INCORPORATION OF EASTER ISLAND: CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES - HISTORY - 2024

The incorporation of Easter Island into Chile was an event that occurred at the end of the 19th century, with the approval of the island's inhabitants (the people of Polynesian origin, called Rapa Nui). Since then, Easter Island has belonged to the Chilean jurisdiction and Spanish was established as the official language of the region, along with Rapa Nui.

By the time of incorporation, a large part of the local Aboriginal population had died as a result of various disputes and epidemics to which the island was subjected.

Chile is the only South American nation that has territory in Polynesia and also the only South American country that controls a territorial extension so far from its capital.

Easter Island is located more than 2,500 kilometers from the Chilean coast. Although other South American nations tried to seize territory far from their coasts, none managed to do so for so many years.

Background

Contacts with European nations

Easter Island came to have contact with sailors from various European countries long before joining the Chilean territory.

In fact, several sailors from the Old Continent visited the island before Chile was an independent country. They never exercised dominion over the island or its population, with the exception of Spain.

However, its inhabitants came to be used as slaves by European settlers. The first European to visit the island was the Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen, when he reached its shores on April 5, 1722.

That day was precisely Easter Sunday. The date of this first European contact served to baptize the island with its current name.

The island's inhabitants fought a conflict with the Dutch, and the Europeans are estimated to have killed 12 natives.

Other European expeditions from various countries came into contact with the island after the discovery of Roggeveen, including English, Russian and French sailors.

Taking of Spain

In 1770 the viceroy of Peru (part of the Spanish colonies in South America) issued an order to two admirals of his navy to take possession of the island.

The island was renamed San Carlos, honoring the then Spanish monarch. The natives never recognized the dominion of Spain on the island.

First contact with Chile

When Chile was already an independent country, a vessel called Colo-Colo - in charge of Captain Leoncio Señoret - landed on Easter Island.

The captain did not fill out any report referring to the island, so no formal contact was made between the Rapa Nui and the Chilean nation.

Deforestation

When the Chileans annexed Easter Island at the end of the 19th century, the aboriginal population that inhabited the island did not exceed 300 people.

At its best, the Rapa Nui civilization had a large number of inhabitants: it is estimated that more than 12,000 people inhabited the island at some point in its history.

The collapse of this Polynesian civilization is due in large part to deforestation. This occurred due to the large number of plants that were cut down to build tools for the workers, and that were also used to transport the moai sculptures throughout the island.

Peruvian slavers

During the early 1860s, several Peruvian vessels arrived on the island to take the Rapa Nui prisoners. These, who were already hostile to the invaders, refused entirely any further contact with visiting nations.

The Rapa Nui population was reduced to less than 600 inhabitants and only Hipólito Roussel and Eugenio Eyraud were able to reestablish diplomatic relations with the island's inhabitants.

Conversion to Catholicism

The population of the island always had religious beliefs widely associated with paganism. However, in the mid-1860s a couple of Catholic missionaries (Roussel and Eyraud) took on the task of converting their population to Christianity.

Christianity was the main religion in Chile, which had a positive effect on the Rapa Nui people at the time of incorporation.

Causes

Intervention by Hipólito Roussel and Eugenio Eyraud

After the Rapa Nui became a hostile population against the invaders, Catholic missionaries Hipólito Roussel and Eugenio Eyraudm, residing in Chile, led a mission with the aim of helping the island's inhabitants and converting them to Catholicism.

Both priests delivered provisions to the natives, taught them how to cultivate the land properly, and explained how to work with livestock to get the most out of meat and dairy production. In addition, they taught Spanish to the Rapa Nui.

The missionaries carried with them a Chilean flag, made especially for the island's inhabitants, on a wooden pole. This flag was used by the natives to show it to any ship that approached their shores.

Chilean government interventions

The Chilean government sent Captain Toro to the island on a military training mission, but the objective was really to analyze the territorial situation to determine if it was worth annexing it to the country.

When Toro returned to Chile in 1886 he presented a report in which he denoted all the important characteristics of the island. In addition, he explained why it would be a good economic move to convert it into Chilean territory.

The Chilean government analyzed their approach and decided to officially annex Easter Island to Chile.

Consequences

Unification

After becoming part of Chile, Easter Island became a territory with the same rights as any other territorial area located in continental Chile.

The island government began to have an administration and economy supervised by Chile, where only Spanish was spoken.

Emigration

Many inhabitants of the island (although there were few left by the time it was annexed Chile) came to reside in continental Chile.

In fact, today most of the Rapa Nui population does not live on Easter Island, but in other cities belonging to Chile.

References

1. How did Chile acquire the Easter Island ?, C. López, (nd). Taken from islandheritage.org
2. The Annexation of the Easter Island: Geopolitics and Environmental Perception, J. Douglas, 1981. Taken from jstor.org
3. History of Easter Island, Wikipedia in English, 2018. Taken from wikipedia.org
4. Easter Island, Thor Heyerdahl and César N. Caviedes for Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2017. Taken from Britannica.com
5. The History of Easter Island, Chile, North South Travel, 2008. Taken from northsouthtravel.com