MS 1999-07 Map of Orongo on Rapa Nui
odd: label: Publication Note
content: A version of the map was published in:

Thompson, Walter J. "Te pito te henua, or Easter Island."  Annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution 1889. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1891. pp 47-552.
name: label: Names
content: Mohican (Sloop of war)
place: label: Place
content: Easter Island
label: Place
content: Oceania
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The map was transferred from the object collections of the Department of Anthropology to the National Anthropological Archives on August 15, 1995.
culture: label: Culture
content: Rapanui (Easter Island people)
bioghist: label: Historical Note
content: In late 1886, under the auspices of the US Navy, the warship USS Mohican was sent on a scientific expedition to Easter Island to collect specimens for the Smithsonian Institution.  

The expedition took place from December 18- 31, 1886, and began with the Mohican's  arrival in Hanga Roa Bay, Rapa Nui on December 18.  A small group from the crew, including Surgeon George Cooke, Paymaster William Thomson, Lieutenant Frederick M. Symonds, and C.M. McCormick formed the main investigators of the island.  Island resident Alexander P. Salmon, a Tahitian living on Easter Island, served as the expedition's translator.  Among the main goals of the mission were to document Easter Island and its inhabitants, as well as to return with a complete specimen of one of its stone figures as an addition to the Smithsonian collections.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 1 Map (ink, 16.25 x 16.25 inches)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1886
container: label: Container
content: Folder 1999-07
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Anthropological Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NAA.MS1999-07
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Maps
label: Type
content: Maps
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Maps
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The collection consists of a map of the village of Orongo on Rapa Nui, with an inset drawing of a stone house.  Notes indicate that the village was surveyed by Lieutenant Frederick M. Symonds and C.M. McCormick and give information about items removed from specific locations on the map.

Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or National Anthropological Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: The collections from the Mohican Survey of Easter Island came to the Smithsonian Institution in a series of accessions under the names of several donors.  During the voyage the ship was under the command of Commander Benjamin F. Day, and a number of members of his crew were responsible for collecting and reporting on what was seen there.  Although the Thomson collection (donated and collected by ship Paymaster William Thomson) is the main body of the material from the expedition, various members of the Mohican's crew are the named donors of items of other items which have become part of the Smithsonian Institution's Easter Island collections.  See Department of Anthropology object collections Accession 19025, 20078, 23078

The National Anthropological Archives holds additional material from the expedition in the William Edwin Safford photograph albums relating to Easter Island, Samoa, and South America (Photo Lot 76-26); William J. Thomson photograph collection of Easter Island Rongorongo boards (Photo Lot 75-13); and Photo Lot 97.