wayfinders circle governance report english - Flipbook - Page 38
a) Rapa Nui, Easter Island |
CHILE
The Rapa Nui municipality on Easter Island, Chile, has a population of 7,750 who occupy a tropical rainforest of 164 square kilometers. The most isolated inhabited place on the planet, Rapa Nui is an Indigenous territory on a small island in the middle of the
Pacific Ocean about 3,800 kilometers away from Chile and 4,000 kilometers from Tahiti.
The Rapa Nui culture historically belonged to what is known as “chiefdom society”, where clans or tribes worked hierarchically in a
pyramidal structure. This structure emerged from each of the Rapa Nui families who recognized a family leader, generally the oldest
person of each and the present Honui. This ancestral authority brought together the Rapa Nui families, as they complied with this
family structure and ensured their representation in governance. Through the Indigenous Law, the people manage and contribute
to the conservation of their natural resources, lands and territory, as well as their archaeological and historical heritage.
The Rapa Nui people have worked constantly to defend their territory, environment, and culture, and have long protected their
rights as Indigenous peoples. It was only in 1966, after ongoing uprisings and demands of the Rapa Nui people, that the State of
Chile recognized them as a people with rights, creating the Department of Easter Island and its Municipality. As a symbol of autonomy, the Rapa Nui people elected their first Mayor, and have since chosen their leaders of the municipality.
05
ISLANDS
The Rapa Nui people’s governance structure has three traditional representative bodies: the Council of Elders, the Rapa Nui
Parliament, and the Honui or Assembly of Clans which represents the 36 families that make up the municipality. These bodies work
in consultation and side by side with the Municipality concerning their demands and needs. The municipal mayor is also a member
of the Rapa Nui Council of Elders, the highest representative and traditional body of its people. Having held the position for more
than two decades, the mayor addresses the needs of the community and listens to the representatives and traditional bodies of the
Rapa Nui people when making decisions that affect them. The Municipal Council, whose members are all Rapa Nui, develops
programs for the island. They work on cultural, environmental, social, and human rights initiatives with the cooperation of the Rapa
Nui. The Municipal Council has the approval and support of the community, delivering solutions to its people, and maintaining the
principles of traditional Rapa Nui customs. The Council organizes conversations that are open to the whole community to tackle
the themes that affect the territory. They conduct consultations, identify needs of the people, and determine short, medium, and
long-term planning. They execute programs, conduct dialogues with the State, and plan the future of its people.
At the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Government of Chile removed health restrictions on Easter Island without considering
the impending health and humanitarian crisis that could develop, exposing the inhabitants of Rapa Nui to the virus. On the same
day, the Municipality of Rapa Nui, to protect their people's rights, filed a Constitutional Appeal with the High Courts of Chile,
requesting that this measure be annulled. This was rejected by the Courts of Chile because a constitutional state of emergency had
been declared, allowing the Government to take measures in violation of the rights of its inhabitants.
In a clear manifestation of self-governance, local leaders invoked the ancestral law of the Rapa Nui people, through a measure called
Tapu, an ancestral concept based on a sacred order of coexistence and respect for the norms of nature, invoking total voluntary
quarantine throughout the territory of Easter Island. The entire community in Rapa Nui responsibly abided by this ancestral measure and the disease was managed and controlled on the island.
Rapa
Nui
GOVERNANCE REPORT
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APRIL 2022
38
