Easter Island

Voice 1:
Thank you for joining us for today’s Spotlight. I’m Rebekah Schipper.

Voice 2:
And I’m Liz Waid. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

Voice 1:
Can one small island serve as a model for all of planet earth? Today’s Spotlight will look at the history of Easter Island. This small island experienced the fall of a very special culture. Could what happened to the people of Easter Island happen to us?

Voice 2:
Easter Island is in the South Pacific. It is the loneliest piece of populated land in the world. It sits in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, all by itself. The closest people live over one thousand six hundred [1600] kilometres away.

Voice 1:
But Easter Island’s distance from other land did not keep people from populating it. In the middle of the first millennium the first people arrived on Easter Island. They settled there. And their population began to grow.

Voice 2:
For many years, Easter Island was a perfect place to live. It was beautiful. Clear blue water surrounded it. A thick palm forest offered many resources. There was a wide coastal plain with rich soil. The people could grow their main vegetables: sweet potatoes and yams. And more than thirty [30] different kinds of seabirds made the island their home. The birds’ songs filled the air with music.

Voice 1:
The people of Easter Island, the Rapanui, created wonderful stone structures that still stand on Easter Island today. In fact, Easter Island is known for these structures. They are called “Moai.” Moai look like large stone heads. There are hundreds of Moai on the island. They face the land. Their backs are turned away from the sea. The Moai served as the peoples’ gods.

Voice 2:
Over the years the Rapanui created a complex social system. They became one of Polynesia’s most advanced cultures. Different chiefs led eleven [11] different Rapanui tribes. The tribes lived together peacefully. But, over time something started to threaten that peace.

Voice 1:
At first the Rapanui population grew slowly. And then it began to grow more quickly. The Rapanui population reached its highest around the middle of the second [2nd] millennium. There were between ten thousand [10,000] and twenty thousand [20,000] Rapanui people at this time. But, beginning around the year 1600 their culture began to fall apart. And by the middle of the nineteenth century the Rapanui had almost disappeared completely!

Voice 2:
Many scientists have studied Easter Island. They had many questions about the Rapanui people. The scientists did not understand how such a complex society could just disappear. But now, after many years of research, scientists believe they have solved the mystery. They have theories about what happened to the Rapanui people.

Voice 1:
No one can be completely sure what happened to the people on Easter Island. But, the scientists’ theories may be important to our world today. In effect, the scientists believe that Easter Island may serve as a small model. What happened on Easter Island may represent what could happen to our planet.

Voice 2:
The scientists believe that the Rapanui culture rose and fell with the island’s trees. You see, the Rapanui used the same word for “tree” as for “riches” or “wealth.” Scientists studied the remains of trees on the island. And they found that the Rapanui used the island’s trees for everything.