719-2 . Retrieved 21 July 2012.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)

[GillespieClague2009-8] Gillespie, Rosemary G.; Clague, D. A. (19 August 2009). Encyclopedia of Islands. University of California Press. pp. 249–. ISBN 978-0-520-25649-1 . Retrieved 21 July 2012.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)

[DudleyLee1998-9] Dudley, Walter C.; Lee, Min (1998). Tsunami!. University of Hawaii Press. pp. 142–. ISBN 978-0-8248-1969-9 . Retrieved 21 July 2012.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)

[Stanley2000-10] 1 2 3 Stanley, David (1 January 2000). South Pacific Handbook. David Stanley. p. 296. ISBN 978-1-56691-172-6 . Retrieved 20 July 2012.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)

[Craig1989-11] Craig, Robert D. (1 October 1989). Dictionary of Polynesian Mythology. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 76. ISBN 978-0-313-25890-9 . Retrieved 20 July 2012.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)

[Thomson2007-12] Thomson, William J. (2007). Te Pito Te Henua, Or Easter Island. Forgotten Books. p. 138. ISBN 978-1-60506-953-1 . Retrieved 20 July 2012.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)

[Akadémia1961-13] Akadémia, Magyar Tudományos (1961). Acta ethnographica. Magyar Tudományos Akadémia. p. 399. Retrieved 20 July 2012.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)

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