Makemake (deity)

For other uses, see Makemake (disambiguation).

Makemake with two birdmen, carved from red scoria

Makemake (also written as Make-make or MakeMake; pronounced [ˈmakeˈmake] in Rapa Nui^[1]) in the Rapa Nui mythology of Easter Island, is the creator of humanity, the god of fertility and the chief god of the "Tangata manu" or bird-man cult (this cult succeeded the island's more famous Moai era).

He is a frequent subject of the Rapa Nui's petroglyphs.

In astronomy

The trans-Neptunian dwarf planet Makemake is so named because both the planet and the island are connected to Easter; the planet was discovered shortly after Easter 2005, and the first European contact with Easter Island was on Easter Sunday 1722.^[2]^[3] The dwarf planet's code name was "Easterbunny".

Petroglyphs on rocks at Orongo. Makemake at base and two birdmen higher up

References

↑ Robert D. Craig (2004). "Handbook of Polynesian Mythology". ABC-CLIO: 63. ISBN 978-1-57607-894-5.
↑ Blue, Jennifer (July 14, 2008). "(136472) 2005 FY9 Named Makemake". Retrieved 2008-07-15.
↑ Mike Brown (2008). "Mike Brown's Planets: What's in a name? [part 2]". CalTech. Retrieved 2008-07-14.

Alfred Métraux. [1940] 1971. Ethnology of Easter Island. Bernice P. Bishop Museum Bulletin 160. Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press.
Katherine Routledge The Mystery of Easter Island 1919 ISBN 0-932813-48-8
VAN TILBURG, Jo Anne. 1994. Easter Island: Archaeology, Ecology and Culture. Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.

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