Learn or Die
Back in the time when it was inhabited, Easter Island�s zoological and botanical make-up was quite different than what we would see today. Instead of a barren plain with simple grasses and a rare palm � which in total, lacked the resources required to support a complex society � the island was once covered with large forests of palms, woody shrubs, herbs, ferns, and grasses, as well as various fish, porpoises and small animals. In addition to these native animals, seabirds would often be frequent visitors to the island�s shores, and as people began to settle on these shores, became a staple for the cooking pot.
As it is quite isolated from other regions of the time, the origin of those on Easter Island is unknown, although their roots have been traced back to various sources, each theory with points both for and against it. Still, the origin of these people is not very important, only the fact that after they had settled on the island for a few brief centuries, the large forests and palms once abundant on the island, were beginning to be destroyed. Hence, the ecological balance once present on the island was disrupted with the introduction of humans.
Then, the human population grew to be more �civilized� and more �technologically advanced,� many of the limited palms were harvested to manufacture canoes, as fuel for campfires, and as timbers for constructing shelter. The islanders� diets consisted of exotic foods such as porpoises which were hunted from their canoes, as well as the domesticated chicken which was enjoyed only rarely as there were many more desirable foods around them. It seemed that Easter Island was an idyllic land which could support all of its human inhabitants and provide them with a good life, but the island too, had its carrying capacity, and once the population exceeded this, great disaster would follow. This natural phenomenon of �population reduction� is very dramatic and what ended the islanders� society.
The clearing of land for agricultural purposes and the destruction of so much forest land, however, would soon catch up to the inhabitants of Easter Island. As the forests began to recede and disappear, the islanders learnt to adapt, and use other sources of materials for their fire, ropes, canoes and other equipment which was often used in their daily lives. Along with the plants, however, the animals soon began to disappear as well, due to over hunting and destruction of habitat. The domesticated chicken still survived and soon became a meal staple as seabirds began to bypass the island due to a lack of food and resting sites.
Unfortunately, there was only a certain amount the people of Easter Island could do to adapt their way of life around disappearing resources. Porpoise became a thing of the past as canoes could no longer be made due to lack of trees and formerly fertile lands had been leeched of all nutrients and were worthless. Instead, the people turned to cannibalism in a last attempt of survival. At this point, it became obvious to them that they could not leave the island and could not simply �move on� once resources had been exhausted, as was the norm with many nomadic societies at the time. Furthermore, as they were isolated from the rest of the world, they could not be rescued by trading.
By today�s standards the greatest �waste� of resources was in the construction of the many statues of gigantic heads in various locations on the islands. It can be seen that these heads were first constructed in rock quarries, hauled, and then erected in desired location. Some of the later statues even wore extremely large and heavy red stone crowns, and served as symbols of status between the members of rival societies existing at the time. To make matters worse, wars between these societies became more and more furious over limited resources, and in shows of power, many of the Easter Island statues were knocked down and destroyed. Furthermore, there were many more of these statues under construction at the time of these wars and these were never finished due to lack of materials to construct them with. Hence, eventually, all the islanders of Easter Island faced starvation and even with cannibalism, found it impossible to survive.
As it was impossible to flee from their isolated island, the Easter Islanders were forced to face the monster which they have created themselves through their overtaxing of the environment. Alas, it is impossible to place the blame on them as they have suffered greatly for their actions and did not understand their environment. Today, however, we do understand the impact our livelihood has on our surrounding environment and although the planet is certainly larger than Easter Island, the main moral of the Easter Island catastrophe shockingly parallels the state of the planet. It is impossible for us to escape from our planet once it has been exploited, thus, if we do not work in harmony with nature, we are ultimately working towards our own destruction. Our Armageddon may not appear for many centuries yet, with technologies and adaptations allowing us to live our lives as normally as possible, the environment slowly receding around us, so silently, we may not even notice. This silence is deadly and if we do not practice sustainable development and implement limits on our environmental effect, including greenhouse gasses, the earth will one day be as hostile towards us as Easter Island was to its islanders. Today, the island is uninhabited and would appear that it was always so, if not for the presence of those famous statues of stone.
February 13, 2003 ~ This one's for you Mr. Dowsett and Ms. Daniels!