Our mission to Easter Island was one of self-reflection, servitude and salvation. Photographer Max Lowe, Director of Photography Clay Mason, and I were sent to the island for six weeks to mentor aspiring filmmakers as part of The Cousteau Fellowship. The objective was to make a film about an indigenous cowboy named Heu Rapu and the dynamic changes taking place on the island as the indigenous people fight to regain control from the Chilean Government and struggle with a seemingly unstoppable wave of modernization.
Rapu has long jet black hair, a tooled leather hat and a devilish grin. He grew up on the island of Rapa Nui, as it is called in his native language, and although he’s in his late 70s, he has the vitality of someone much younger. His intuitive relationship with the land and the sea is so strong it seems to thunder all around him. We spent our days following Rapu as he drove cattle, fished the crystalline waters and explored the large volcanic craters that appear like pockmarks over the surface of the island.
As we worked the land alongside Rapu, we learned about the history of this remote island through the lens of the indigenous people, and we stood in awe of the large, ghostly Moai statues, which are so famous throughout the world. Horses roam free through the grassy hills and the stars are so vivid at night, it feels as if you’re swimming among them, making this place seem incredibly free. But like most wild places, Rapa Nui is changing. With an influx of tourists, Rapa Nui is not immune to the globalization of the modern world and has found itself in a state of flux.
The Indigenous people of Rapa Nui are becoming more vocal about their disdain for the Chilean government and foreign investors, which has played out in a number of protests on the island. The Chilean government annexed Rapa Nui in 1888, but recently returned control of the island’s lucrative pay-to-enter park system to the indigenous community. This move signifies a big shift in the will of the Chilean government to control Rapa Nui’s resources.
Along with the shifting political tides, a new wave of modernization has swept over the island. Where cars were uncommon a decade ago, now Rapa Nui is ripe with flat screen TVs and smartphones. It’s an odd juxtaposition to drive down a road frequently blocked with free roaming cattle and moments later walk into a store selling virtual reality goggles. The island is also being courted by the Chinese government that is hoping to build the infrastructure for high-speed Internet, which has caused some controversy among residents. Another protest took place while we were on the island, as there are both advocates for connectivity and those who oppose such large scale globalization efforts.
There is plenty of speculation about Rapa Nui’s past, which was once a robust society now almost completely destroyed. As many questions as there are about the island’s past, there is equally widespread speculation about its future. For the moment, Rapa Nui remains a place of spectacular wonder, full of breathtaking headlands, rolling hills and a rich cultural heritage. While no place is immune to change, as long as people like Heu Rapa exist, the ancestral traditions of a self-sustaining Polynesian culture will survive intact as the world rapidly changes around them.
Images by Max Lowe.
Matthew Vanatta
This article was originally published in RANGE Magazine Issue Eight.