British Museum curators head to Easter Island for talks with natives over the return of the sacred Hoa Hakananai’a statue which has been in UK for 150 years
- British Museum sent curators to Easter Island for talks with Polynesian natives
- The four-ton lava rock sculpture has been on display in Britain for 150 years
- The Hoa Hakan-anai’a statue, which translates as ‘lost or stolen friend’, was presented as a gift to Queen Victoria after it was brought back to Britain
The Hoa Hakan-anai’a statue, which translates as ‘lost or stolen friend’, was presented as a gift to Queen Victoria
The British Museum has sent curators to Easter Island for talks with Polynesian natives who want this sacred statue returned.
The Hoa Hakan-anai’a statue, which translates as ‘lost or stolen friend’, was presented as a gift to Queen Victoria after it was brought back to Britain by Navy commodore Richard Powell who found it buried on the island in 1869.
The four-ton lava rock sculpture has been on display at the museum’s Wellcome gallery for 150 years.
The museum is advising islanders on how to preserve their remaining 1,000 or so statues, but curators are also expected to be asked about the return of the 8ft carving.
‘This is no rock. It embodies the spirit of an ancestor, almost like a grandfather,’ Carlos Edmunds, of the island’s Council of Elders, said.
‘This is what we want returned – not just a statue.’
The stone sculptures – known as ‘moai’ – were made between 1100 and 1600.
The stone sculptures – known as ‘moai’ – were made between 1100 and 1600 (pictured: Row of seven moai statues on Easter Island)