German–Rapanui Entanglements

List of figures Note on the text AcknowledgementsIntroduction Cristián Moreno Pakarati, Diego Muñoz and Philipp SchorchChapter 1. Framing German–Chilean entanglements with Rapa Nui H. Glenn PennyChapter 2. More than conversion : The Bavarian Capuchins and their scientific activities among the Mapuche and Rapanui peoples in Chile Markus A. ScholzChapter 3. Altötting and Rapa Nui : Capuchin and Indigenous collecting, curating and exhibiting Diego Muñoz and Philipp SchorchChapter 4. Rapanui lore as a vehicle to reconstruct local history : The Germanic collecting of oral traditions in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries Cristián Moreno PakaratiChapter 5. Co-construction of knowledge : Thomas Barthel and Rapanui interlocutors in the field Andrea Seelenfreund and Théo MilinChapter 6. Archaeology, community outreach and transforming perspectives : Seventeen years of German–Rapanui collaboration at Ava Ranga Uka A Toroke Hau Annette KühlemAfterword 1. The ambiguity of entanglements : Germans and Chilean colonialisms on Rapa Nui Rolf FoersterAfterword 2. Living entanglements Noah Paoa KannegiesserContributorsGroundbreaking material-visual history and ethnography of German–Rapanui entanglements.This book traces German-Rapanui entanglements from past to present through encounters between scholars, missionaries, institutions and Indigenous actors, and through the material and visual traces—objects, photographs, and texts—that continue to shape knowledge and memory of Rapa Nui (Easter Island). Moving beyond limiting Eurocentric frames, it highlights how Rapanui people have actively engaged with German and German-speaking individuals and institutions to (re)shape different practices and discourses of ‘Rapanuiness’.The chapters bring these dynamics to life: from Bavarian Capuchin activities that reached far beyond conversion, to collecting and exhibiting networks linking Altötting in Bavaria to Rapa Nui; from German efforts to record oral traditions and the 1957 German–Chilean expedition, to long-term archaeological collaborations at Ava Ranga Uka A Toroke Hau.Written by scholars based in Rapa Nui, Germany, Chile, France, and the United States, the volume shows how Rapanui communities have shifted from being marginalised in the management of their heritage to becoming key agents in its interpretation and future. Together, these studies illuminate three centuries of entanglement—and their powerful resonance today.