Letters

Open letter to Easter Island’s first ‘home-grown’ governor

When I read, in PIM September 1983, of Easter Island’s petition for independence, I was struck by the futility of such a plea despite the genuine grievances of the islanders and am, there fore, pleased to see (PIM May p6l)the speed and common sense with which the govern ment of Chile has coped with the situation by appointing a “home-grown product” to the position of governor of “Rapa nui” just as the United Kingdom did for Australia, in 1931, when it appointed Sir

Isaac Alfred Isaacs as governor general of Australia.

The following is a copy of a letter I have written to Sergio Rapu Haoa which you might consider publishing as a matter of interest because “Te Pito” is now a dead language (apart from the fact that my letter may never reach him), and its mes sage applies to the committee of Mana te Pukuranga o Te Pito o Te Henua (Rapanui/Easter Island/Isla de Pascua/Paasch Eyland), and to the rest of the island’s inhabitants.

NOTE: In pre-European times, the ariki was not a king or even a chief (as such). His powers were those of a gov ernor implemented through the “mana” of “Hiva” the “su pernatural power” of that

“homeland of tradition beyond the horizon” today? the government of Chile.

G. C. Hore

Frankston, Vic.

Australia