- Marc Marquez quickest in Australian MotoGP practice
- 'Like Texas': Spain's arid south draws Western film shoots
- With record production, Moldova plum farmers hail EU integration
- Nigerians sacrifice cars as cost of living crisis worsens
- Liverpool face Chelsea title test, Ten Hag fights to avoid sack
- Asian markets swing as China economic growth slows
- Pogba's shadow looms over Juve as revitalised Lazio come to town
- 'Unbelievable' Raphinha leading Barca into tricky triple-header
- In-form Marmoush and Frankfurt hope to tackle history at wounded Leverkusen
- Britain's Lammy in China to 'challenge' Beijing on Russia support
- Manila's car counters help address 'world's worst traffic'
- British racing attendances falling behind, says Qatar Racing's manager
- Rain forces cancellation of opening practice for Australian MotoGP
- Dupont 'beyond surprise' for Toulouse's Kinghorn
- Drought forces Big Tech to rethink thirsty LatAm data centers
- Countries under pressure to fork out for nature at UN conference
- Biden, allies in Berlin to renew Gaza truce call after Hamas leader killed
- Guardians rally to fry Yankees in 10 innings in MLB playoff thriller
- World Bank president focused on job creation ahead of annual meetings
- World Bank chief says lender's climate goals likely safe under Trump
- Japan's core inflation rate slows in September
- King Charles set to arrive in Australia for landmark tour
- Nadal defeated by 'animal' Alcaraz in Saudi Arabia as career nears end
- US charges Indian agent over alleged plot to kill Sikh separatist
- Musk stumps for Trump in key US swing state
- TikTok, Facebook approve ads with US election disinformation, study says
- Purdy and 49ers face Chiefs in Super Bowl rematch
- Kenya deputy president ousted in historic impeachment
- One Direction members 'devastated' by Liam Payne's death
- Norris shrugs off Red Bull 'trick' of the trade at US Grand Prix
- Chelsea, Lyon ease to wins in Women's Champions League
- China expected to post slowing growth as economic woes drag
- Yamasaki brings keirin world title home as Japan takes two track golds
- Netflix adds millions of subscribers but growth slows
- 'Deeply misguided' to wall US off with tariffs: Yellen
- Biden farewell visit to Berlin focused on Ukraine, Mideast wars
- Sinwar killing a blow to Hamas but impact on war uncertain
- Mitzi Gaynor, star of 'South Pacific,' dies aged 93
- Trump says Zelensky 'should never have let' Ukraine war start
- Hayes turns focus to US women's World Cup goal
- Zelensky seeks EU, NATO backing for 'victory plan'
- Bosch stuns Australia as South Africa reach Women's T20 World Cup final
- What we know about One Direction star Liam Payne's death
- Nicotine pouches rise in popularity as US youth tobacco use hits 25-year-low
- Mendis clinches Sri Lanka series win over West Indies
- Israel says killed Hamas chief Sinwar in Gaza
- Panel urges Secret Service shake-up after Trump assassination bid
- Trump, Harris back on friendly ground after tough interrogations
- Pressure on Ten Hag is 'too much': Brentford boss Frank
- Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar: Israel's most wanted man
CMSD | -0.52% | 25.02 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.52% | 24.79 | $ | |
GSK | -0.64% | 38.96 | $ | |
SCS | 0.53% | 13.21 | $ | |
BCC | -3.38% | 142.2 | $ | |
RIO | -1.32% | 65.09 | $ | |
AZN | -0.37% | 78.02 | $ | |
NGG | -1.41% | 67.19 | $ | |
BP | 1.25% | 31.32 | $ | |
RBGPF | 0.69% | 60.92 | $ | |
BTI | -1.22% | 35.37 | $ | |
RYCEF | 0.68% | 7.4 | $ | |
BCE | 0.03% | 33.49 | $ | |
JRI | -0.15% | 13.15 | $ | |
VOD | -1.23% | 9.73 | $ | |
RELX | 0.91% | 48.59 | $ |
Chile museum to return Easter Island 'head'
Chile's National Museum of Natural History said Monday it will return to Easter Island an enormous stone statue taken from the Rapa Nui people and brought to the mainland 150 years ago.
The monolith is one of hundreds, called Moai, carved by the Rapa Nui in honor of their ancestors and sometimes referred to as the Easter Island heads.
The statues are today the island's greatest tourist attraction, sculpted from basalt more than 1,000 years ago.
The one being returned, dubbed Moai Tau, is a 715-kilogram (1,500-pound) giant brought by the Chilean navy some 3,700 kilometers (2,300 miles) across the Pacific in 1870.
Eight years later, it was moved to the natural history museum to be displayed.
The Rapa Nui, for whom the Moai represent the spirits of their ancestors, have been asking for the statue's return for years -- as well as other cultural treasures taken from their island.
"For the Rapa Nui, their ancestors, funerary objects and ceremonial materials may be as alive as members of their communities themselves," said a museum statement.
The return of the monolith "is profoundly significant as a gesture towards our indigenous peoples," said museum curator Cristian Becker.
With delays due to the coronavirus epidemic, the statue will finally depart from the port of Valparaiso next Monday on a trip of about five days to Easter Island, said the museum, "after a complex technical and diagnostic process" to guarantee its structural integrity.
A traditional ceremony was held at the museum Monday to send the statue safely on its way.
"It is essential that the Moai return to my homeland. For them (the community) and for me, this day is very much awaited," said Veronica Tuqui, a Rapa Nui representative.
Back on Easter Island, the Moai will be exhibited at the Father Sebastian Englert Anthropological Museum.
The Rapa Nui community has also asked the British Museum in London to return another Moai, dubbed Hoa Hakananai'a, that was taken in 1868 from Orongo, a ceremonial village on Easter Island.
The Rapa Nui in 2017 gained self-administration over their ancestral lands on Easter Island, a special territory of Chile.
G.Machado--PC