LATA MEDIA AWARDS

Glen Mutel, currently our executive editor, won Consumer Travel Writer of the Year for his piece on Easter Island

They may technically be citizens of Chile these days, but there can be no doubt the people of this land — the Rapanui — have a distinctly Polynesian culture. And when the first settlers arrived here in canoes from the west, between the fiŠh and eighth centuries, they would have found the island suitably tropical, covered as it was with huge, endemic palm trees.

The rich, volcanic soil enabled the settlers to thrive and their numbers grew considerably. Then, at some point in the 13th century, they began to sculpt the statues for which they’re now famous; each one, it’s believed, representing a deified ancestor, brought back to stand guard over its clan.

However, as time passed, more and more trees were cut down, and when the final palm was felled, the Rapanui deprived themselves of the timber they needed to build canoes, dramatically reducing their ability to fish. With deforestation came environmental disaster, as crop yields dwindled due to soil erosion and streams and creeks dried up. At its height, the island’s population stood at 12,00015,000, but with a greatly reduced ability to feed themselves and no means of escape, the Rapanui turned on each other. At some point around the year 1500, the statue-building abruptly stopped, and over the ensuing centuries, warring clans toppled each other’s moai in gestures of aggression. By the mid-19th century, every single complete statue had been upturned or destroyed.

All of the standing moai on the ahu in Rapa Nui today have been restored at some point during the previous century — something that surprised me, as I’d always imagined those famous lines of statues were just as their creators had leŠ them.

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