Atamu Tekena

Life and reign

He was born around 1850 as an extended member of the Miru clan, traditionally associated with the native kingship (ariki mau). Due to Peruvian slave raiding and the decimation of the native Rapa Nui population by introduced diseases, the population of Easter Island had dropped to 110 individuals by 1877. In 1864, the French Picpus missionaries established themselves on the island and converted many of the Rapa Nui people to Christianity. The last recognized ‘ariki mau Kerekorio Manu Rangi died in a tuberculosis epidemic in 1867.

After this social upheaval, a Council of State was established under the leadership of French adventurer and sheep rancher Jean-Baptiste Dutrou-Bornier who asserted more and more control and expelled the Catholic missionaries. He installed his wife as the unrecognized "Queen" of the island and unsuccessfully petitioned France for protectorate status.

Dutrou-Bornier was assassinated in 1876 and the Roman Catholic mission returned. His business interest was inherited by the Anglo-Jewish-Tahitian Prince Alexander Ariipaea Salmon who managed a sheep ranch which constituted much of the land on the island. Salmon ruled in all but name. The reestablished mission set up a new native government based on the indigenous district councils of Tahiti. At the instigation of Bishop Tepano Jaussen of Tahiti, Atamu was appointed by Father Hippolyte Roussel as King in 1883 to represent their interest alongside two to‘opae (councillors) and two judges. He adopted the additional name Maurata after the ariki mau who died during the Peruvian slave raids. Unlike his predecessors, Atamu was not considered a member of the traditional royal patrilineal line and held little political power.

He married Ana Eva Hei Vehi (Uka ʻa Hei ʻa ʻArero), sometimes known as "Queen Eva", who was one of the last Rapa Nui people to have been tattooed in the traditional ways. They had six children including their eldest son Atamu “Hango” Tekena Hei.

Annexation to Chile

In 1887, Captain Policarpo Toro was sent by the government of Chile to purchase Salmon's sheep ranch and negotiate the annexation the island from the Catholic mission authority in Tahiti. Toro landed in Easter Island the following year and on 9 September 1888, Atamu and eleven chiefs signed a treaty of annexation ceding the island to Chile. During the annexation ceremony, Atamu gave Toro a handful of grass to feed his livestock and took a handful of dirt and put it in his jacket, staking his people's sovereign claim to the land.

Historian Lorenz Gonschor questions the authenticity of the annexation treaty due to the ambiguity of the bilingual versions. The Rapa Nui language version only made Chile the island's protector while the Spanish language version ceded the island's sovereignty in perpetuity. Despite the fact missionaries had been educating the islanders for more than twenty years, none of the chiefs signed their names to the document and merely wrote "+" next to their names. The treaty was also never ratified by Chile. Gonschor noted:

During the annexation ceremony, King Atamu Tekena gave Toro a bunch of grass while he put a handful of soil in his pocket, underlining his understanding of giving to Chile only the right to use the land, but not the land itself. It is also said that the Chilean flag was hoisted beneath the Rapanui flag on the same flagpole, thus acknowledging the sovereign status of the island's native government.

Captain Toro set up a colony with his brother Pedro Pablo Toro as the agent of colonization. The Rapa Nui people seemed oblivious to the take over; they believed they had only become a protectorate and still retain their independence. This Chilean colony co-existed and consulted with the native government and Atamu and his chiefs retained their titles. The colony was temporarily abandoned in 1892 after political unrest in Chile prompted many colonists to return. Atamu died on August 1892. After his death, the Rapa Nui people elected Simeon Riro Kāinga as the next king.