Mana Tupuna: Honoring the Ancestors Abroad
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2020
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Abstract
The Mana Tupuna Project reimagines the connection between contemporary Rapanui
people and the carvings of their ancestors. The inaugural iteration of this multifaceted
project focuses on the Mulloy collection in the University Wyoming Museum of Art. By
digitally bridging between museum art abroad and people on Rapa Nui, this project
reinforces Polynesian language, culture, and values in both local and global settings.
Beginning in March 2020, international travel and tourism to Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
stopped due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the island was in a state of relative isolation
for nearly two and a half years. Resilient and indomitable as ever, the people of Rapa Nui
took this time to refocus on traditional farming, fishing, Rapanui language, and cultural
revitalization projects. The Mana Tupuna project, which is a collaboration between the
Rapa Nui Tour Guides Association, Rapa Nui wood carvers, and the author, explores and
assesses colonial discourses, their effects on the art and culture of Rapa Nui, and the
possibilities for more sustainable forms of tourism that do not rely solely on people
physically visiting the island. The applications that support Mana Tupuna function as
language and culture revitalization tools. Educational institutions on Rapa Nui have
already begun to use them. These applications re-anchor Rapa Nui wood carvings from the
1950s and 1960s, now residing in the University ofWyoming Art Museum, to the people and
places of Rapa Nui via 3D modeling, 360° photography, virtual reality, and the internet.
Crucially, the global tourist audience can also access versions of these applications. Wood
carvings (moai toromiro), among the first trade goods exchanged between Europeans and
the Rapanui, have been a key element of social interactions between the islanders and their
visitors since the first Europeans visited the island 300 years ago. This article, which
privileges traditional Polynesian cultural values, explores the history of Rapa Nui wood
carving and Western views of this tradition.
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Keywords
Rapa Nui, Indigenous language revitalization, decolonization, moai toromiro
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