On Sunday, April 17, NHPR will broadcast a special from Outside/In, The So-called Mystery of Rapa Nui (Easter Island). The special will air at 1 pm, covering the regular broadcast of TED Radio Hour.
About the episode
Three hundred years ago on Easter Sunday, 1722, European explorers landed on a South Pacific island they called “Easter Island.” And they were shocked to see nearly 1000 giant statues of stoic faces, called “moai,” placed all over the island.
Who moved them? And how did they do it?
The most popular theory was that this remote civilization destroyed itself – cutting down all the island’s trees to make contraptions for moving statues.
But according to the Indigenous people of Rapa Nui, their ancestors didn’t need to cut down any trees to transport the statues. In fact, their oral history has always been clear about how the statues were transported. The question is: Why hasn't anyone been listening?
Featuring: Sergio Rapu Haoa, Carl Lipo, Terry Hunt, Sergio Mata’u Rapu, and Gina Pakarati
Links
A profile of Sergio Rapu Haoa for the 2002 Rotary World Peace Scholars program at Berkeley.
Eating Up Easter – a documentary film produced by Sergio Mata’u Rapu, about how the people of Rapa Nui are grappling with environmental and social changes brought on by tourism and economic development.
The NOVA-National Geographic Documentary
- A team of 18 volunteers move a 10-foot 5-ton statue for the NOVA-National Geographic documentary, Mystery of Easter Island.
- A figurine animation by National Geographic demonstrating five different theories of moai-transport through the years.
- Mystery of Easter Island – The NOVA-National Geographic Documentary in its entirety.
Lectures by Terry Hunt and Carl Lipo
