Jo Anne Van Tilburg of Rapa Nui's role in Polynesian seafaring history; Explore the natural environment of the Pacific Ocean and the ecology of Rapa Nui as part of that environment; Develop cultural exchanges with other Pacific islanders and continental peoples through the celebration of Rapa Nui maritime skills. Jo Anne Van Tilburg Jo Anne Van Tilburg is an American archaeologist best known for her research on the statues of Easter Island (Rapa Nui). Her primary specialty is rock art. Van Tilburg was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1965, receiving her Ph.D. from the University of California
Rapa Nui language Māori, as both languages are relatively conservative in retaining consonants lost in other Eastern Polynesian languages. Like all Polynesian languages, Rapa Nui has relatively few consonants. Uniquely for an Eastern Polynesian language, Rapa Nui has preserved the original glottal stop of Proto-Polynesian. It is, or until recently was, a verb-initial language. One of the most important recent books written about the language of Rapa Nui is Verónica du Feu's "Rapanui (Descriptive Grammar)" (). Very little is known about the Rapa Nui language prior to European contact. The majority of Rapa Nui vocabulary is inherited directly from Proto–Eastern Polynesian. Due to