Merlet's manager outlawed the native kingship on the island, although Enrique Ika and Moisés Tuʻu Hereveri were briefly elected kings.
Angata would assume nominal leadership of the Miru clan and lead the opposition to the company's control.
The Williamson-Balfour Company later took control of the ranch from Merlet and continued the mistreatment of the Rapa Nui people.
In 1914, Angata had a prophetic vision that Merlet was dead.
This inspired her to lead an unsuccessful rebellion against the company, stating that God wanted the islanders to retake the island, kill the ranch's livestock, and have a feast.
On 30 June 1914, she sent her son-in-law Daniera Maria Teave Haukena to the company manager Henry Percy Edmunds with a declaration that the natives intended to retake the land and livestock from the company.

The rebellion was crushed on 5 August when the Chilean naval vessel Banquedano arrived and arrested four of the ringleaders.
Comandante Almanzor Hernández declared that the Rapa Nui had been "fully justified in doing everything they had done".
He later commented he was glad they had not murdered Edmunds.
None of the natives were punished, and three of the imprisoned leaders were released but her son-in-law Daniera was deported from the island.

The rebellion, which was intended to establish a kingdom of God based on Rapa Nui understandings, had the negative effect of provoking the Chilean government into imposing a stronger administration.
A separate colonial official (not affiliated to the company) was appointed.
The island was opened to immigration from the mainland, decreasing the influence of the native islanders.

Despite these changes, the independence movement has continued on the island to the present day.
The walls confining the Rapa Nui to Hanga Roa were torn down in 1966.

During the Mana Expedition to Easter Island in 1914, the English anthropologist Katherine Routledge met and spoke with Angata at the height of her rebellion.
Routledge tried to dissuade the "prophetess" as she referred to her, and her people, from continuing their raids and killing the island's livestock.
She describes Angata during their interview:
[S]he was a frail old woman with grey hair and expressive eyes, a distinctly attractive and magnetic personality.
She wore suspended round her neck some sort of religious medallion, a red cross, I think, on a white ground, and her daughter who supported her carried a small picture of the Saviour in an Oxford frame.
She held my hand most amiably during the interview, addressing me as "Caterina." ...
As I spoke of the raids her face hardened and her eyes took the look of a fanatic; she said something about "God" with the upward gesture which was her habit in speaking His name.
I hastened to relieve the tension by saying that "We must all worship God," and was happy to find that I was allowed a share in the Deity.
Her manner again softened, and looking up to heaven she declared, with an assured confidence, which was in its way sublime, "God will never let the Kanakas be either killed or hurt."

— Routledge 1919, p. 145
Angata died in December 1914, months after her meeting with Routledge.
Her funeral on 29 January 1915 was attended by the English anthropologist.
She was buried at the cemetery of Holy Cross Church, Hanga Roa, next to other early Catholic missionaries: Eugène Eyraud, Nicolás Pakarati, and Sebastian Englert.
Merlet's manager outlawed the native kingship on the island, although Enrique Ika and Moisés Tuʻu Hereveri were briefly elected kings. Angata would assume nominal leadership of the Miru clan and lead the opposition to the company's control. The Williamson-Balfour Company later took control of the ranch from Merlet and continued the mistreatment of the Rapa Nui people. In 1914, Angata had a prophetic vision that Merlet was dead. This inspired her to lead an unsuccessful rebellion against the company, stating that God wanted the islanders to retake the island, kill the ranch's livestock, and have a feast. On 30 June 1914, she sent her son-in-law Daniera Maria Teave Haukena to the company manager Henry Percy Edmunds with a declaration that the natives intended to retake the land and livestock from the company. 
The rebellion was crushed on 5 August when the Chilean naval vessel Banquedano arrived and arrested four of the ringleaders. Comandante Almanzor Hernández declared that the Rapa Nui had been "fully justified in doing everything they had done". He later commented he was glad they had not murdered Edmunds. None of the natives were punished, and three of the imprisoned leaders were released but her son-in-law Daniera was deported from the island.
The rebellion, which was intended to establish a kingdom of God based on Rapa Nui understandings, had the negative effect of provoking the Chilean government into imposing a stronger administration. A separate colonial official (not affiliated to the company) was appointed. The island was opened to immigration from the mainland, decreasing the influence of the native islanders.
Despite these changes, the independence movement has continued on the island to the present day. The walls confining the Rapa Nui to Hanga Roa were torn down in 1966.
During the Mana Expedition to Easter Island in 1914, the English anthropologist Katherine Routledge met and spoke with Angata at the height of her rebellion. Routledge tried to dissuade the "prophetess" as she referred to her, and her people, from continuing their raids and killing the island's livestock. She describes Angata during their interview:
[S]he was a frail old woman with grey hair and expressive eyes, a distinctly attractive and magnetic personality. She wore suspended round her neck some sort of religious medallion, a red cross, I think, on a white ground, and her daughter who supported her carried a small picture of the Saviour in an Oxford frame. She held my hand most amiably during the interview, addressing me as "Caterina." ... As I spoke of the raids her face hardened and her eyes took the look of a fanatic; she said something about "God" with the upward gesture which was her habit in speaking His name. I hastened to relieve the tension by saying that "We must all worship God," and was happy to find that I was allowed a share in the Deity. Her manner again softened, and looking up to heaven she declared, with an assured confidence, which was in its way sublime, "God will never let the Kanakas be either killed or hurt."
— Routledge 1919, p. 145
Angata died in December 1914, months after her meeting with Routledge. Her funeral on 29 January 1915 was attended by the English anthropologist. She was buried at the cemetery of Holy Cross Church, Hanga Roa, next to other early Catholic missionaries: Eugène Eyraud, Nicolás Pakarati, and Sebastian Englert.
Angata