Father Sebastian Englert Anthropological Museum

Founded

The museum was founded in 1973 and named for Sebastian Englert

The museum in Hanga Roa was founded in 1973 and named after the Bavarian missionary Sebastian Englert. He recorded the language and culture of the island, and the large collection he formed became the foundation of the museum's collection.

Collections

The collection holds about 15,000 objects and the only female moai

The museum holds approximately 15,000 objects, including items collected by Englert and the archives of decades of archaeological investigation. It houses the only female moai and one of the coral eyes that were placed in the moai.

15,000objects in the museum's collection, approximately

On display

Obsidian tools, wood statuettes and rongorongo glyphs are on display

There are obsidian stone tools, wood statuettes, ancient fish hooks, a photographic collection and archives of traditional music. The museum also displays rongorongo glyphs. The zoological collections include two blue whale vertebra.

Overseas

More than 70 moai are in overseas collections, and some are returning

Because of colonial extraction from Rapa Nui, there are over 70 moai in overseas collections, including at the British Museum. In 2018 the government of New Zealand repatriated two moai, from Te Papa Museum and Otago Museum.

Return

Since 2013 the community has led the return and reburial of human remains

Since 2013 an independent program led by members of the Rapa Nui community, with researchers and the museum, has repatriated and reburied ivi tupana, human remains. In 2019 Norway and Chile agreed to return objects and remains taken in Thor Heyerdahl's research.