Rapa Nui / Easter Island: 300 years later - General Tiki

T tikibars Tiki Socialite Aku Hall, Chicago Joined: Apr 11, 2002 Posts: 2034	T tikibars Posted posted on Wed, Mar 16, 2022 11:32 PM Hi everyone. The 300th anniversary of the first outside contact with Easter Island is next month. The Dutch first laid eyes on the Moai and all of the other mysteries of Rapa Nui on Easter Sunday, 1722. But how do we mark the date? Easter Sunday 1722 was on April 5; that's a Tuesday this year. Easter falls on the 17th this year. Do we stick with the calendar date of April 5, or do we mark the occasion on Easter, itself? Or we can just sing The 12 Days of Easter (Island) from the 5th through 17th...
U ukutiki Tiki Socialite Michigan Joined: Feb 25, 2009 Posts: 295	U ukutiki Posted posted on Thu, Mar 17, 2022 5:06 AM Celebrate it on the same day that the Easter Islanders celebrate it.
T tikibars Tiki Socialite Aku Hall, Chicago Joined: Apr 11, 2002 Posts: 2034	T tikibars Posted posted on Thu, Mar 17, 2022 9:14 PM A good suggestion, but I'm not sure "celebrate" is quite the right word. Most of the Rapa Nui people certainly don't view the date as worthy of celebration. Like so many other remote cultures, the coming of outsiders led to major problems for the island, but also to access to the many advantages of connection to the modern world. These things are of course complicated. So: an auspicious occasion, worth marking - particularly among our subculture - but also a chance for contemplation.

T

tikibars Posted posted on Wed, Mar 16, 2022 11:32 PM

Hi everyone. The 300th anniversary of the first outside contact with Easter Island is next month. The Dutch first laid eyes on the Moai and all of the other mysteries of Rapa Nui on Easter Sunday, 1722.

But how do we mark the date? Easter Sunday 1722 was on April 5; that's a Tuesday this year. Easter falls on the 17th this year. Do we stick with the calendar date of April 5, or do we mark the occasion on Easter, itself?

Or we can just sing The 12 Days of Easter (Island) from the 5th through 17th...

U

ukutiki Posted posted on Thu, Mar 17, 2022 5:06 AM

Celebrate it on the same day that the Easter Islanders celebrate it.

T

tikibars Posted posted on Thu, Mar 17, 2022 9:14 PM

A good suggestion, but I'm not sure "celebrate" is quite the right word. Most of the Rapa Nui people certainly don't view the date as worthy of celebration. Like so many other remote cultures, the coming of outsiders led to major problems for the island, but also to access to the many advantages of connection to the modern world. These things are of course complicated. So: an auspicious occasion, worth marking - particularly among our subculture - but also a chance for contemplation.