Alfred Metraux's foundational ethnographic survey of Rapa Nui (Easter Island), published as Bernice P. Bishop Museum Bulletin 160 in 1940, based on fieldwork conducted during the 1934 to 1935 Franco-Belgian expedition. It is the standard early scholarly documentation of Makemake, the Rapa Nui creator deity associated with birds, fertility and the sea, and of the tangata manu (birdman) competition held annually at the ceremonial village of Orongo, in which representatives of competing clans raced to retrieve the season's first sooty tern egg in Makemake's honor, with the winning clan chief's sponsor gaining a year of ritual authority. Its strength is direct fieldwork on the island combined with study of its rock art and oral tradition close to the practice's living memory. Its limit is a period study reflecting what remained recoverable in the 1930s after considerable earlier population loss and disruption on the island.
Facts
Citation
AuthorAlfred Metraux
PublisherBernice P. Bishop Museum
Publication Year1940
Source TypeEthnography
Assessment
Reliability Tier1
The foundational scholarly ethnography of Rapa Nui religion, grounded in the author's own fieldwork close to the living memory of the practice, standard in Pacific ethnology though reflecting the 1930s state of an island already disrupted by earlier population loss. Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Manu, Figures This source names Manu directly: "and the sea, and of the tangata manu (birdman) competition held annually at the ceremonial village of Orongo, in which representatives of competing clans raced to retrieve the season's first sooty..."
Claims Backed By This Source (18 claims)
This source backs 18 claims across the atlas. As facts: 14 well-attested. As cited relationships: 3 holds. Plus 1 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Deities, 11 claims: 8 well-attested, 2 holds, 1 general references.
- Sources, 7 claims: 6 well-attested, 1 holds.
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