Rapa Nui Journal Volume 20 Issue 2

CHANGING TIMES: Two views of Hangaroa's main street: the top photograph (by Georgia Lee) dates from 1981; the lower photograph was taken this past June by Marla Wold. In 1981, this street was called Policarpo Toro.

AT THE MEETING OF THE BOARD of the Easter Island Foundation in April 2006, Christopher Stevenson turned over the reigns of the presidency after completing two 2-year terms. The Board thanked Chris for his leadership for the past several years.

IN APRIL 2005, I BROUGHT ENRIQUE Tucki of CONAF from Easter Island to Australia for an environmental technical visit. Prior to his arrival I sent him an email, advising him that he had one little obligation to me when he got here; to transcribe the lyrics of my favorite Matato'a songs in Rapanui and translate them into English.

"Alle fugler sma de er...('all the little birds'... ) do you remember the rest of the lines?" Of course I do; this song would be a childhood memory of any Norwegian. What was more surprising about this question is that it was asked by a Rapanui, and on Rapa Nui.

THE RETURN OF MR UGLY

A SERIOUSLY UGLY moai with a nose like that of Jimmy Durante's has been shipped back to the island. A visual artist from Argentina, Rosa Velasco, returned it as a "matter of reparation."

THE MOST ASTONISHING moai sighting in years comes from the Outdoor Education Garden, a new feature at the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens in Romsey, England.

I hope that the readers of this journal will not pass this volume over in the mistaken impression that its topic is an esoteric one, of interest only to ethnobotanists. The truth is that the study of the sweet potato cuts straight to the heart of some of the most important issues in Polynesian prehistory, especially for Rapa Nui.