Rapa Nui harpoon hunting
I joined once to a party with harpoon hunting, It was a great experience! I spent 2,5 hours 200 metres from the shore at the north side of the island with a Rapa Nui friend who is an expert fisherman. He can hold 4 minutes or more his breath and hurt deep between the oceanic rocks. I was holding the buoy were he added the hunted fishes. But he went close to the shore where huge waves were hitting, so as a precaution he told us to wait… and his friend and I waited for him about 10, 30, 50 minutes… We gave up and came back swimming to the shore thinking of a “possible misadventure” but his family didn’t even get worried. “He is an expert fisherman, once he disappeared hunting for a long time, his cousins called for help even rescue from the navy… he was disappeared for hours and at midnight he just arrived walking to his home, with 3 big fishes and all his equipment, asking just for fresh water. The boat left him alone close to the Motus (little islands close the main island) and he had to swim back, climb a ladder of the volcanic shore and the rest is a tale that everyone on the island knows: Where is Kuli?”. Just at the end of this tale, We saw him swimming back to the land with one huge Nuapara and a Pisis.
We cooked them just with fire and salt water, it was delicious! Funny that one friend commented to me “Oh you are so brave going hunting with the harpoon! I can’t do it because the shark scares me so much!” My eyes turn to two big balls looking for someone who didn’t know this as me… “yeah! the harpoon makes the fish bleed and the sharks come really fast!” Well…. the night was beautiful and warm, shared with traditional and unique Rapa Nui songs on guitar under a beautiful sky full of stars.
Koh, cousin of Kuli.
