The Rapa Nui people are the native Polynesian inhabitants of Easter Island. The Rapa Nui people make up about 60% of Easter Island’s population, with some living in mainland Chile. At the 2002 census, there were 3304 island inhabitants. Rapa Nui activists have been fighting for their right to self-determination and possession of the island. Despite the Rapa Nui people’s struggles with environment, land claims and treaties, they are still able to preserve their culture. The island’s environment is one of the biggest threats to the survival of the Rapa Nui culture. Easter Island use to have a sub-tropical forest including the tall Easter Island Palm, a tree which they used for building homes, canoes, and latticing necessary for the construction
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He aimed to cleanse the island of Rapa Nui people and turn it into a sheep ranch. In 1871 the missionaries had a falling out with Dutrou-Borneir, and evacuated 275 Rapa Nui leaving only 230 on the island. Five years later Dutrou-Bornier was murdered in an argument over a dress, though his kidnapping of pubescent girls may have also been motivation. After his reign, ninety-seven percent of the island’s population was dead of emigrated in less than a decade, much of the island’s cultural knowledge was lost. In 1888, Chile annexed Easter Island, but until 1953 it allowed a European company to manage the island as a giant sheep ranch. There was a revolt in 1964 which resulted in the Rapa Nui obtaining Chilean citizenship and the right to elect their own mayor. Chilean colonizers are threatening to wipe the indigenous culture out of existence. A wave of recent immigration to the island means that two out of every three inhabitants are from mainland Chile. The Chilean’s migrate to the island because of the tax exemption, tourists and other mainland Chilean’s migrate there because of the …show more content…
Inspired by a wave of Polynesian islands obtaining certain degrees of political autonomy, the Rapa Nui are demanding rights to govern their land. The 1881 treaty removed the Rapa Nui from their ancestral land and confined their movements. The Rapa Nui want better healthcare, proper basic infrastructure like water and electricity and preservation of their culture. In 2010, the dissension came to head when Chilean security forces violently evicted the prominent Hitorangi clan and Tuko Tuki clan who had occupied the buildings and sites, claiming the land belongs to them. Armed Chilean troops and police reportedly opened fire on unarmed Rapa Nui civilians. The images captured from this drew admonition from the United Nations over the use of force to resolve the island’s problems. The Chilean president defended the evictions saying that the forces did the necessary to maintain public order. In 1888 the Rapa Nui were annexed to Chile under an Annexation Treaty, giving Chile sovereignty over the islanders and their territories in exchange for committing to respect the native’s territorial property. For the next 70 years under an agreement between Navy captains and company admins the Rapa Nui people were tortured. The grounds within the ghetto the Rapa Nui were living on finally became officially inscribed to them in 1926. In 1933 the whole island was
He aimed to cleanse the island of Rapa Nui people and turn it into a sheep ranch. In 1871 the missionaries had a falling out with Dutrou-Borneir, and evacuated 275 Rapa Nui leaving only 230 on the island. Five years later Dutrou-Bornier was murdered in an argument over a dress, though his kidnapping of pubescent girls may have also been motivation. After his reign, ninety-seven percent of the island’s population was dead of emigrated in less than a decade, much of the island’s cultural knowledge was lost. In 1888, Chile annexed Easter Island, but until 1953 it allowed a European company to manage the island as a giant sheep ranch. There was a revolt in 1964 which resulted in the Rapa Nui obtaining Chilean citizenship and the right to elect their own mayor. Chilean colonizers are threatening to wipe the indigenous culture out of existence. A wave of recent immigration to the island means that two out of every three inhabitants are from mainland Chile. The Chilean’s migrate to the island because of the tax exemption, tourists and other mainland Chilean’s migrate there because of the …show more content…
Inspired by a wave of Polynesian islands obtaining certain degrees of political autonomy, the Rapa Nui are demanding rights to govern their land. The 1881 treaty removed the Rapa Nui from their ancestral land and confined their movements. The Rapa Nui want better healthcare, proper basic infrastructure like water and electricity and preservation of their culture. In 2010, the dissension came to head when Chilean security forces violently evicted the prominent Hitorangi clan and Tuko Tuki clan who had occupied the buildings and sites, claiming the land belongs to them. Armed Chilean troops and police reportedly opened fire on unarmed Rapa Nui civilians. The images captured from this drew admonition from the United Nations over the use of force to resolve the island’s problems. The Chilean president defended the evictions saying that the forces did the necessary to maintain public order. In 1888 the Rapa Nui were annexed to Chile under an Annexation Treaty, giving Chile sovereignty over the islanders and their territories in exchange for committing to respect the native’s territorial property. For the next 70 years under an agreement between Navy captains and company admins the Rapa Nui people were tortured. The grounds within the ghetto the Rapa Nui were living on finally became officially inscribed to them in 1926. In 1933 the whole island was