Pre-missionary Rapa Nui (Easter Island) literature has only survived in a small corpus of poorly ... more Pre-missionary Rapa Nui (Easter Island) literature has only survived in a small corpus of poorly understood recitations. Their obscurity has been attributed to the disappearance of the old culture as a result of the catastrophic decline of the native population in the second half of the nineteenth century and the considerable change that the Rapanui language has undergone under the influence of other languages. A similar judgement has been passed on one of the most popular songs in the traditional repertoire, a string figure chant that was recorded in the twentieth century by several anthropologists, among them Routledge in 1914 and Métraux in 1934–1935. A complete version of the chant was first published in 1960 by Barthel. However, his uneven translation takes many liberties with the original text and leaves much unexplained. Barthel’s idea that the chant’s main topic is the burial of a man who once held the important ritual position of “birdman” has nevertheless been generally accepted by subsequent researchers. Fortunately, since then the unpublished fieldnotes of both Routledge and Métraux have become available. Despite the fact that they reveal that already in the first half of the twentieth century the chant’s meaning could no longer be explained by the native informants, they shed light on a number of cryptic passages by providing important material for comparison and reconstruction. This has made it possible to propose in this study an alternative interpretation of the text as a lyrical account of the death of a hopu manu, a contender in the annual competition for the sacred bird egg to select the new birdman. If this proves to be correct, the chant would constitute a unique example of early Rapanui poetry, an intriguing artefact of the enigmatic birdman cult and an incentive for further research into texts that have been written off as too archaic and obscure.
Easter Island and the Pacific. Cultural and Environmental Dynamics. Rapa Nui, pp. 431-443, 2019
One of the walls of ‘Ana O Keke, a deep cave located on the north-eastern coast of Easter Island,... more One of the walls of ‘Ana O Keke, a deep cave located on the north-eastern coast of Easter Island, is engraved with a 4m long intricate petroglyphic panel featuring sea animals, birds, adzes, canoes, and other images, including a group of more or less abstract figures. A number of these can also be found in the rongorongo inscriptions that were carved on wood. According to tradition, this ‘Cave of the Setting Sun’ was used in pre-missionary times to isolate young girls from society in the advent of puberty. During their prolonged stay underground these so-called neru were fattened by sugarcane juice and lack of exercise and their skin was bleached by protection against the sunlight. This study presents an analysis of the mural in the context of the ritual and mythical aspects of the neru cult and compares individual signs with their equivalent in the rongorongo script. As a result, it proposes phonetic values for some of the most frequently used glyphs of Easter Island’s unique writing system.
The recitations of the Easter Island native Ure Vaeiko that were recorded in 1886 belong to the v... more The recitations of the Easter Island native Ure Vaeiko that were recorded in 1886 belong to the very small corpus of traditional Rapanui literature that has been preserved. Although the value of individual texts is disputed, the chants that were published as Atua Matariri, Eaha to Ran Ariiki Kete and Apai are generally considered to be genuine examples of so-called “Old Rapanui”. Of these three, the Apai text is by far the most enigmatic, as it has been recorded and published in a way that renders it virtually incomprehensible. The accompanying attempt at translation is a confused narrative that appears to have only a fragmentary relation to the chant. This paper presents a tentative reconstruction of the original Apai text, together with a new translation. It is proposed that Apai contains an origin myth which intends to explain certain celestial phenomena regarding the sun and the planet Venus, set against the familiar Polynesian background of the eternal struggle between the brother gods Tangaroa and Tane. As such, it could provide valuable information on pre-missionary Easter Island astronomy, mythology, and literature.
Pre-missionary Rapa Nui (Easter Island) literature has only survived in a small corpus of poorly ... more Pre-missionary Rapa Nui (Easter Island) literature has only survived in a small corpus of poorly understood recitations. Their obscurity has been attributed to the disappearance of the old culture as a result of the catastrophic decline of the native population in the second half of the nineteenth century and the considerable change that the Rapanui language has undergone under the influence of other languages. A similar judgement has been passed on one of the most popular songs in the traditional repertoire, a string figure chant that was recorded in the twentieth century by several anthropologists, among them Routledge in 1914 and Métraux in 1934–1935. A complete version of the chant was first published in 1960 by Barthel. However, his uneven translation takes many liberties with the original text and leaves much unexplained. Barthel’s idea that the chant’s main topic is the burial of a man who once held the important ritual position of “birdman” has nevertheless been generally accepted by subsequent researchers. Fortunately, since then the unpublished fieldnotes of both Routledge and Métraux have become available. Despite the fact that they reveal that already in the first half of the twentieth century the chant’s meaning could no longer be explained by the native informants, they shed light on a number of cryptic passages by providing important material for comparison and reconstruction. This has made it possible to propose in this study an alternative interpretation of the text as a lyrical account of the death of a hopu manu, a contender in the annual competition for the sacred bird egg to select the new birdman. If this proves to be correct, the chant would constitute a unique example of early Rapanui poetry, an intriguing artefact of the enigmatic birdman cult and an incentive for further research into texts that have been written off as too archaic and obscure.
Easter Island and the Pacific. Cultural and Environmental Dynamics. Rapa Nui, pp. 431-443, 2019
One of the walls of ‘Ana O Keke, a deep cave located on the north-eastern coast of Easter Island,... more One of the walls of ‘Ana O Keke, a deep cave located on the north-eastern coast of Easter Island, is engraved with a 4m long intricate petroglyphic panel featuring sea animals, birds, adzes, canoes, and other images, including a group of more or less abstract figures. A number of these can also be found in the rongorongo inscriptions that were carved on wood. According to tradition, this ‘Cave of the Setting Sun’ was used in pre-missionary times to isolate young girls from society in the advent of puberty. During their prolonged stay underground these so-called neru were fattened by sugarcane juice and lack of exercise and their skin was bleached by protection against the sunlight. This study presents an analysis of the mural in the context of the ritual and mythical aspects of the neru cult and compares individual signs with their equivalent in the rongorongo script. As a result, it proposes phonetic values for some of the most frequently used glyphs of Easter Island’s unique writing system.
The recitations of the Easter Island native Ure Vaeiko that were recorded in 1886 belong to the v... more The recitations of the Easter Island native Ure Vaeiko that were recorded in 1886 belong to the very small corpus of traditional Rapanui literature that has been preserved. Although the value of individual texts is disputed, the chants that were published as Atua Matariri, Eaha to Ran Ariiki Kete and Apai are generally considered to be genuine examples of so-called “Old Rapanui”. Of these three, the Apai text is by far the most enigmatic, as it has been recorded and published in a way that renders it virtually incomprehensible. The accompanying attempt at translation is a confused narrative that appears to have only a fragmentary relation to the chant. This paper presents a tentative reconstruction of the original Apai text, together with a new translation. It is proposed that Apai contains an origin myth which intends to explain certain celestial phenomena regarding the sun and the planet Venus, set against the familiar Polynesian background of the eternal struggle between the brother gods Tangaroa and Tane. As such, it could provide valuable information on pre-missionary Easter Island astronomy, mythology, and literature.
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Papers by Mary de Laat
once held the important ritual position of “birdman” has nevertheless been generally accepted by subsequent researchers. Fortunately, since then the unpublished fieldnotes of both Routledge and Métraux have become available. Despite the fact that they reveal that already in the first half of the twentieth century the chant’s meaning could no longer be explained by the native informants, they shed light on a number of cryptic passages by providing important material for comparison and reconstruction. This has made it possible to propose in this study an alternative interpretation of the text as a lyrical account of the death of a hopu manu, a contender in the annual competition for the sacred bird egg to select the new birdman. If this proves to be correct, the chant would constitute a unique example of early Rapanui poetry, an intriguing artefact of the enigmatic birdman cult and an incentive for further research into texts that have been written off as too archaic and obscure.
neru were fattened by sugarcane juice and lack of exercise and their skin was bleached by protection against the sunlight. This study presents an analysis of the mural in the context of the ritual and mythical aspects of the neru cult and compares individual signs with their equivalent in the rongorongo script. As a result, it proposes phonetic values for some of the most frequently used glyphs of Easter Island’s unique writing system.
once held the important ritual position of “birdman” has nevertheless been generally accepted by subsequent researchers. Fortunately, since then the unpublished fieldnotes of both Routledge and Métraux have become available. Despite the fact that they reveal that already in the first half of the twentieth century the chant’s meaning could no longer be explained by the native informants, they shed light on a number of cryptic passages by providing important material for comparison and reconstruction. This has made it possible to propose in this study an alternative interpretation of the text as a lyrical account of the death of a hopu manu, a contender in the annual competition for the sacred bird egg to select the new birdman. If this proves to be correct, the chant would constitute a unique example of early Rapanui poetry, an intriguing artefact of the enigmatic birdman cult and an incentive for further research into texts that have been written off as too archaic and obscure.
neru were fattened by sugarcane juice and lack of exercise and their skin was bleached by protection against the sunlight. This study presents an analysis of the mural in the context of the ritual and mythical aspects of the neru cult and compares individual signs with their equivalent in the rongorongo script. As a result, it proposes phonetic values for some of the most frequently used glyphs of Easter Island’s unique writing system.