Narratives from Easter Island

: an investigation of foreign influences on Rapa Nui health and culture

Abstract

This thesis takes a narrative approach to the lived experience of the Rapa Nui of Easter Island. In a process of dialogue, their stories revealed consistent concerns about the impact of foreign influences on their health and culture. Within a Participatory Action Research approach, I use Rowan’s (1981) Cycle Model as a structure. Convinced that there are common values amongst all human beings and that the co-creation of knowledge expands our particular worldview, I approached this study searching for a broader understanding of health as a holistic concept that, beyond physical symptoms, unfolds interconnections between the individual and his/her natural and social context. By approaching Easter Islanders’ lived experience through dialogue, legitimising people as “thinking-feeling” persons, trust and collaboration emerged within a cooperative relationship that embraced critical reflection about the effects of the globalised world on Easter Island, with particular regard to the local health and culture. The risks involved from the imposition of external forces based on a profit-over-people-and-planet imperative represent an actual threat on Easter Island, due to its present conditions as a tourist destination. Fears emerge from a tragic history in which foreign exploitation led to the quasi annihilation of the local population that appears as vulnerable to diseases.

The values of the participatory inquiry adopted by this study fuel its contribution to make changes for a positive future based on the knowledge co-created with Easter Islanders. Prevention, based upon collaboration and the respect for cultural values and beliefs constitute the keys to steer effective action to benefit local health. This work offers insights into ways of working with a remote and vulnerable island culture using conscientisation as a route to autonomous engagement with the threats of neoliberal globalisation in an endeavour to preserve their indigenous culture and protect their health and wellbeing. Many questions emerge from this study concerning how to bridge the gap between cultures and achieve mutual understanding in order to foster effective action. The challenge is to avoid the very real possibility that overwhelming foreign influences may negatively affect Easter Islanders’ health and culture as happened in the past. This study contributes a positive view, by giving insight into how history has influenced the present, and how understanding the present can change the future for the better.

Date of Award	1 Apr 2015
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Lancaster University University of Cumbria
Supervisor	Alison Jackson (Supervisor), Margaret Ledwith (Supervisor) & Steve Mee (Supervisor)