Talk:Rapa Nui people

Untitled
The section on interaction with the environment is incomplete: there are no references,and there is wandering sentence structure. Perhaps you could neaten that a bit? Hereadnow101 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Hereandnow101 (talk • contribs) 16:17, 20 November 2012 (UTC)

I've seen a few references regarding the spectacular collapse of the great Rapanui civilization. Don't have time to find good material and am too tired to write my words so I'll quote from the 2nd google link I stumbled upon:
 * The 'decline and fall' of Easter Island and its alleged self-destruction has become the poster child of a new environmentalist historiography, a school of thought that goes hand-in-hand with predictions of environmental disaster. Why did this exceptional civilisation crumble? What drove its population to extinction? These are some of the key questions Jared Diamond endeavours to answer in his new book 'Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive.' According to Diamond, the people of Easter Island destroyed their forest, degraded the island's topsoil, wiped out their plants and drove their animals to extinction. As a result of this self-inflicted environmental devastation, its complex society collapsed, descending into civil war, cannibalism and self-destruction. While his theory of ecocide has become almost paradigmatic in environmental circles, a dark and gory secret hangs over the premise of Easter Island's self-destruction: an actual genocide terminated Rapa Nui's indigenous populace and its culture. Diamond, however, ignores and fails to address the true reasons behind Rapa Nui's collapse. [...] This paper is a first attempt to address this disquieting quandary. It describes the foundation of Diamond's environmental revisionism and explains why it does not hold up to scientific scrutiny.

from: "FROM GENOCIDE TO ECOCIDE: THE RAPE OF RAPA NUI" by "Benny Peiser", Liverpool John Moores University, Faculty of Science. 18:40, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

Add in article or make a new one at Rapa Nui mythology In this article, also mention similar ethnic groups falling under self-inflicted climate situations. The Maya people, Nazca people and the Khmer people can be also mentioned as people falling under similar circumstances (increasing populations, deforestation). See http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/07/angkor/stone-text/9 and http://www.arch.cam.ac.uk/pittrivers/members/current/david.html for references — Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.182.165.179 (talk • contribs) 1 August 2009 (UTC)

Move
I suggest a move to easter island people, to make the article more in line with other articles on ethnic groups (which are named as ... people) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.182.165.179 (talk • contribs) 1 August 2009 (UTC)

Rapa Nui is the Polynesian name of the island, hence I believe it must be respected over the English name especially when talking about the people of the island.--Wikiuser459 (talk) 10:18, 20 May 2023 (UTC)

173.66.52.157's edit
I'm not going to email the person but 173.66.52.157's edit needs to be addressed since most is totally out of place. I haven't had time to read the entire thing, but the geography and history of the island is irrelevant to this article since there already articles of the History and the Geography.--KAVEBEAR (talk) 01:08, 1 May 2012 (UTC)
 * Also, most of the references are only available to students at one university. Edit reverted.- gadfium 04:05, 1 May 2012 (UTC)

History of the Rapa Nui Section
I added the History of the Rapa Nui section and hope to continue working on it. It offers information related to the History of Easter Island but specific to the Rapa Nui people themselves. It also has information not in the History of Easter Island section such as the relation between the bottle gourd and their believed contact with South America. --Chaoticallyc (talk ) 07:46, 15 Nov 2012

Review of Addition
I'm in the Environment and Society class and have chosen to review your addition. I think the addition was great it provides a better understanding of the Rapa Nui people, however I think it would be important to edit the environment interaction section as it is noted that nothing is cited in that section and it applies to our class in general. Also you could add more links to other pages in the section you added! Great job! Shelbeglidden (talk) 15:36, 15 November 2012 (UTC)

MTA Peer Review
Interesting article! Make sure you cite your article though, a lot of citations seem to be missing, especially in your "Interaction with the Environment", "History", "Agriculture", "Launguage", "Art", "Moai", "Mythology", "Music" and introduction sections. You also may want to include pictures of things that you are mentioning (such as the chicken huts which still dot the fields of the island). You may want to also add information in the sidebar regarding the people. You could also add a "Where are they now" section or something which discusses where the people are in the present day.Srorourke (talk) 16:27, 20 November 2012 (UTC)

I agree with Srorourke on issues of citations and images. Some picture could really bring those desceiptions of cultural elements of the Rapa Nui to life! There are some confusing wording issues that you might want to clear up. Specifically in the "Agriculture" section: "Agriculture on Easter Island shows signs of intensification before European arrival necessary because of its climate which had an excess of wind and a low amount of rainfall for the area." This is probably just a typo, but what was necessary? Environmental intensification? If so I recommend switching to this: "Agriculture on Easter Island shows signs of intensification before European arrival. This intensification was necessary because of the island's climate, which had an excess of wind and a low amount of rainfall for the area." Generally well done on the article, you were really able to cover a lot of areas of the Rapa Nui. Rllegge (talk) 16:39, 20 November 2012 (UTC)

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Rapa Nui activism for self-determination and possession of the island
The sentence "Rapa Nui activists have been fighting for their right of self-determination and possession of the island." seem very vague. Who are these activist, what kind of self-determination are they seeking (independence, independence referendum, autonomy?)? When or since when are these claims around? There have been some changes in the laws about Rapa Nui in recent years (2010-2020), how actual are these claims? Dentren &#124; Talk 02:48, 17 January 2021 (UTC)

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Serious Issue with Photograph of the Article
The photograph of the article is supposed to represent the traditional dance of the Rapa Nui people, but it is clearly a photograph from some sort of reenactment show, as is proven by the camera and audience visible in the bottom-left of the photo. Hence the photo is clearly staged, and the dance and costume are almost definitely inauthentic; the performers may not be native as well. Shouldn't the Wikipedia article on the Rapa Nui people have a photo of the Rapa Nui people? Instead there is a photo of some tourist trap culture reenactment.

I suggest this photo instead(the one on the right or even both). Admittedly I am a complete novice in this field of research (anthropology in general). However I feel that this photo or another similar one from the article cited will be far, far better the current image as it shows the Rapa Nui as themselves over a marketed stereotype. While the photo itself is not in native dress, such photos cannot exist as the Rapa Nui were already wearing clothes from trade ships by the time these photos were taken (as stated in the article). I have been unable to find any *reliable, unbiased, authentic* depictions of the native people which would be better-suited for the main photo. The article cited perfectly explains the situation: [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/332446935_Western_Imagination_on_Rapanui_1886-1925_Thoughts_and_Reflections_from_Ethnographic_Photographs Western Imagination on Rapanui (1886–1925). Thoughts and Reflections from Ethnographic Photographs]. Wikiuser459 (talk) 18:22, 19 May 2023 (UTC)


 * This photo from the Spanish wikipedia article could also fit the bill. It is from the Haka Pei (Rapa Nui initiation ritual) though, which means it is not everyday attire. Wikiuser459 (talk) 10:10, 20 May 2023 (UTC)

The three depictions of Tepano
There are two photographs and one "engraving based on a sketch" that show Tepano with and without face tattoos. The engraving shows Tepano with face tattoos, but the drawing is clearly based on the photograph of him without tattoos. Either his tattoos were erased from the photograph, or added to the drawing. They can't both be true. I presume he had his photo taken in 1884, when his tattoos were no longer visible, and then a sketch was made based on that photo, and then tattoos were added to the sketch, perhaps based on earlier photos, such as the one from 1870. grandexandi (talk) 18:21, 1 February 2024 (UTC)