Societal Collapse

Greenland

Easter Island/Rapa Nui

Easter Island -the most isolated populated island in the world Settled by Polynesians around 400 AD Population at Peak (about 450 people per Square km) in different chieftans. Famous for Stone statues Purpose for statues is unknown…it is thought that warring tribes competed by building Bigger and bigger statues Chicken Barns Chickens were the only domesticated animal on the island (besides rats), and the easter people build thousands of barns out of rock to contain and protect them (from thieves)

Easter Island Size Made from Volcano’s Is 25 by 15 km’s Freshwater streams only flow when its raining. Besides that, people have to collect fresh water at low tide from underground streams that flow into the ocean between the high and low tide levels Soil is fertile, yet the climate is cold (similar to Maine) Islanders ate mostly - Sweet potatoes -fish and dolphin -chicken -ducks After cutting down the last of the trees, the Islanders could not longer build rafts/boats. With there being no trees left, erosion washed away most of the soil. The duck population quickly vanished. By studying the bones left in their garbage heaps, the population switched from eating fish and dolphins, to chicken and humans.

Lack of food resulted in a population crash around 1400 AD and societal collapse. All of the statues were knocked over as people rebelled against their chiefs. First contact with Europeans in 1770, resulted in most of the population dying from smallpox – Peru slave ships took 1500 people as slaves in Guano mines By 1900, only 120 people were left on the island. Starving and living in caves along cliffs for protection. A popular insult “The flesh of your mother hangs in my teeth”

A popular event in Easter Island Birdman Competition One male from each tribe would run/swim/climb to a nearby island and get a newly hatched egg. (the waters were shark infested). The contestant would then run/swim/climb back to the start of the race and present the unbroken egg to the Head Chief of their tribe. The winner would be regarded as an image of God for the whole year and their tribe would be the head tribe for the year. Everything was done for the winner. They were fed, washed, clothed for the entire year.

Easter Island Today Belongs to Chile Tourism is the biggest industry Most of the island has been converted to sheep farming (the sheep ate most of the remaining indigenous bushes and shrubs)

Mangareva, Pitcairn Island, Henderson Island

These island now belong to French Polynesia, but for centuries were on their own All three island settled around 300 AD Mangareva is has a large lagoon and coral reef (15 miles in diameter), where countless fish and oysters can be found. Lots of quality farmland. People grew mostly sweet potatoes and coconuts, as well as pigs and chickens Mangavera has lots of food, but does not have the resources to make stone tools (as a volcanic island, it’s rocks were weak). Tools needed to make fish hooks, scissors, shovels to farm the land Population 50,000 at its peak Stone tools in Mangareva were

Pitcairn – only 2.5 miles wide No freshwater streams Large forests No reefs for oysters or fish Steep hills offering limited farming land. But, it had a quarry of volcanic glass, that could be used to make stone tools, scissors, scapels, etc. Had a quarry of basalt, used to make shovels, axes, etc Pitcairns volcanic glass and basalt can be found as far away as New Zealand Populaton at peak – 1,000

Henderson 14 miles wide. Is not a volcanic island, but made up of a raised coral reef No freshwater No big trees Limited farming land Surrounded by a huge coral reef, where lots of fish and oysters live. Lots of Sea Turtles and Birds nest here. Max Population about 200 People

All three islands, Mangareva, Pitcairn Island, Henderson Island, relied on each other for survival. Around 1600’s, Mangareva’s population outgrew the island. Pigs had eaten most of the wild food, rats ate most of the birds eggs, and wars broke out over food resources. All the trees were cut down. Soil erosion washed away most of the soil (they didn’t have the tools to farm the land anyway) By 1797 when Columbus came to the island, the islanders had only rafts made of grass.

With no rafts, trade collapsed between the three islands. With no trade, Mangareva eventually used up all their volcanic glass and basalt. Farming and fishing came to a halt. With no trade, the people on Pitcairn had all the volcanic glass and basalt they could use, but had nobody to trade with for food…they starved. On Henderson, the population had no large trees to make their own boats…they died out By 1810, all the populations of Pitcairn and Henderson had died out and Mangareva’s population was reduced to only several hundred.

Today Henderson is a nature reserve Pitcairn was settled by mutineers from the Bounty (current population 100) Mangareva is part of French Polynesia and is a tourist attraction (for the very rich)

Ireland Ruled by the British In 1760’s potatoes, imported from Chile, became the main food grown by the poor. They ate potatoes three meals a day.

Population exploded with the arrival of potatoes in early 1670’s from Chile. Population grew from 1 million to over 8 million 1845 Blight Arrived and caused every single potato to rot The rich did not eat potatoes and were not affected. They continued to export Wheat, cows and sheep to Britain Blight caused every single potato to rot The population tried to revolt, but the British (with their guns) prevented them All potatoes rotted

The Great Hunger The Great Hunger; Ireland 1845– In Ireland, Land Owners owned the land. When the peasants crop failed three years in a row, the landowners began kicking all of the peasants off their land. Landowners wanted this to happen as they could make more money raising sheep then taxing the peasants. 1.5 million people left Ireland for US, Canada and Australia between 1845 and 1849, with another 2-3 million dying from hunger 1850 Population was 8.3 million 1890 Population was 4.5 million Between another 1 million Irish Immigrated

How were the Irish Treated in US and Canada ?? Chicago, Toronto and New York all had riots break out as the citizens did not want the Irish refugees moving into their towns. The Irish Ghetto in Toronto is called Cabbage Town (the area smelt like cabbage as that’s the only Food the Irish could afford)

Cabbage Town today in Toronto

Haiti and the Dominican Republic One Island with two very different outcomes Island of Hispaniola

Haiti French speaking Poorest country in North America (almost the world). Has the highest rates of Malaria, AIDS and tuberculosis in North America. Settled by African slaves kidnapped to work in sugarcane fields. Lies on a fault line, making it prone to earthquakes. They are too poor to build earthquake proof homes. Is dry land with little rainfall except during the rainy season.

1% of the country is forested Main source of heat and cooking is charcoal (charcoal is made from burning wood to a particular point, letting it cool for several days, then setting it on fire again) Haiti farmers farm sugar cane primarily…thus they need to import food to eat. Most of their food comes from government aid organizations and relief efforts. Poor farming habits, led to severe erosion. Silt eroded into the rivers, causing major floods as the river levels rose. Silt led to massive fish die off in lakes and rivers in Haiti

Dominican Republic Spanish Speaking Was ruled by a dictator “Trujillo”, who was ruthless and killed off much of his population. He was a killer, yet an environmentalist, who created massive state parks. Anyone who built or hunted in the parks was killed/imprisoned, and their buildings where burned down. Medium poor country (People can afford to heat their homes and cook food with oil), … thus they have much more forested land. People can afford to build better homes to withstand earthquakes.

Currently 28% of the country is forested More rainfall throughout the year means the land is more productive. Rivers are pristine, full of fish and do not flood their banks too often. Farmers grow a variety of food. Farmers grow enough food to feed the population and export the rest for extra cash DR is a major tourist destination

Rwanda Societal collapse turns into anarchy !

Genocide happened in 1994 Pre 1994 Rwanda is known as the garden of Africa..growing lots of tea, coffee and bananas. Rich fertile lands. With the arrival of wheat, corn, and potatoes, in 1800’s and free medicare in the 1950’s a population explosion resulted (1740 people per square km in 1988, rising to 2040 in 1993) (China is only 300 people per sq km and PEI 24.7 per square km) Every available piece of land in the country became farmland. Bigger families, resulted in farmers splitting their land up between more sons…resulted in smaller and smaller fields = less food per person

Two main tribes..Hutu and Tutsi Main difference was their height and body build. They spoke the same language, same religion, lived in the same communities. The Twa ( a third cultural group stayed out of the fight) Sharp division and hatred between the two going back hundreds of years. With population explosion, land became scarce and valuable. In 1993, 100% of sons in early 20’s still lived at home (no land or jobs were available) Without land or a job, these men were single.

1992 Hutu militia bought 581,000 machetes (they are cheaper then guns) In 1993 the Hutu attacked the Tutsi and killed 800,000 as well as 200,000 moderate Hutu’s (15 % of the total population of Rwanda) In many villages, only the Hutu’s who owned land were killed The slaughter only stopped when a Tutsi army from Burundi (neighbouring country) invaded the country. The Tutsi army retaliated and killed about 60,000 Hutu’s

Over two million Hutu’s fled Rwanda into the Democratic Republic of the Congo They are still there and started a war in Between million people have died. The East part of the country (bordering Rwanda) is in chaos. Most of the villages, towns and cities have been burned. Most of the native population has fled west. DR Congo is the rated by the UN as the most dangerous country in the world to live. Parents are often killed and their children are used as child soldiers (cheap and easy to control)