Rapa Nui Essay, Research Paper
Rapa Nui or the Ladle of the World is more commonly known as Easter Island. Originally settled by king Matuatani 1500 years ago, the island grew and divided into several tribes who believed very strongly in pleasing the gods of their religion. Religious suffrage was thought to come from building large statues, Muis. Having not had contact with anyone but themselves, the tribes believed they were the only ones on earth and the rest of the lands in the world had sunken. The two main political actors acting as groups in the movie are the tribes of the long and short ears. They compete to designate a hegemonic authority the Birdman every generation, which then has complete control over the island and the operations of building the Mui.
According to the islanders legend, ten years before its discovery by eastern civilization on Easter Sunday 1752, various oppressed tribes and the long ears engulfed in a civil war where the neglect of natural human rights fueled resource mobilization to overthrow the current central authority figure. The goals of the short ears became apparent when the priest of the long ears killed an innocent man for breaking a taboo. The old man claming it was an accident pleaded for his life. Other short ears were hungry, tiered, and satisfied with their work on the Mui but the long ears were not. A common interest had been created, it was now time to stand up for themselves against the long ears.
Clearly emotions and feelings of suppression, which generated a common sentiment, drove this revolt. The tribes focus arose from this feeling and not from a cost benefit analysis. They must have felt that revolution was the only solution. The short ears had tried asking for more food and better everything from the long ears with no luck before the revolution. This, coupled with the relentless pressure to build the Mui was simply not acceptable to the short ears who began wondering why the Gods that they were working so hard to please were allowing them this much pain.
The six-moon period before the birdman race marked the beginning of the collective movement by the depressed short ears. For the short ears to be allowed to enter the birdman race they must first finish a larger Mui, this time with a red hat. And, if the short ear fails to win the title he will be sacrificed to the Bird God. The task seemed impossible but was recognized as an important factor in gaining sovereignty as a tribe. Despite the overwhelming odds they completed the statue illustrating to the other tribes that they too were worthy of respect and a chance to have equal rights.
To win the birdman competition a swimmer, one from each tribe, must be the first to swim to the sacred island, find an egg and return it to the raining birdman without it breaking. During the race the swimmers resort to violence breaking each other s eggs. Only the long and short ear swimmers make it back, and the long ear wins. This was easily predicted and plays an important role in the chain of events that initiates the revolt.
Knowing he is going to be killed the swimmer from the short ear tribe stands up to the priest of the long ears when ordered to go back to work. He kills the priest, beginning the revolt against the long ears. Meanwhile, Akatui the raining birdman and ruler of the long ears sees the white canoe drifting by. He had agreed to resign his power after the competition and journeys to the iceberg where they believe salvation rests. The long ears no longer unified or organized end up chaotically loosing their stronghold over the island to the short ears that have become the largest and therefor strongest tribe.
The events that played out on Easter Island typify the normal change in power described by hegemonic stability theory. The lines of hegemonic theory are defined perfectly be this scenario. Where the central authority figure gains to much power, relative to the masses, which leads to a revolt and a new leader. In order for a conflict to arise power must be abused. In the case of Rapa Nui it was demanding too much work in a short period of time and killing an old man who said he had made a mistake. This was seen as unjust and a violation of the rights that should be equal among tribes. By collecting their human resources, the oppressed group was able to overturn the ruling hegemony and become the new controlling power on the island.