08/11/2024
Easter Island is one of the most isolated islands on the planet. The nearest island is about 1,200 miles away, and it is almost twice that distance to the nearest continental landmass. For several centuries the Rapanui people lived there without any interference from Europeans. It is possible that the Rapanui had not been in contact with anyone for hundreds of years. Their statues called moai, believed to represent their ancestors, were erected around the coast so that they faced inland on the world and the people. Behind them, the vast blue expanse of the Pacific Ocean stretched out for thousands of miles.
In 1722 the Dutch arrived. They were the first known Europeans to set foot on Easter Island, and the two cultures met for the first time. Records show that the Dutch were captivated by the huge moai statues on the island; the Rapanui, however, were very keen on certain European items. Before the Dutch had even made landfall, the natives approached their ships in a "great many" canoes. The Dutch account records:
"These people showed us at that time their great cupidity for everything they saw; and were so daring that they took the seaman’s hats and caps from their heads, and sprang overboard with the spoil…. There was also an Easter Islander who climbed in through the cabin window of De Afrikaansche Galey from his canoe, and seeing on the table, a cloth with which it was covered, and deeming it to be a good prize, he made his escape with it there and then; so that one must take special heed to keep close watch over everything."
The islanders greatly valued hats.
When other visitors came to the island they also recorded similar instances of natives taking hats. In 1774 Captain James Cook arrived on Easter Island and he noticed the natives wearing European hats. According to Cook, “Before I sailed from England, I was informed that a Spanish ship visited this isle. . . . Some signs of it were seen among the (Rapanui) people now about us; one man had a pretty good broad brimmed European hat on; another had a grego jacket; and another a red silk handkerchief.”
Cook also claimed that when he was there some of the men made an excursion on the island, "with the loss only of a hat, which one of the natives snatched off the head of one of the party.” . .
📷Engraving (by James Heath, after an original drawing by Gaspard D***e de Vancy) depicts European explorers as they measure and record statues on the Polynesian island of Easter Island, 1786. Among those pictured is French Naval officer Jean-Francois de Galaup, comte de La Perouse (1741 - 1788). (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
