KANEKO’S CRIB NOTES XXVII: TANGATA MANUNext on the list is the perennial scrub and e

KANEKO’S CRIB NOTES XXVII: TANGATA MANU

Next on the list is the perennial scrub and eponymous bird-man of Easter Island, Tangata Manu. Being the central figure of an 18th century cult is certainly no way to get ahead in the compendium, or so it would seem.

The Tangata Manu ceremony itself, performed in honor of the supreme god Make-Make, was supposedly held annually around September, during which the sacred Manutara would settle and lay their eggs on the island of Moto Nui. Tribal leaders were charged with selecting representatives to participate in a competition to swim from Rano Kau to Moto Nui in order to retrieve the newly laid eggs. 

The first to return straddling one of the eggs within a sort of ceremonial headband was proclaimed victor, the various honors of which were then conferred to the relevant chief-sponsor, whose person was made inviolable and set to be revered as a “Bird-Man”. In addition, the victorious tribe was allowed a greater stake in the island’s shared resources. The fun raged on until 1866, when, as is often the case, newly arrived Catholic missionaries put the kibosh on the whole “pagan” ordeal.  

Kaneko’s design is of course based on the various petroglyphs found on the rock surfaces of regions such as Orongo, all depicting the Manu in the iconic crouching profile. The Kaneko treatment features little in the way of embellishment, save for a pair of stylized wings that, while not necessarily present in traditional depictions, reflect the “flat” appearance of petroglyphs and rock paintings.