Rapa Nui By the lil mermaid 1200 Moai statues are carved from volcanic rock and placed on stone platforms 1200 First Polynesian settlers arrive on rapa Nui after long ocean voyages 1722 Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen becomes the first European settler to reach Rapa Nui on easter Sunday 1773 captain James cook visits Rapa Nui and notes that many statues have already been toppled 1862 Peruvian slave raids capture most of the population leading to many lost life's 1888 Rapa Nui is Annexed by Chile, ending its independence