The land of the Moai came to be known as Easter Island after it was discovered by Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen during an expedition to find “Davis Land”. Roggeveen was the first-ever European to reach the remote volcanic island in the Pacific and called it Paasch-Eyland which meant “Easter Island” in 18th century Dutch. And as it appeared, it was during an Easter Sunday (April 5, 1722), when the Dutch explorer found the island.
Formally a territory of Chile, the official name of the island is “Isla de Pascua”, which is in Spanish, but at the same time would translate to “Easter Island” in English. It also goes by the name of Rapa Nui, due to its similarity to the Rapa Island of the Bass Islands.
Changes Over the Years
Regardless of the numerous secrets that shrouded the early origins of Easter Island and its people, there is one particular fact that all historians would agree upon even today. During a certain period of the island’s history, its inhabitants experienced serious forest destruction. Historians propose that Easter Islanders of the past burned down a majority of the trees that grew on the island to make room for clear lands as well as build wooden canoes, which served as their primary vessel for seafaring.
Historians also hypothesized that the ancient islanders crafted special tools to transport the massive Moai. Nevertheless, the Rapa Nui that we see today is dramatically different from what it used to be during the time of its early inhabitation.
Distant Location
As you would have imagined, Easter Island is among the most isolated places in the entire world. The next closest island that is populated, Pitcairn, is located about 1,200 miles west of Easter Island. The nearest major land mass is Chile, which lies 2,300 miles far in the east. Obviously, you’d have to cover thousands of miles of the sea just to get to the remote Easter Island in the Pacific.
With that being said, the same question still stands: is Easter Island worth such a demanding voyage? Well, the answer will be determined by your level of desire to step foot on the famed island and witness the iconic Moai, up close and personal. Besides that, you will also find an abundance of amazing natural beauty and a rich history everywhere on the island.
The First Settlers
In contemporary times, a well-known theory about Easter Island suggested that Indians hailing from the coastal regions of South America were the first to populate the secluded island. Following a careful study from renowned archaeologists and linguists though, the theory was eventually discredited by the rest of the academic world.
These days, the widely recognized notion is that the original people that discovered Easter Island came from Polynesian ancestry. It’s highly possible that the Islanders came from the Marquesas or the Society Islands which is an archipelago located in the South Pacific Ocean. Historians believe that they arrived in Rapa Nui as early as 318 AD.
"The Center of the World”
Before the Dutch explorer, Jacob Roggeveen discovered the isolated island in the Pacific and gave it the name that the rest of the world would come to know today, Easter Island had numerous other names way back. The oldest name on record is Te Pito o Te Henua, which directly translates to “The Center of the World” in English.
Besides that, settlers of the island also called it Mata-Ki-Te-Rani, which in English means “Eyes Looking at Heaven.” In the end, sailors from Tahiti named the volcanic island Rapa Nui during the 1860s and the rest, as they say, was history.