Tangata manu
Encyclopedia
Easter Island
Easter Island is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian triangle. A special territory of Chile that was annexed in 1888, Easter Island is famous for its 887 extant monumental statues, called moai, created by the early Rapanui people...
). The ritual was an annual competition to collect the first Sooty Tern
Sooty Tern
The Sooty Tern, Onychoprion fuscatus , is a seabird of the tern family . It is a bird of the tropical oceans, breeding on islands throughout the equatorial zone. Colloquially, it is known as the Wideawake Tern or just wideawake...
(manu tara) egg of the season from the islet of Motu Nui
Motu Nui
Motu Nui is the largest of three islets just south of Easter Island and is the most westerly place in Chile. All three islets have sea birds but Motu Nui was also an essential location for the Tangata manu cult which was the island religion between the moai era and the Christian times...
, swim back to Rapa Nui and climb the sea cliff of Rano Kau
Rano Kau
Rano Kau is a tall extinct volcano that forms the southwestern headland of Easter Island, a Chilean island in the Pacific Ocean. It was formed of basaltic lava flows in the Pleistocene with its youngest rocks dated at between 150,000 and 210,000 years ago.- The crater :Rano Kau has a crater...
to the clifftop village of Orongo
Orongo
‘Orongo is a stone village and ceremonial centre at the southwestern tip of Rapa Nui . The first half of the ceremonial village's 53 stone masonry houses were investigated and restored in 1974 by American archaeologist William Mulloy...
.
Myth
In the Rapa Nui mythologyRapa Nui mythology
The Rapa Nui mythology, also known as Pascuense mythology or Easter Island mythology, is the name given to the myths, legends and beliefs of the native Rapanui people of the island of Rapa Nui , located in the south eastern Pacific Ocean, almost four thousand kilometers from continental...
, the deity Make-make
Makemake (mythology)
Makemake in the Rapa Nui mythology of Easter Island, was the creator of humanity, the god of fertility and the chief god of the "Tangata manu" or bird-man cult .He is a frequent subject of the island's Petroglyphs.-In Astronomy:The trans-Neptunian...
was the chief god of the birdman cult, the other three gods associated with it being Hawa-tuu-take-take (the Chief of the eggs) his wife Vie Hoa and Vie Kanatea.
Birdman Religion
Contestants were revealed in dreams by ivi-attuas (individuals with the gift of prophecy). The contestants would each appoint a Hopu who would swim to Motu NuiMotu Nui
Motu Nui is the largest of three islets just south of Easter Island and is the most westerly place in Chile. All three islets have sea birds but Motu Nui was also an essential location for the Tangata manu cult which was the island religion between the moai era and the Christian times...
and fetch them the Egg, whilst the contestants waited at Orongo
Orongo
‘Orongo is a stone village and ceremonial centre at the southwestern tip of Rapa Nui . The first half of the ceremonial village's 53 stone masonry houses were investigated and restored in 1974 by American archaeologist William Mulloy...
. The race was very dangerous and many Hopu were killed by shark
Shark
Sharks are a type of fish with a full cartilaginous skeleton and a highly streamlined body. The earliest known sharks date from more than 420 million years ago....
s, drowning or by falling.
Once the first egg was collected, the final task would be for the unsuccessful contestants to return to Orongo, the winner allowed to remain in Motu Nui until he felt spiritually prepared to return. On his return he would present the egg to his patron, who had already shaved his head and painted it either white or red.
The successful man would be declared Tangata-Manu, would take the egg in his hand and lead a procession down the slope of Rano Kau
Rano Kau
Rano Kau is a tall extinct volcano that forms the southwestern headland of Easter Island, a Chilean island in the Pacific Ocean. It was formed of basaltic lava flows in the Pleistocene with its youngest rocks dated at between 150,000 and 210,000 years ago.- The crater :Rano Kau has a crater...
and on either to Anakena
Anakena
Anakena is a white coral sand beach in Rapa Nui National Park on Rapa Nui , a Chilean island in the Pacific Ocean. Anakena has two ahus, one with a single moai and the other with six...
if he was from the western clans or Rano Raraku
Rano Raraku
Rano Raraku is a volcanic crater formed of consolidated volcanic ash, or tuff, and located on the lower slopes of Terevaka in the Rapa Nui National Park on Easter Island. It was a quarry for about 500 years until the early eighteenth century, and supplied the stone from which about 95% of the...
if he was from the eastern clans. Once in residence there he was tapu (taboo) for the next five months of his year-long status, and allowed his nails to grow and wore a headdress of human hair.
The new Tangata-Manu was given a new name, entitled to gifts of food and other tributes (including his clan having sole rights to collect that season's harvest of wild bird eggs and fledglings from Motu Nui
Motu Nui
Motu Nui is the largest of three islets just south of Easter Island and is the most westerly place in Chile. All three islets have sea birds but Motu Nui was also an essential location for the Tangata manu cult which was the island religion between the moai era and the Christian times...
), and went into seclusion for a year in a special ceremonial house.
The Birdman cult was suppressed by Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
missionaries in the 1860s. The origin of the cult and the time thereof are uncertain, as it is unknown whether the cult replaced the preceding Moai
Moai
Moai , or mo‘ai, are monolithic human figures carved from rock on the Chilean Polynesian island of Easter Island between the years 1250 and 1500. Nearly half are still at Rano Raraku, the main moai quarry, but hundreds were transported from there and set on stone platforms called ahu around the...
-based religion or had co-existed with it. Katherine Routledge
Katherine Routledge
Katherine Maria Routledge, née Pease was a British archaeologist who initiated the first true survey of Easter Island....
was, however, able to collect the names of 86 Tangata manu.
Trivia
- The band RasputinaRasputinaRasputina is a cello-driven band based in New York that is renowned for their unconventional and quirky music style as well as their fascination with historical allegories and fashion, especially those pertaining to the Victorian era....
's song Oh Bring Back the Egg Unbroken on their 2007 album, Oh Perilous WorldOh Perilous WorldStandard Edition bonus tracks# "The Question of Time" - 2:39# "Identity Tokens" - 4:54# "The Humanized Mice" - 2:19# "The Pruning " - 4:17# "Flood Corps" - 1:36# "Incapable of Regret" - 2:02# "Desert Vampire" - 1:36...
, is about these traditions. - The Hollywood film Rapa NuiRapa Nui (film)Rapa Nui is a 1994 film directed by Kevin Reynolds. It was produced by Kevin Costner and Barrie M. Osborne, among others. The plot is based on Rapanui legends of Easter Island, Chile, in particular the race for the Sooty Tern's egg in the Birdman Cult....
has a version of the race, though in the wrong historic context.