Rapanui

Rapa Nui

Traditional dance of Rapa Nui people
Total population
(ca. 5,682)
Regions with significant populations
Chile (particularly Easter Island)
Languages
Rapa Nui language, Spanish
Religion
Roman Catholicism
Related ethnic groups
Oparoan, Tahitian

The Rapa Nui are the native Polynesian inhabitants of Easter Island in the Pacific Ocean. The easternmost Polynesian culture, the Rapa Nui people currently make up 60% of Easter Island's population and have a significant portion of their population residing in mainland Chile. They speak both the traditional Rapa Nui language and the primary language of the island, Spanish. At the 2002 census there were 3,304 island inhabitants—almost all living in the village of Hanga Roa on the sheltered west coast.

As of 2011, Rapa Nui's main source of income derived from tourism, which focuses on the giant sculptures called Moai.

Rapa Nui activists have been fighting for their right of self-determination and possession of the island. Recent protests by the indigenous Rapa Nui on Easter Island against Chilean rule have led to violence against the Rapa Nui by the Chilean police.

The Rapa Nui are believed to have settled Easter Island between 300 and 1200 CE. Previously, the date of arrival was estimated to be around 700–800 CE, but more-recent evidence from radiocarbon dating supports an arrival date as late as 1200 CE. The Rapa Nui People have been found to be of Polynesian origin through genetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA of pre-historic skeletons. Genetic analysis performed by Erik Thorsby and other geneticists in 2007 revealed genetic markers of European and Amerindian origin that suggest that the Rapa Nui had European and Amerindian contributions to their DNA during or before the early 1800s.

Scholars believe that the Rapa Nui had early contact with South America due to the introduction of sweet potato and bottle gourd plants to Easter Island. The bottle gourd was previously thought to have been introduced to Polynesia in ancient times by the Polynesians themselves. However, more-recent research found no evidence of its existing historically in Fiji, Samoa, or Tonga. The bottle gourd has been found in Africa, Asia, and the Americas in ancient times and has been traced back to Peru as early as 6000 BCE, but the earliest evidence of the bottle gourd in Polynesia is only from around 350 BCE in New Guinea. The sweet potato also has South American origin and must have been transferred to Easter Island early to have become such a staple part of the Rapa Nui pre-contact diet. It is believed that there must have been contact between the Rapa Nui and South America by 1200–1300 CE.