Easter Island Foundation
Encyclopedia
The Easter Island Foundation is an American
non-profit organization
that promotes the conservation and protection of the fragile cultural heritage of Rapa Nui (Easter Island
) and other Polynesian islands.
on the island and continues to support its operations.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
non-profit organization
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
that promotes the conservation and protection of the fragile cultural heritage of Rapa Nui (Easter Island
Easter Island
Easter Island is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian triangle. A special territory of Chile that was annexed in 1888, Easter Island is famous for its 887 extant monumental statues, called moai, created by the early Rapanui people...
) and other Polynesian islands.
Background of the Foundation
The Easter Island Foundation (EIF) was organized in 1989 by a group of concerned scientists and interested persons who together were inspired by Polynesia's incomparable archaeological treasures. Among its many projects, the Foundation established the William Mulloy LibraryWilliam Mulloy Library
The William Mulloy Library is a research library administered by the Father Sebastian Englert Anthropological Museum on Rapa Nui in Chilean Polynesia. Named for the late Dr...
on the island and continues to support its operations.
Objectives of the Foundation
- To promote an interest in research on Easter IslandEaster IslandEaster Island is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian triangle. A special territory of Chile that was annexed in 1888, Easter Island is famous for its 887 extant monumental statues, called moai, created by the early Rapanui people...
and other Pacific islandsPacific IslandsThe Pacific Islands comprise 20,000 to 30,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean. The islands are also sometimes collectively called Oceania, although Oceania is sometimes defined as also including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago....
by anthropologists, archaeologists, linguists, environmentalists, and members of other scientific, historical, and cultural disciplines.
- To work toward the conservation and preservation of Easter Island’s cultural heritage and environmental character as well as historic sites and monuments in Polynesia.
- To inform and educate local, national, and international groups and communities in addition to the general public with regard to Easter Island’s unique heritage and priceless monumental treasures.
- To facilitate communication about Easter Island and other Pacific islands among scientific disciplines, historians, and other interested parties through publication of journals, books, guides, and other media-related sources and conferences.
- To develop an endowment fund through investments, bequests, corporate and Easter Island Foundation contributions, and other related sources — to provide a pool of financial resources for the support of the Foundation’s programs.
- To help support the William Mulloy LibraryWilliam Mulloy LibraryThe William Mulloy Library is a research library administered by the Father Sebastian Englert Anthropological Museum on Rapa Nui in Chilean Polynesia. Named for the late Dr...
for the study of Easter Island and various related disciplines, in association with the island’s Museo Antropológico Padre Sebastián Englert.
- To provide a scholarship program for promising Rapa Nui secondary and college students to ensure them an opportunity for advanced academic studies.
- To encourage economic development activities on Easter Island that will benefit the Rapa Nui and that will honor and maintain the cultural and environmental character of the island.