A recent online campaign that involved flooding the British Museum’s social media accounts with demands for the repatriation of the statue that it ‘took’ from Easter Island, has inspired me to write a few words about a topic I believe I have a closer insight into than many. The issue isn’t unique to either this stone statue or the British Museum in London, and it’s part of a much larger problem facing all international museums that house artefacts that didn’t originate from either their own country or culture. However, given the particular notoriety of the stone statues from Easter Island, museums around the world will be watching how this case plays out with great interest (and a degree of trepidation too).
Background
Easter Island, or Rapa Nui to use its current Polynesian name, is a small volcanic island in the eastern part of the South Pacific Ocean, famous around the world for the stone statues, or moai, that were carved by the island’s original inhabitants. In 1868, the Royal Navy ship HMS Topaze called in at Easter Island, with orders to confirm the island’s position on the Admiralty’s charts and to perform a survey of this remote outpost. The day after their arrival, the British sailors were shown a small statue, known as Moai Hava by the islanders, quite possibly with the intention of trading it with their new visitors. Two days later, some of the crew of the Topaze discovered a second statue buried inside a stone house at the ceremonial village of Orongo, this one brightly painted with coloured earth paints and referred to by the locals as Hoa Hakananai’a.
The captain of the Topaze, Richard Powell, expressed an interest in taking these two statues back to England as exotic curios, and having already established an active system of barter and exchange with the locals, so negotiations for these now famous statues began. We’ll never know the exact details of the exchange, only that both statues were eventually transported down to the coastline with the help of the islanders and floated out to the Topaze on a small barge. It’s said that the locals cheered loudly when the two idols were hoisted over the rail and onto the deck of the British ship, and Hoa Hakananai’a and Moai Hava arrived safely in England the following year.
The Admiralty presented Hoa Hakananai’a to Queen Victoria as a gift, only for the British monarch to subsequently donate the statue to the British Museum. Meanwhile, the Admiralty had given Moai Hava directly to the museum, and both statues have been in the British Museum’s collection ever since.
The Exchange
Given similar trades that took place in the 19th century between European sailors and other remote Polynesian communities, it is highly likely that the British swapped everyday goods, such as clothing, blankets and metal objects for these two stone idols. Many people today consider this to be a blatant exploitation of a naive local population, but with almost 1,000 moai scattered across the island, it could also be argued that it was the basic law of supply and demand working on both sides. The reality is that it’s impossible to pass judgement on these events that took place over 150 years ago, in which none of us were there and have no way of knowing the actual circumstances. However, some modern translations of Hoa Hakananai’a make references to the moai having been stolen, and this simply isn’t true, since we know the islanders themselves helped the British to transport both statues down to the harbour and then to float them out to the Topaze.
The problem arises today given the immeasurable cultural worth of a piece such as Hoa Hakananai’a, in stark contrast to any early European artefacts left behind on Easter Island, all of which have long since disappeared. Most experts now understand that the statues were originally carved as representations of important ancestors, and whose protective spirit, or mana, his or her descendants wished to preserve. It is perfectly understandable that many people, both on the island and further afield, now feel that these two statues should therefore be returned to their place of origin, hence why there have been regular and open conversations between the island authorities and the directors of the British Museum since 2017.
Attitudes on Easter Island
I was involved in some of the meetings and proposals that took place between the island authorities, the British Museum, and the British Embassy in Chile regarding the future of the two statues currently in the UK. In 2018, senior members of the Oceania Department of the British Museum visited Easter Island, and in 2019 a sizeable delegation from the island visited London to see all the Easter Island artefacts in the museum’s collection. The British Museum has since sponsored the Rapanui curator from the Easter Island Museum to spend several months with them learning more about their work and helping to create closer ties between the two organizations.
One point of view that is rarely heard is that many islanders believe Hoa Hakananai’a is far better cared for and more visible in its current location, particularly as the island still doesn’t possess an adequate museum in which to house it. Atmospheric conditions on the island are also ill-suited to the conservation of soft stone, in stark contrast to the highly-controlled temperature and humidity of the rooms in the British Museum. Many on the island feel that Hoa Hakananai’a serves as an Ambassador for Easter Island and its culture, and is visited by literally thousands of international visitors each day.
Conversely, Hoa Hakananai’a is one of the most beautiful and intricately carved statues on the island, and once played a very significant role in the transition from the moai worshipping culture to a completely new belief system. It is unfortunate that of all the moai to have been removed, the crew of HMS Topaze chose this particular one, and yet adorned in red and white earth paints, there’s no doubt that it would have looked both imposing and appealing to any curious outsider.
Despite these contrasting points of view, the British Museum Act of 1963 prevents the museum from removing any artefact from its collection unless it is a duplicate, is damaged or is deemed ‘unfit’, meaning that it will require a change in the law before Hoa Hakananai’a or any other item can be considered for return. It also means that any protest or complaint should, in fact, be directed to the British government and not to the museum at all. The outcome of the ongoing discussion concerning the Elgin Marbles and other famous artefacts from Greece will play a vital role in shaping the narrative for the many other pieces that once belonged to other countries and were removed under differing circumstances. In the case of the Easter Island statues, it will also be important to see what happens with the seven other moai currently held in overseas museums around the world, even if the wrath of the online community appears to be very much focused on the British Museum for now. In the meantime, I urge anyone visiting London to go and admire Hoa Hakananai’a while you still can, and to hopefully be inspired by this fascinating culture that produced these unique carvings.
James Grant-Peterkin spent over 20 years living on Easter Island and served as the British Honorary Consul there between 2009 and 2023.