Easter Island Feb 2020

We attended Mass at Holy Cross Church which was founded in 1937 The people of the island were converted to Roman Catholicism in the 1860s The Church blends the Rapa Nui culture with Christian symbols The Tangata manu ("Bird Man") cult was the island religion between the moai era and the Christian era

Traditional Rapa Nui & Christian symbols together	A new building with a "turtle design"
	was proposed by the Vatican but rejected by the congregation
When the church was unoccupied, our guide Sebastian pointed out details of the interior

All the statues combine Rapa Nui tradition with Christianity This is Saint Francis holding a bird in his hand

His features have a Moai influence

The Archangel Michael

	This is Mary crowned with local flowers

The Holy Family is a sculpture in a tradition of the Rapa Nui People

Baby Jesus is at the bottom of the sculpture Not sure about the bird figure? Holy Spirit with Birdman influence?	This is an old photo of a "family moai" Currently the heads are missing That photo is HERE

This is the statue of Jesus Christ

The Birdman figure and other traditional symbols are included


	The Tabernacle and the Lecturn also blend Rapa Nui culture with Christian symbols The Mass was said in Spanish Easter Island became part of Chile in the 1860s but the priest also addressed the people in the Rapa Nui language
Our next stop was a recreation of an ancient Rapa Nui Village - an outdoor museum similar to those in Europe
Archeologists have studied the remains of village locations to create this site This is similar to what was done at Stonehenge
The houses are shaped as overturned boats since that was likely their first dwellings when arriving from over the sea

Safe havens for animals with the roof used for plants

Fire Pit	Chicken House

At night the chickens would go into the safety of this rock house and the "door" would be secured with rocks This protected them from animal predators and anyone who would steal them since only the owner was aware of which rocks could be removed. I KNOW where the door is thanks to Sebastian

"Here chick, chick chick" Look carefully to see the brown chicken emerging

This white chicken is easier to see

Some perspective as to the height of the dwelling	Plants on the roof of the chicken house

In the Museum in Hanga Roa Sebastian directed us to this photo The woman on the right, dressed in white, is his grandmother


	The shell and coral eyes of the moai are a rare phenomenon on the island today The whites of the eyes were made of pieces of sea shell, the irises of inlaid coral The eye sockets were not carved and filled until after the moai were set in place on the platforms Many examples have since been removed or fallen out.
Tools which were used by the Rapa Nui people

From the time they were created the archaeological structures of the Rapa Nui culture (Moai, rock art & petroglyphs) have suffered the effects of different deterioration processes (erosion, cracks, fractures, plant growth and weather) Because of the increase of tourism, a new threat to this heritage has emerged - the Human Race It is important for ALL visitors to respect and observe the restrictions required by the National Park of Rapa Nui

An additional threat to the ecology of Easter Island The sculpture outside the museum was created from plastic discarded in the ocean Volunteers have the near impossible task of clearing the beaches of waste originating thousands of miles away and carried here by currents