The History of the American Juvenile Justice System

Foreboding Geography i Easter Island as Foreboding Geography Kendall B. Schuchman Geography 1010 Professor Houston Community College of Vermont 06 May 2010 Copyright  2010 Kendall Schuchman Foreboding Geography 1 Easter Island as Foreboding Geography The tragedy of Easter Island is a telling story of how human impact exceeds the limits of the physical environment and causes devastating consequences. I will prove the contributions of geographic isolation and excessive resource use to the subsequent environmental destruction of Easter Island. First, I will examine the physical geography and placement of Easter Island in relation to other Pacific Islands, its climate, and affect on survival. Next, I will discuss the culture of the islanders. Resource use is intertwined with the culture and follows discussion of culture. Next, I will examine the European influence on population and health of the islanders. I will then explain the environmental consequences, and the decline of Easter Island. Before sharing my concluding remarks, I will show the interrelationship of the core geographic concepts (space, time, and place) contributing to the destruction of the island. I will conclude by discussing my thoughts on the importance of change in America to avoid collapse like Easter Island. Physical Geography of Easter Island Easter Island is a triangular shaped island created by three volcanoes (Diamond, 2005, p. 83). According to Diamond (2005), it lies 2,300 miles east of Chile and 1,300 miles west of Polynesia’s Pitcairn Islands (p. 79). With an area of sixty-six square miles, Easter is considered a small island by Polynesian standards. It is also low in elevation at 1,670 feet above sea level compared to other Polynesian islands (Diamond, 2005, pg. 83). Foreboding Geography 2 On a map, Easter’s latitude 27 degrees south, which is a subtropical location with a similar climate to Miami, Florida (Diamond, 2005, p. 85). Diamond (2005) noted that being built on volcanoes gave the island fertile soil. However, the islands climate affected its ability to grow food (p. 83). Easter Island’s geography posed problems for its inhabitants. The weather was very windy (Diamond, 2005, p. 83). Most of the tropical crops that grew on other Polynesian islands like coconuts did not grow well on Easter. Easter also did not have a steady supply of fish as the island lacked a coral reef nearby. Typical crops grown were bananas, sweet potatoes, and sugarcane. The largest native land animals were the insects, while the only domestic animal was the chicken. Islanders consumed a relatively high-carbohydrate diet (Diamond, 2005, p. 90). Most other Polynesian islands lie closer to the equator and accumulate more than fifty inches of rainfall annually (Diamond, 2005, p. 86). The limited freshwater supplies were the least of the nourishment problems for Easter’s inhabitants. Diamond (2005) noted that Islander’s made due by growing sugarcane crops for the consumption of their juice. most islanders had cavities by the age of fourteen (p. 90). Overall, Easter had fewer food sources than other Pacific islands. Early on, the island was home to at least twenty-five nesting seabird species (Diamond, 2005, p. 106). According to Steadman, Cristino, and et. Vargas (n.d), the arrival of humans around A.D. 900 and their subsequent excessive resource use caused extinction (n. pag.) Foreboding Geography 3 Culture, Statues, and Resource Use Cultural traditions on Easter Island were complex. The island had twelve Chiefs, and everyone else was a Commoner. Chiefs resided in houses shaped like upside-down canoes. These homes were difficult to make and stolen back and forth between the clans. Generally, there was a stone-paved terrace in front of each one. The houses of Commoners were located further inland. These homes were smaller, and communal. They had stone garden circles, ovens, garbage pits, and chicken houses (Diamond, 2005, p. 93). Diamond (2005) noted that population estimates ranged from 6,000 to 30,000 people on the island, or 90 to 450 people per square mile (p. 9). The cultural sectors of Easter divide into wedges or sectors like a pie with twelve slices. Each territory has a chief. The territories begin at the coast and move inland. Because of this land division, clans traveled through other clans’ territories to use beaches, or farmlands, and access various resources. As years went by, the clans became more competitive (Diamond, 2005, p, 94, 98). They worked to out do other clans by building larger stone statues (“Moai”), and bigger stone platforms (“Ahu”). The eye sockets for the “Moai” were empty except during ceremonies. Priests guarded the eyes (Diamond, 2005, p. 100). Hundreds of “Moai” and “Ahu” existed on Easter Island. Created at Rano Raraku, an uninhabited volcanic crater and quarry, the statues had to be transported around the island. One transport road led out of Rano Raraku with three more branching off of it for nine miles in the directions of the coasts (Diamond, 2005, p. 79). If the Foreboding Geography 4 statues were on the coast, they always faced inland over the clan’s territory (Diamond, 2005, p. 94). According to Jo Anne Van Tilburg (n. d.), islanders moved the statues using parallel wooden rails with fixed wooden crosspieces and a great deal of manpower such as 500 islanders (n. pag). Diamond (2005) claims this to be true based on population rates (p. 101). Jo Anne Van Tilburg (n.d.) noted this type of intensive work made food consumption rates dramatically increase by 25% (n. pag). Typically, each territory had between one and five stone platforms or “Ahu” that weighed between 300 and 9,000 tons. “Ahu” were approximately 13 feet high and 500 feet wide. The average stone statue or “Moai” was 13 feet tall and weighed 10 tons (Diamond, 2005, p. 96). Over time, islanders competed with each other by increasing their statue sizes, until resources ran out (Diamond, 2005, p. 98). Diamond (2005) noted that by approximately 1680, islanders stopped erecting statues. The environmental crisis and anger with their ancestors caused them to begin throwing down rival clans statues (p. 110). According to Beck et. al (n.d), the Ahu-building period occurred between A.D. 1000-1600 (n. pag). During this time period, agricultural intensification also increased. There are three main types of agricultural intensification on Easter Island. Islanders lined pits 5-8 feet in diameter and 4 feet deep to grow crops. They also built dams across streambeds to divert water onto stone platforms for irrigation. As the only domestic animal on Easter Island was the chicken, inhabitants built stone chicken houses with attached chicken yards so their chickens would not run away or get stolen. Foreboding Geography 5 In A.D. 1300, rock gardens were first noticed in high elevation land areas. Rock farming made the soil moister as the climate was dry and cool. During the day, solar heat was absorbed through dark rocks, and released at night (Diamond, 2005, p. 91-93). Environmental Consequences Easter island was once a subtropical forest (Diamond, 2005, p. 103). According to John Flenley (1977 and 1983), trees as large as the Chilean wine palm (65 feet tall and 3 feet in diameter) previously existed on Easter (u. pag.). To transport “Moai” and “Ahu,” the islanders used thick rope made from tree bark, resulted in deforestation. Easter Island is the most extreme example of deforestation in all of the Pacific (Diamond, 2005, p. 107). It is a sobering reminder of what happens when resources are exploited. Decline into Cannibalism The islanders resorted to cannibalism sometime after a second wave of soil erosion during the 1500s. They taunted to each other “The flesh of your mother sticks between my teeth” (Diamond, 2005, p. 109). Inhabitants began living in caves to feel safer and be able to defend themselves easier. They ate rats and other humans as the food supply diminished. In case you’re squeamish and consider rats inedible, I still recall, from my years of living in England in the late 1950s, recipes for creamed laboratory rat that my Foreboding Geography 6 British biologist friends who kept them for experiments also used to supplement their diet during their years of wartime food rationing (Diamond, 2005, p. 105). Interrelationship of Core Concepts and the Collapse of Easter Island Easter Island was affected by the concepts of space, time, and place. Its location made trade an impossibility. The rate of use of resources affected the islanders’ chance of survival. Spatial distribution occurred regularly through exchange and transport of resources around the island. As previously noted, Easter island is just sixty-six square miles with limited food and natural resources available. Inhabitants overhunted, and exploited the forests to create human-made capital. Synthetic and unnatural resources cannot replace real, holistic, natural resources. Islanders did not allow proper time for natural resources to replenish. They were using too much, too fast. They need 25% more food on average, meaning depleted the few fish and bird species quicker, leaving no choice, but cannibalism. Easter Island was certainly affected by its geography. The island was isolated, with poor rainfall and not enough freshwater. The dry, cool, windy climate was not good for the growth of many crops. Its land area was small for the number of people inhabiting the island. The population fluctuations on the island over time affected the amount of food available to inhabitants. Population changed due to many factors such as the kidnapping Foreboding Geography 7 by Peruvian slave ships, smallpox epidemics, starvation from using food at an increased rate, and having fewer food choices than other islands in general. Easter Island was isolated and did not have access to trade with other lands and people. European Influence on Easter Island Smallpox attacked Easter Island twice between 1836 and 1863. Peruvian slave ships kidnapped 1,500 islanders in 1862 and 1863. Missionaries came to Easter in 1864. Population was a mere 2,000 islanders at this time, much lower than usual and misleading for these visitors (Diamond, 2005, p. 90-91). Concluding Remarks I believe the story of Easter Island relates to the modern world and to America today. It is a reminder that technology and synthetic resources cannot substitute natural resources. It is terrifying how dependent we are on technology, natural resources and how quickly we deplete these resources. I do not want to experience cannibalism in my lifetime and hope more people will take an interest in and gain awareness for collapsed societies. Not only is the story of Easter Island an interesting one, but a reality shock that the same could happen to America if we fail to conserve resources. References Brander, J., & Scott Taylor, M. (1998). The simple economics of Easter Island: a Ricardo-Malthus model of renewable resource use. American Economic Review, 38, 119-138. Diamond, J. (2005). Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. New York: Penguin Group. Erickson, J.D., & Gowdy, J.M. (2000). Resource Use, Institutions, and Sustainability: A Tale of two Pacific Island Cultures. Land Economics, 76(3), 345-354. Flenley, J., & King, S. (1984). Late Quaternary pollen records from Easter Island. Nature 307, 47-50. Flenley, J., et al. The Late Quaternary vegetational and climatic history of Easter Island. Journal of Quaternary Science, 6, 85-115. Flenley, J., & Bahn, P. (2003). The Enigmas of Easter Island: Island on the Edge. New York: Oxford University Press. Steadman, D., Vargas, P., & Cristino, C. (1989). Extinction of birds in Eastern Polynesia: a review of the record, and comparisons with other Pacific Island groups. Journal of Archeological Science 16, 177-205. Steadman, D., Vargas, P., & Cristino, C. (1994). Stratigraphy, chronology, and cultural context of an early faunal assemblage from Easter Island. Asian Perspectives, 33, 79-96. Tilburg, J. (1994). Easter Island: Archaeology, Ecology, and Culture. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. Tilburg, J. (2003). Among Stone Giants. New York: Scribner. Tilburg, J., & Ralston, T. (n.d.) Megaliths and Mariners: experimental archaeology on Easter Island (Rapa Nui). Onward and Upward! Papers in Honor of Clement W. Meighan (University Press of America).