Easter Island is the most remote and occupied island in the world. It is located in the southern Pacific Ocean more than 2000 miles west of South America, 1,400 miles from the closest habitable island, Pitcairn. This island has less population compared to other islands in the world. The issue of colonization and the founder of the island is conflicting. This has led to different researches being carried out to reveal this mystery (Marshall 2011).
Genetic evidence has been used to prove the theory that though the Europeans were the first inhabitants of this Island, South Americans assisted in the colonization. Marshall Michael in his article “Early Americans helped colonize Easter Island” stated that Polynesia is occupied by Asians and it is the most populated island worldwide.
Further evidence provided claims that people started migrating to the East about 5500 years ago, arrived at Polynesia 2500 years after and finally took over Easter Island after about 1500 years (Marshall 2011).
According to an exertion presented at the Royal Society discussion on human evolution, it was stated that Thor Heyerdahl, an adventurer from Norwegian was against the above evidence on migration.
He suggested that South Americans ought to have moved across the Pacific marine in the mid of the 20th century, since the statues at the Easter island were almost comparable to those found at Tiahuanaco of Lake Titicaca, Bolivia (Marshall 2011). He proved his argument by his Kon-Tiki expedition where he sailed from Peru to Tuomotu Islands of Polynesia.
After keen observation of the blood groups, Erick Thorsby found out that most of the HLA genes of the occupiers proved to be Polynesian, though few of them had HLA genes of the Americans (Marshall 2011).
In Erick Thorsby research, he further discovered that there was recombination, and mixed HLA genes among Polynesia and the Americans. He suggested that this is a rare case and it only proved that indeed Americans had been to Polynesia long before it was discovered in 1722 by the Europeans.
Many today believe Easter Island and its people are a microcosm of island Earth and humankind. However, rejecting the colonization notion means that Easter Island, and its colonists, are not a true representation of island Earth and present humankind.
I think, there is a relationship between Americans and the Polynesians due to the Polynesians voyage to America and back.
The latest upcoming Spanish ocean expedition is the Tara expedition which is expected to take place in May 2013, and it will be heading for the Great North. Tara will be going across the Arctic Ocean via the North East and West passages, but this will be highly determined by the ice.
Scientific institutions and researchers are currently working together with Tara researching mainly on the polar ocean ecosystem, analyzing and completing the research which was done in 2009. In this particular event, research programs concerning synthetic particles and pollution traces will be added to specific regions of the north.
Information on the findings of this event will be communicated by the researchers to the rest of the world giving people room to acquire knowledge, give suggestions, and even criticize the findings of the research. This event will be sponsored by the Tara organization, but other sponsors are welcomed to participate in this event. The event is hoped to be a great occasion of discovering changes in the ecosystem.
Works Cited
Marshall, M. Early Americans helped colonize Easter Island. New Scientist Life. 24.1 (2011). Web.