Political Reviews

michael lujan bevacqua, elizabeth (isa) ua ceallaigh bowman, zaldy dandan, monica c labriola, nic maclellan, tiara r na'puti, gonzaga puas

peter clegg, lorenz gonschor, margaret mutu, salote talagi, forrest wade young

187

number of representatives of the ter- Islands, Hawai‘i, Norfolk Island, ritory in the Paris National Assembly and Senate and to create term limits Wallis and Futuna are not included in for the president of this issue. and the mayors of municipalities. French Polynesia These proposals met with protests across the local political spectrum The period under review was one of (otr, 26 June, 7 July 2018). mixed messages. On one hand, French Even more controversial was Polynesia’s reconnection with the rest the clause recognizing the effects of of is accelerating, symbolized nuclear testing that was to be inserted by an important business proposal into the updated organic law of with shareholders from other Polyne- French Polynesia. After first recogniz- sian countries. On the other hand, the ing the territory’s “contributions to French state’s repressive colonial poli- nuclear deterrence and defense of the cies continue unabatedly: Just as an nation,” the clause then states that old act of arbitrary colonial injustice compensation by the French state for from the 1950s was finally revised, irradiation victims will be defined new acts were committed, with the by law and that the French state will French judiciary removing the pro- provide adjustments for structural and independence opposition leader from economic imbalances caused in conse- the political scene and prosecuting him quence of the tests (Légifrance 2019). and two of his subordinates for minor While the second statement sounds irregularities that are common among good in principle, the 2010 Morin local politicians. Meanwhile, tourism, Law intended to provide such com- the only significant economic motor of pensation is still inefficient at offering the country’s private sector, is taking meaningful relief to patients suffer- off again, but long-term perspectives ing from radiation-induced ailments, on how to overcome the dependency which is partly due to an amendment on French subsidies are still lacking, introduced by—ironically—one of as the legacy of thirty years of nuclear French Polynesia’s own two senators, testing continues to haunt the territory (Tapura), and passed in all aspects. in November of 2018 (dt, 22 May As part of French President 2019). In consequence, nuclear test Emmanuel Macron’s plans to stream- victim associations 193 and Moruroa line ’s political system, in June e Tatou staged a mass demonstration 2018 a project to reform French with more than a thousand partici- Polynesia’s organic law was initiated. pants on 2 July 2019, the fifty-third Part of the project aimed to reduce the anniversary of the first nuclear bomb

232 political reviews • polynesia 233 explosion on Moruroa, to demand a 2019) and finally signed into law by real commitment from French authori- President Macron in July. Prior to ties to the compensation of testing becoming law, parts of the amendment victims (dt, 3 July 2019). had been declared unconstitutional The other major element in the by the French Constitutional Coun- organic law amendment was a modi- cil and had to be further modified fication of real property law so that (ti, 27 June 2018). Some of those inherited family lands could be more parts were rewritten and passed as a easily divided between heirs (Polynésie separate law (ti, 11 July 2019). The Première, 15 April 2019). Although only parliamentarian representing the many property owners will certainly territory in Paris not affiliated with benefit from this modification, it Tapura, Deputy Moetai Brotherson can also be seen as problematic, as it (Tavini), voted against or abstained will accelerate the sale of such lands each time. and thereby further contribute to the Meanwhile, the country’s economic dispossession of native families, which performance has been slowly improv- started more than a century ago when ing. Statistics published in March the French colonizer replaced the indicated that from January to traditional land tenure system with November 2018, 198,500 tourists one of private ownership according to came to the country, 7.9 percent more French civil law. than in 2017 (ti, 1 March 2019). This While supported by the ruling means that the visitor business, the Tapura Huiraatira party of French only major income-generating indus- Polynesia President Edouard Fritch, try besides French subsidies, appears the organic law amendment was to be growing once more after major rejected in its entirety by the opposi- setbacks during the past two decades. tion parties Tahoeraa Huiraatira and Riding on the wave of growing . The formerly pro- tourism, at the end of August 2018, French and now increasingly anticolo- the country government signed an nial Tahoeraa instead advocated for a referendum in 2025 on a status of free consortium Kaitiaki Tagaloa to invest association with France (somewhat in a planned hotel complex in Outu- similar to the current relationship of maoro, a district of the municipality Cook Islands and with Aotearoa/ of Punaauia on the northwest coast ), whereas the pro-inde- of . The consortium consists of pendence Tavini suggested modifying the French constitution to allow a Property and Iwi International, whose similar process to that created though principal capital comes from compen- the Nouméa Accord in New Caledo- sation payments made by the New nia (ti, 16 Nov 2018; rnz, 22 Nov Zealand government for past injustices 2018). and seizures of land in the nineteenth After a series of debates and minor century, and the Samoan hotel com- modifications, the amendment was pany Grey Group (known for its origi- eventually passed by the French nal hotel Aggie Grey’s in Apia), which legislators in late May (ti, 23 May already owns five other luxury hotels 234 the contemporary pacific • 32:1 (2020) in French Polynesia (ti, 17 Aug 2019; a fish farm or rather a supply base for rnz, 20 Aug 2019). Chinese fishing vessels or even a future The project in Outumaoro, vari- strategic base (Schmitt 2019). ously referred to as Mahana Beach Perhaps the most important events, or Tahitian Village, is envisioned as however, were a series of judicial a vast resort complex with hotels, decisions that shed light on French restaurants, department stores, and colonial injustices of the past while recreational facilities, modeled on creating new ones in the present. On 24 October, the French Court Guam, and has been in the planning of Revisions in Paris ruled that the stages for several years. However, 1959 conviction of Tahitian politi- there have so far not been enough cian Pouvanaa a Oopa (1895–1977) reliable investors to fund the mega- was unlawful and thus annulled it project, and the planned contract with as invalid (ti, 24 Oct 2018; tpm, Kaitiaki Tagaloa would still cover only 16 Nov 2018). Pouvanaa, who today about one-third of the overall project. is nearly universally considered to be Unlike potential US, Chinese, or Mid- the founder of the modern political dle Eastern investors, however, whose culture of French Polynesia, had in interest in the project was viewed with the 1940s and 1950s led the resis- suspicion by large parts of the popula- tance against the arbitrariness of the tion, Kaitiaki Tagaloa were welcomed colonial system and in 1949 founded as fellow Polynesian entrepreneurs. the first political party of the terri- At an earlier meeting to discuss the tory, Rassemblement Démocratique project, Tukoroirangi Morgan, ceo of des Populations Tahitiennes (rdpt), Iwi International and former president under whose banner he had been elected deputy of the territory in the was very proud of the project, which French National Assembly. When to him symbolized that Polynesians Paris granted limited autonomy to all could come together and cooperate French territories in 1957, Pouvanaa economically as one family (ti, 13 became vice president (akin to chief April 2018). However, nearly one year minister) of the territorial government. later it was announced that Kaitiaki A year later, however, in violation of Tagaloa was pulling out of the project, his parliamentary immunity, he was as no other investor had been found to arrested on dubious charges, dismissed provide the rest of the capital needed from his posts, and sentenced to a (ti, 3 July 2019). long prison sentence for allegedly For the second economic megapro- inciting arson. Meanwhile, the ter- ject, an aquaculture farm on Hao atoll ritory lost its limited autonomy and run by Chinese-funded joint-venture was placed once again under direct company Tahiti Nui Ocean Foods, authoritarian colonial rule, and the construction has begun but is appar- rdpt party was banned. All of this, ently stalling. Investigative journalist of course, was to pave the way for the Dominique Schmitt of Tahiti-Pacifique nuclear weapons testing center on the Magazine hence wondered whether atolls of Moruroa and Fangataufa, the project was really intended to be which began construction in 1962 and political reviews • polynesia 235 was operational from 1966 to 1996. Flosse was right, however, in Pouvanaa remained under house arrest doubting the French judicial system’s in France for ten years and was not commitment to justice. On 26 Octo- allowed to return to Tahiti until 1968; ber, merely two days after the historic he was prevented from being a found- verdict on Pouvanaa, opposition ing father of a nation that was denied leader Temaru lost his seat in the a normal path of decolonization due Assembly of French Polynesia due to nuclear neocolonialism. to a ruling by the French Council of It had been clear from the begin- State (France’s highest administrative ning that Pouvanaa had fallen victim court) based on the court’s finding to a political show trial, and over the that there were irregularities and gaps past decade or so, French historian in the documentation of Temaru’s Jean-Marc Regnault has meticu- party’s finances before the last elec- lously gathered evidence from vari- tion in April 2018. As a result of this ous French archives to back up this violation of French election campaign view (Regnault 2016). As a result, in financing laws, Tavini lost its claim to February 2013 the French National state reimbursement of its campaign Assembly submitted an official request costs, and Temaru, who as the head of for revision of the trial to the Justice his party’s list is considered personally Minister, who forwarded it to the responsible, lost his assembly seat for Court of Appeals in 2014. a year. Until then, Cécile Mercier will Pouvanaa’s descendants were take Temaru’s place in the assembly delighted with the court’s decision, (ti, 26 Oct 2018). as were politicians from almost all Temaru and his party were under- parties, including President Edouard standably outraged by the decision, Fritch and former president Oscar which he described as a colonial plot Temaru. However, the other opposi- by France to silence the independence tion party, former President Gaston movement, given that similar irregu- Flosse’s Tahoeraa Huiraatira, stated larities in party financing have been its disappointment about the verdict, commonplace in French Polynesia which in Flosse’s opinion did not go and have never been penalized so far enough. In a press release, Flosse harshly by the judiciary. A few weeks said the court had merely reversed the earlier, on 2 October, Temaru had filed verdict but had not declared the trial a lawsuit against all former French frivolous from the beginning. There- presidents who had ordered nuclear fore, Pouvanaa had by no means been tests in French Polynesia for crimes rehabilitated, and the French state had against humanity at the Interna- not truly admitted its colonial injustice tional Criminal Court in The Hague (ti, 26 Oct 2018). Once more, this (ti, 9 Oct 2018), a move the French latest move by Flosse caused conster- state and pro-French politicians had nation, as he had been a longtime severely denounced (ti, 10 Oct 2018). staunch supporter of French colonial This therefore suggested, according policies but was now trying to outdo to Tavini, that the judicial decision even the pro-independence party in against its leader was in fact an act of anti-colonial rhetoric. revenge by the French state apparatus, 236 the contemporary pacific • 32:1 (2020) and Temaru hence compared it to the Polynesia ever to report on indepen- Pouvanaa case of 1959 (ti, 30 Oct dence and to criticize French nuclear 2018). tests. The prosecutor argued that this Temaru was backed up in this was advertising for Mayor Temaru’s interpretation by his former archrival, pro-independence Tavini Huiraatira Flosse. On his return from New Cale- at the expense of other, pro-French donia on 28 October, where he had political parties. supported the Kanak independence The judicial inquiry and trial parties in their referendum campaign, dragged on for most of 2018, fuel- Temaru was warmly welcomed at the ing suspicions by Temaru and other airport by Flosse and his followers. members of his party that it was Flosse, who himself is excluded from indeed a move controlled remotely by participating in the political life of the the French state to silence Tavini (dt, country until 2023 because of a con- 20 June 2018). All three defendants viction in a corruption affair, spoke of vehemently denied the accusations, growing colonial injustice, which aims arguing that speaking out against the to silence politicians skeptical of Paris nuclear tests and in favor of indepen- (Tahoeraa Huiraatira, 28 Oct 2018). dence should not be considered parti- A few days later, Flosse and Temaru san politics but rather expressions of gave a symbolic joint press conference opinion covered by freedom of speech in front of the Pouvanaa monument in and the right to self-determination (ti, Papeete (ti, 30 Oct 2013). 14 June 2019; dt, 10 June 2019). But that was not the end of this The judgment on 10 September new wave of judicial persecution came as an additional shock. All against Tavini. At the end of Novem- defendants were found guilty; Temaru ber, Temaru was briefly taken into received a prison sentence of six police custody and interrogated, months, which was suspended pend- having been accused of misappropri- ing his adherence to the conditions ating municipal funds for political of probation, and a fine of 5 million purposes. Also accused, apprehended, cfp francs (about us$50,000), while and interrogated alongside Temaru Maamaatuaiahutapu and Le Caill were Vito Maamaatuaiahutapu and received three-month and one-month Heinui LeCaill, the former and current probational jail terms and fines of directors, respectively, of the municipal 3 million and 500,000 cfp francs, radio station Te Reo o Tefana of the respectively. The radio station as a city of Faaa, of which Temaru has been corporate entity, however, was ordered mayor since 1983 (ti, 29 Nov 2018). to pay a draconian fine of 100 million The basis of the accusations was cfp francs (about us$1 million), a fine that the station had allegedly violated ten times higher than the 10 million the political neutrality required from a cfp francs requested by the prosecu- municipal radio station and over many tor. Maamaatuaiahutapu stated that years unilaterally reported in favor of since it was well known that the radio one political party. Since its found- station had no way to pay the required ing in the 1980s, Te Reo o Tefana has fine, an implementation of the verdict been the only radio station in French would mean the seizure of its assets political reviews • polynesia 237 and its subsequent closure (dt, 10 Sept issue). This obstruction of trade vital 2019). The judgment was therefore to the small community of Pitcairn is hard to interpret as anything but a yet another example of how inflexible move to silence the most important colonial bureaucracies keep dividing opposition media. Unsurprisingly, all Oceania. It markedly contrasts with three defendants, both for themselves the handling of a similar issue by two and on behalf of the radio station, independent states in the region, as appealed the verdict (dt, 11 Sept had recently authorized direct trade 2019). between Rotuma, Fiji’s outer island, There were more minor cases of and neighboring Tuvalu (Fiji Times, French colonial injustice as well. 19 May 2015). Later in 2019, two men on Moorea With ongoing acts of colonialism Island who had been attacked by a like these, it is no surprise that France stray dog on their plantation and had was condemned by the United Nations subsequently killed and eaten it were General Assembly for the sixth year sentenced to suspended prison terms in a row for refusing cooperation and fines for supposed cruelty to ani- with the UN Decolonization Commit- mals, even though they had killed the tee regarding French Polynesia. The dog efficiently without causing it any assembly also reiterated that, despite unnecessary pain (ti, 30 Aug 2019). claims by the Fritch government to Dog meat has been part of Oceanian the contrary, the territory does not peoples’ diets for centuries; hence the satisfy international standards for self- judgment was yet another example of government (United Nations 2018). At arbitrarily imposing French cultural a previous session of the UN Decolo- norms and disregarding local ones. nization Committee, decolonization Considering the quick slaughtering of expert Carlyle Corbin had warned a dog a “cruelty” appears particularly that any accommodation of current hypocritical in a society in which mass colonial arrangements would con- production of meat from other mam- tradict the UN’s mission of complete mal species like cattle and pigs—often decolonization of all remaining non- under highly stressful conditions for self-governing territories (idn, 29 June the animals—is not only tolerated but 2018). EU-subsidized and in which practices While the political party Tavini of deliberate and repeated cruelty to Huiraatira continues to be by far the animals, such as force-feeding geese to largest organized movement advo- produce foie gras, remain legal. cating for decolonization, alterna- At the same time, major injus- tive, more marginal movements for tices were carried out against French independence continue to operate Polynesia’s neighboring territory outside the system. Perhaps the most Pitcairn, as requests to exempt trade prominent of these, the so-called to Pitcairn from Mangareva, French Kingdom or Republic of Pakumotu, Polynesia’s easternmost inhabited is still alive and well. After its leader island, from the need to go through served a prison term for ordering the international port of Papeete were armed resistance against French police refused (see review of Pitcairn, this forces, and after evictions from previ- 238 the contemporary pacific • 32:1 (2020) ous locations, Pakumotu established elements that can be seen as nation- new headquarters in Taunoa on the building blocks, besides the more outskirts of Papeete (Polynésie Pre- symbolic flag and anthem (Regnault mière, 11 Sept 2018). Various similar 2019). But in order to create a func- movements keep attracting followers tioning nation-state with social justice as well—one of them linked to the for all of its citizens, there is indeed Atooi movement in Hawai‘i (Radio 1 still a long way to go. Tahiti, 10 April 2019)—each claiming Around the review period, a num- to operate entirely outside the French ber of important personages in local system and accusing the others of culture and politics passed away. being one step closer within it. In June 2018, Hubert Brémond In reality, all of these problems passed away and was buried in his need to be analyzed in the context of home village of Parea on Huahine (dt, thirty years of nuclear testing, which 19 June 2018). A former journalist, has poisoned not only the country’s poet, and spiritual leader, Brémond environment and its people’s health had been one of the leading activists but also people’s minds. The country of the cultural renaissance movement is as dependent on the influx of French of the 1970s and 1980s, alongside the money as ever before, yet the distribu- famous Henri Hiro. Brémond’s poem tion of that money is extremely “Porinetia,” published trilingually unequal. While the upper and middle in the Fiji-based literature review classes who most profit from this Mana and later set to music by Bobby influx want the system to continue Holcomb, remains well-known to this indefinitely and to enjoy life in luxury, day (Brémond 1982). many of the poor who reap no profits The incumbent mayor of Punaauia from the system attempt to escape (the country’s third-largest city reality in one way or another, be it after Faaa and Papeete) and Tapura drugs, fundamentalist Christian cults, representative in the assembly, Rony or eccentric political movements (dt, Tumahai, passed away on 25 August 15 Dec 2009; tpm, 21 April 2017; ti, 2018 at age sixty-nine. He had been 23 Aug 2019; rnz, 11 April 2019). mayor since 2008 and was succeeded Still it seems that moves toward in office by his deputy, Simplicio more self-governance will be inevitable Lissant (tntv, 25 Aug 2018). in the long run, and a resolution of all On 17 April 2019, Marquesan of these social problems can only be politician René Kohumoetini died at achieved through a genuine process of age seventy. He had served for a long decolonization and postcolonial nation period as mayor of Ua Pou Island building. According to historian (1984–2001) and for an even longer Jean-Marc Regnault, it appears that time represented his archipelago in the the quasi-unanimity of the political assembly as a member of Tahoeraa spectrum has now settled on Pouva- from 1982 to 2013. naa as a national hero, on denouncing A legend of local politics, Jean nuclear testing as a colonial injustice, Juventin, died 28 May 2019 at age and on the importance of preserv- ninety-one. A former schoolteacher, ing local languages—three important Juventin was mayor of Papeete from political reviews • polynesia 239

1977 to 1993. At the same time, he affichTexte.do;jsessionid=E374F85C17015 was the leader of the Here Aia party, 06271F78090517E5A99.tplgfr21s_2?cid a direct successor to Pouvanaa’s Texte=JORFTEXT000038729900&catego rdpt, which later frequently switched rieLien=id [accessed 23 Sept 2019] alliances between Flosse’s Tahoeraa, otr, Overseas Territories Review. Blog. Temaru’s Tavini, and various third http://overseasreview.blogspot.com parties—an erratic sequence of coali- Polynésie Première. French Polynesia tions typical for local politics. Thanks program of Outre-mer Première, the to some of these turbulent alliances, French government television network for Juventin was also elected one of the ter- overseas departments and collectivities. ritory’s deputies to the French National http://la1ere.francetvinfo.fr/polynesie Assembly from 1978 to 1986 and from Radio 1 Tahiti. Daily radio and Internet 1993 to 1997 (ti, 28 May 2019). news. http://radio1.pf Just a few days later, on 31 May 2019, another veteran politician, Regnault, Jean-Marc. 2016. Pouvana’a Tamara Bopp-Dupont, née Mou Seng, et de Gaulle: La candeur et la grandeur. Papeete: Api Tahiti Editions. died at age seventy-five. A convinced antinuclear and pro-independence ———. 2019. Être une nation, posséder activist, Bopp-Dupont served as un patrimoine. Tahiti-Pacifique Magazine, an assembly member for Tavini 3 May. Huiraatira from 1996 to 2013 and rnz, Radio New Zealand. . was also assistant mayor of the village Daily radio and Internet news. of Afareaitu on Moorea from 2008 http://www.radionz.co.nz to 2013. Due to differences with the Schmitt, Dominique. 2019. Hao: Entre party leadership, however, she left impatience et inquiétude. Tahiti-Pacifique Tavini prior to the 2018 elections and Magazine, 25 January. joined Flosse’s Tahoeraa (ti, 31 May Tahoeraa Huiraatira. Facebook page. 2019; dt, 3 June 2019). https://www.facebook.com/tahoeraa lorenz gonschor .huiraatira/

ti, Tahiti Infos. Weekday daily References newspaper and Internet news. Tahiti. http://www.tahiti-infos.com Brémond, Hubert. 1982. Porinetia. Mana 7 (2): 15. tntv, Tahiti Nui Télévision. Country government’s television network. dt, La Depêche de Tahiti. Daily. Tahiti. http://tntv.pf http://www.ladepeche.pf tpm, Tahiti-Pacifique Magazine. Fiji Times. Daily. Suva. http://www Fortnightly. Tahiti. http://www.tahiti .fijitimes.com -pacifique.com idn, InDepthNews. Daily Internet news. United Nations. 2018. Question of French https://www.indepthnews.net/index.php Polynesia. Resolution adopted by the Légifrance. 2019. Loi organique n° 2019- General assembly on 7 December. UN 706 du 5 juillet 2019 portant modifica- General Assembly, 73th session. A/RES/73 tion du statut d’autonomie de la Polynésie /112. https://undocs.org/en/A/RES/73/112 française. https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/ [accessed 23 September 2019] 240 the contemporary pacific • 32:1 (2020)

racism is a serious problem in New Zealand and in more than one report White supremacy first arrived in had recommended constitutional transformation (Mutu 2019, 207). than one and a half millennia, in 1769 However, anything that could be per- when a group of Englishmen set foot ceived as a possible threat to the afflu- ence, privilege, and power that whites the East Coast and promptly shot the enjoy (Borell, Barnes, and McCreanor rangatira (leader) dead. The next day 2018) is deemed politically unaccept- they shot fifteen more tangata whenua able. Even a prime minister who is (people of the land). For these and many other Europeans, they wrongly believed that their whiteness and their has been unable to make any measur- Christianity authorized them to travel able change to that attitude. That has the world and exterminate, enslave, and dispossess nonwhite non-Chris- to pursue our rights—with increasing tians (ecosoc 2010). Whites renamed support from the United Nations. the country to New Zealand and rede- In this year’s review, I will consider fined it for themselves. Two hundred fifty years later, white supremacy is and the government over our human the norm in New Zealand and con- rights in the areas of health; justice; our children; our lands, waters, and and other nonwhites. The victims of seas and the treaty claims settlements; this ongoing terrorism were shocked protection of our Mother Earth, but not surprised at the horrific mass murders that took place in Christ- tapu (sacred sites); and our right to church on 15 March 2019 (Burton be free from discrimination. On the 2019). A white supremacist went to bright side, there was an encouraging two mosques and shot at hundreds of appointment to the country’s highest Muslims while they were at prayer, court. There were also ongoing sport- killing fifty-one and injuring forty-nine ing successes and awards in the world (rnz 2019a; New Zealand Herald of performing arts. Before I consider 2019a). these, I will acknowledge some of the Muslims in particular had been leaders we lost in the past year. warning of the likelihood of such an The act of terrorism in Christ- attack, but, like warnings and con- church left the country stunned as the past 250 years, their cautions of the South Island, assumed their were ignored. Initial denials that this responsibility to look after the country could have been nurturing bereaved and draw the such behavior lost credibility as more community together in its immediate and more nonwhites recounted their experiences of racism. The United continued to acknowledge the pain Nations had repeatedly warned that and grief of the Muslim community political reviews • polynesia 241 and to provide support for them in the full knowledge and understanding that developed many relationships of the great spiritual and physical strength required to survive such and Chinese businesses. He also took devastation. Those of ours who passed away this year will accompany those who were taken in Christchurch as 2017). they make their way back to their ancestors. member of the reggae band Herbs for Among them were a number of more than twenty years, passed away in November 2018. He was a com- poser and guitar player extraordinaire All Black and educationalist, left us in with a long list of musical accomplish- August 2018. He spent his life work- ments. He was inducted into the New ing for his people, including leading Zealand Music Hall of Fame in 2012 the claims to the Waitangi Tribunal and was known as the “speed king of for the Ahuriri lands in and around New Zealand guitar” (Reid 2018). present-day Napier. Heitia gave evi- In April 2019, the Reverend Rua dence in five hearings between 1996 and 1998. As with the great majority left us. He was a very humble but of Tiriti o Waitangi claims, the govern- hugely respected social activist who ment had still not addressed them when Heitia passed away twenty years and Tiriti politics from the 1960s to later (Sharpe 2018; Waitangi Tribunal the 1990s. As the moderator of the 2004). Methodist Church and tumuaki (head) - Black and educationalist, former Race Relations Conciliator Hiwi Church), Rua challenged the colonial thinking, practices, and institutions passed away. He was the headmas- and, with his wife, Joy, led the church ter at Wesley College and then at on a bicultural journey. Under their guidance, many social justice activists, head a secondary school. He was and not just those in the Methodist race relations conciliator during the Church, learned to think and organize 1981 Springbok Tour that split the strategically for social change (Kelsey country. Against the wishes of many, 2019). he accepted an all-expenses-paid trip Professor James Te Wharehuia to South Africa to see for himself the impact of the apartheid regime on the 2019. He was widely acknowledged Indigenous people. He was appalled for his leadership in preserving and at what he saw and recommended that the tour not go ahead, joining those protesting against it. He went on studies at the University of Waikato to establish the New Zealand China in the 1980s and was a member of 242 the contemporary pacific • 32:1 (2020) many government bodies, including to take actions that free us from white the Waitangi Tribunal, the National oppression. The United Nations issued a Universal Periodic Review and an Reo National Trust (University of Advisory Note; the Waitangi Tribunal Waikato 2019). issued a report on health services and These and many others of our lead- outcomes; and reports from gov- ers left us to join our ancestors in the ernment inquiries included recom- past year. May their journey be gentle mendations for mental health and and peaceful. addiction, the social welfare system, Throughout the year, racism was highlighted many times and in many The 2019 Universal Periodic places before, during, and after the Review conducted by the UN Human Christchurch shootings. A number of Rights Council made 194 recom- government reports have continued mendations, of which 48 specifically there has still been no attempt to start (unga 2019b). The government a national conversation about what advised the United Nations that it racism is, where it comes from, and accepted 39 of those recommenda- tions, including all those relating to organizations such as National Iwi implementing the UN Declaration Chairs Forum have sent clear mes- on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples sages to governments that racism is a (unga 2019a). Almost all of the recommendations have appeared in a number of previous reports but own cultural beliefs and practices. have resulted in little or no improve- ment, despite the government saying it well aware that the country’s entire accepted them. power structure was constructed The Expert Mechanism on the illegitimately on racist assumptions Rights of Indigenous Peoples provided and that these are maintained to this the Advisory Note from the United Nations (emrip 2019). It resulted in many areas are moving to take from a visit in April 2019 requested by back their right to self-determination, the Aotearoa Independent Monitoring exercising their mana and tino rangati- Mechanism, a group established by ratanga (absolute power and author- National Iwi Chairs Forum in 2014 ity), regardless of what governments (Mutu 2019, 208). The Advisory - Note provided detailed advice on how tance and often refusal of governments New Zealand should draft a National and, in particular, government depart- Plan of Action to implement the UN ments to implement recommendations Declaration on the Rights of Indig- from several United Nations (UN) enous Peoples that would ensure that bodies, from the Waitangi Tribunal, and from reports commissioned by in particular self-determination, are the government itself only serve to recognized, provided for, and upheld. political reviews • polynesia 243 has supported and led a significant New Zealand 2018, 3), and it criti- change in the government’s attitude cized ongoing government delays in toward the declaration, which allowed addressing the considerable mental the visit to take place and the Advi- sory Note to be released. The Expert Health Foundation of New Zealand Mechanism noted at its 2019 meeting 2019). that providing such comprehensive The Welfare Expert Advisory advice was a world first for them and Group’s report made forty-two recom- that other Indigenous peoples were mendations for fundamental changes to the welfare system that “is no this issue. longer fit for purpose” and “fails In its Report on Stage One of - the Health Services and Outcomes Inquiry, the Waitangi Tribunal found other effective ways of delivering welfare services and funding” (Wel- worst health outcomes of any popula- fare Expert Advisory Group 2019, 5, tion group in New Zealand. The New 75, 77). There is disappointment and Zealand Public Health and Disability frustration that the government has Act 2000 promised to deliver better delivered on only three of the recom- outcomes, but that has not happened. mendations, saying the major changes The tribunal made a number of recom- would take many years (Robson mendations, including that the act be 2019). amended and that the Crown commit The minister of justice publicly to exploring the concept of a stand- acknowledged that the justice system is broken. It is particularly hostile to with the stage-one claimants (Waitangi 50 Tribunal 2019, xv). percent of the prison population but only 15 percent of the general popula- are required in all areas to recognize tion. The minister convened a national tino rangatiratanga. While ministers possible solutions. He received very recognize this persistent call from the forceful and blunt messages that “the tribunal and UN bodies, there remains intergenerational effects of the racism, bias, abuse and colonisation that the our own decisions about our own justice system has created, enabled lives. The 2018 He Ara Oranga: and continues to deliver . . . must stop Report of the Government Inquiry now” and that the Crown must “share into Mental Health and Addiction responses to be central to reforma- for not giving sufficient priority to 2019, 2). Three main recommenda- Mental Health Foundation of New tions covered “constitutional reform, a call for a plan to accelerate and understand the change needed, and to health (Mental Health Foundation of - 244 the contemporary pacific • 32:1 (2020)

the government was trying to impose 2019, 2). to extinguish their claims (Boynton The Ministry for Children came 2018 under sustained attack when its work- proceed with a Waitangi Tribunal ers were filmed trying to force a young inquiry before reentering negotia- tions has been ignored as the govern- baby. The ministry is now being sub- ment pushes ahead with negotiations jected to four different inquiries: one (Hurihanganui 2019). Tauranga - dren’s commissioner, one by the minis- try itself, and one by the ombudsman Hauraki iwi (Mutu 2019, 206) as the (Neilson 2019). A national hui called government drove through a settle- to discuss the crisis was clear that ment vesting their lands in Hauraki (Boynton 2018b; Supreme Court of New Zealand 2018). The govern- ment also pushed through the Waitara Lands Act even though only one of the review reiterated previous reviews and reports, including one from gave it support (Pihama 2019). the auditor-general (Provost 2015), which showed that the program has against the Crown’s chief negotiator for bullying and acting in bad faith - (rnz 2018). Meanwhile, the govern- ers wraparound social welfare ser- ment rebranded the Office of Treaty Settlements as a section within the which government bureaucrats have no say. Government departments However, its task of manipulating were criticized yet again for trying to claimants into extinguishing their claims and removing their legal rights team was told on numerous occasions remains unchanged (Mutu 2018). that agencies are opting out of their In the past year, they have legislated - the extinguishment of the claims of , Te Wairoa in the northern Review Panel 2018). The government’s treaty claims settlement process has continued to Whakatau 2019). tear claimant communities apart. The The two hundred fiftieth anni- versary of the arrival of the first country’s largest iwi, continued to Englishmen to Aotearoa occurs in attract media attention (Mutu 2019, October 2019. When the government 206- announced that it had allocated more than nz$22.5 million toward celebrat- in December to reject the mandate ing the event, more than is allocated to political reviews • polynesia 245 most treaty claims settlements (Fyers the land required for the farm (Corlett 2018 2018). In Hawke’s Bay, the local Their ancestors’ experiences of these council apologized to the local iwi, people were that they were murderous barbarians (Russell 2019). Rather than construction of a walking track that cancel the celebrations, the govern- has scarred the face of the sacred ment simply rebranded them under the mountain, Te Mata o Rongokako. The title “Encounters” and allowed tradi- council then sought consent to remove tional (canoes) to be included the track (rnz 2019 beside a replica of the ship Endeavour. One iwi took their objections to the lost their appeal to the Environment UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Court against a housing development Issues and told them: “When some- 2018). body lands and then shoots the first Several months later, the develop- person that they see, and then the next ers served trespass notices and sent day shoots another 15, and then wants to get a closer look at a waka so they Calls put out on social media drew shoot everybody in the waka so they hundreds of supporters within hours can get a closer look at it and every- (Haunui-Thompson 2019), with thou- body in that waka was unarmed, they sands more from around the country were just fisher-people. You know, to coming to offer support in the follow- call that an ‘encounter’ is egregious in ing days and weeks (Henry 2019). the extreme and a complete purposeful On the bright side, we celebrated minimisation” (Tina Ngata, quoted in McLachlan 2019). Mental health advocate Mike King Despite battling poverty and Zealander of the Year. The television our responsibilities to our environ- presenter and comedian has been highly critical of government inaction There have been mixed outcomes over on mental health, particularly that of the past year. The High Court over- - turned consents for sand mining in paign to end suicide for several years south Taranaki that had been appealed and has spoken to tens of thousands of children in schools throughout the various other groups (Young 2018). country. New Zealand has the high- Predictably, the international mining est youth suicide rate in the developed company has appealed that decision. world (oecd Family Database 2017). The members of a marae (communal meeting complex) in Northland won Moahunters received the Independent their fight to stop the largest poul- Music New Zealand Classic Record try factory farm in the country from Award for their 1993 album Tahi at being built next to their cemetery. The the 2019 Taite Music Prize awards. Overseas Investment Office declined Their lead singer, Moana Maniapoto permission for the international poul- try company, Tegel Foods, to purchase 246 the contemporary pacific • 32:1 (2020) the songs were intended to “make -association-hall-of-fame-awaits-michael -campbell (Gardiner 2019). The huge biennial Borell, Belinda, Helen Moewaka Barnes, Matatini festival, the pinnacle of and Tim McCreanor. 2018. Conceptualis- ing Historical Privilege: The Flip Side of in Wellington in February. In what is Historical Trauma, a Brief Examination. - AlterNative 14 (1): 25–34. dar, tens of thousands of performers, Boynton, John. 2018 tutors, and composers, young and old, Minister Forced Back to the Drawing as well as volunteers and an enthralled Board. Radio New Zealand, 18 December. audience, reveled in five days of https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu -korihi/378494/ngapuhi-vote-minister Television 2019). -forced-back-to-the-drawing-board For the first time, we saw one of ———. 2018b. Pare Hauraki Settlement our own appointed to the Supreme Signing Akin to “Confiscation.” Radio Court, the country’s highest court: New Zealand, 1 August. https://www .rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/363148/ a past chairman of the Waitangi pare-hauraki-settlement-signing-akin-to Tribunal and High Court judge. He -confiscation Burton, Joe. 2019. Four Lessons We Must Take Away from the Christchurch On the sporting front, Michael Terror Attack. University of Waikato, 18 March. https://www.waikato.ac.nz/ Rauru’s golfer extraordinaire, was news-opinion/media/2019/four-lessons -we-must-take-away-from-the-christchurch -terror-attack Fame. He is best known for winning the US Open and the hsbc World Corlett, Eva. 2018. It’s Sunny Side Up for Match Play Championship in 2005 Kaipara Community after Tegel Mega- (Black 2019). One of our standout Farm Scrapped. Radio New Zealand, 2 October. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/ national/367712/it-s-sunny-side-up-for -kaipara-community-after-tegel-mega Porou, continued to dominate world -farm-scrapped canoeing, taking three gold medals in the International Canoe Federation ecosoc, United Nations Economic and Canoe Sprint World Cup (New Zea- Social Council. 2010. Preliminary Study of the Impact on Indigenous Peoples of the land Herald 2019b). International Legal Construct Known as margaret mutu the Doctrine of Discovery. https://www .un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/E.C .19.2010.13%20EN.pdf References emrip, United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. 2019. All websites accessed 18 October 2019. Country Engagement Mission (8–13 April Black, Taroi. 2019- 2019)—New Zealand. Advisory Note, tion Hall of Fame Awaits Michael Camp- 14 July. Available from https://www.ohchr bell. Stuff, 9 January. https://www.stuff .org/EN/Issues/IPeoples/EMRIP/Pages/ .co.nz/sport/golf/109828164/mori-golf Session12.aspx political reviews • polynesia 247

Fyers, Andy. 2018. Do Treaty of Waitangi Kelsey, Jane. 2019. Farewell and Thanks Settlements Lead to Better Social Out- to a Rangatira. Daily Blog, April 21. comes? And Should They? Stuff, 7 August. https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2019/04/21/ https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/ a-blog-for-a-rangatira/ 105477615/do-treaty-of-waitangi 2019. Matatini ki Te Ao -settlements-lead-to-better-social-outcomes 2019. https://teaomaori.news/haka/ -and-should-they te-matatini-2019 Gardiner, Heta. 2019. Moana and McLachlan, Leigh-Marama. 2019. Moahunters to Receive Award Tait Music $20M Captain Cook Commemoration 29 March. https://teaomaori.news/moana-and Zealand, 9 May. https://www.rnz.co.nz/ -moahunters-receive-award-taite-music news/te-manu-korihi/388808/20m-captain -prize -cook-commemoration-ignores-maori Harrowell, Chris. 2018. Environment -pain-critics Court Rules against Group Battling Mental Health Foundation of New Zea- Auckland Housing Development. Stuff, land. 2018. Emphasise Hope and Make It 12 November. https://www.stuff.co.nz/ Happen: Response to He Ara Oranga from auckland/local-news/manukau-courier/ the Mental Health Foundation of New 108475956/environment-court-rules Zealand. 4 December. https://www -against-group-battling-auckland-housing .mentalhealth.org.nz/assets/News/ -development MHFFinal-MHF-response-to-the-Inquiry Haunui-Thompson, Shannon. 2019. Why -on-Mental-Health-and-Addiction-report - -He-Ara-Oranga-28022019.pdf tors.” New Zealand Herald, 24 July. ———. 2019. mhf Statement on the Gov- https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ ernment’s Response to He Ara Oranga. article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12252461 29 May. https://www.mentalhealth.org Henry, Dubby. 2019 .nz/home/news/article/259/mhf-statement How Farmland Became a Flashpoint. New -on-the-governments-response-to-he-ara Zealand Herald, 28 July. https://www. -oranga nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_ Mutu, Margaret. 2018. Behind the Smoke id=1&objectid=12253489 and Mirrors of the Treaty of Waitangi 2019. Claims Settlement Process in New Wellington: Ministry Zealand: No Prospect for Justice and of Justice. Available from https:// - safeandeffectivejustice.govt.nz/about tutional Transformation. Journal of Global -this-work/hui-maori/ Ethics 14 (2): 208–221. https://doi.org/10 .1080/17449626.2018.1507003 Hurihanganui, Te Aniwa. 2019. Andrew Little Accused of Steamrolling Opposition ———. 2019. Polynesia in Review: Issues and Continuing with Treaty Settlement. and Events, 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2018: Radio New Zealand, 23 April. https:// The Contemporary Pacific www.rnz.co.nz/news/top/387563/andrew 31:202–211. -little-accused-of-steamrolling-opposition Neilson, Michael. 2019. Baby Uplifts: -and-continuing-with-treaty-settlement Launches at Auckland Hui. New Zealand 2018. Wellington: Herald, 13 July. https://www.nzherald New Zealand Government. https://www .co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1 .tpk.govt.nz/docs/tpk-wo-review-2019.pdf &objectid=12249034 248 the contemporary pacific • 32:1 (2020)

New Zealand Herald. 2019a. Christchurch .co.nz/news/national/389101/strong Mosque Attacks: Turkish Man Dies from -public-support-to-remove-contentious Injuries after 48 Days. 3 May. https://www -te-mata-peak-track .nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id Robson, Sarah. 2019. Recommendations =1&objectid=12227404 on Welfare System Reform Released. ———. 2019b. Lisa Carrington Wins Radio New Zealand, 3 May. https://www Triple Gold at icf Canoe Sprint World .rnz.co.nz/news/political/388392/ Cup. 27 May. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/ recommendations-on-welfare-system sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid -reform-released =12234596 Russell, Graham. 2019. “He’s a Barbar- oecd Family Database. 2017. co4.4: Teenage Suicides (15–19 Years Old). oecd Cook’s Ship from Port. Guardian: Interna- Social Policy Division, Directorate of tional Edition, 17 September. https://www Employment, Labour and Social Affairs. .theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/17/hes Updated 17 October. https://www.oecd -a-barbarian-maori-tribe-bans-replica-of .org/els/family/CO_4_4_Teenage-Suicide -captain-cooks-ship-from-port .pdf Sharpe, Marty. 2018 Pihama, Leonie. 2019. Why Did the Ruruarau Heitia Hiha Was Many Things, Crown Support the Waitara Lands Bill but Most of All He Was a Great Dad. Dominion Post, 23 August. https://www Spinoff, 11 January. https://thespinoff.co .stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/hawkes .nz/atea/11-01-2019/why-did-the-crown -bay/106498621/napier-kaumtua -support-the-waitara-lands-bill-when -ruruarau-heitia-hiha-was-many-things -hapu-werent-all-on-board/ -but-most-of-all-he-was-a-great-dad Provost, Lyn. 2015. Auditor-General’s Supreme Court of New Zealand. 2018. Overview. In Years. Wellington: Office of the Auditor- General and others (sc135/2017) [2018] General. nzsc 84: Judgment 17 September 2018. Reid, Graham. 2018. Tama Renata Profile. Audio Culture, 6 November. https://www 2019. Year-to-Date Progress Report: .audioculture.co.nz/people/tama-renata October March . Welling- rnz, Radio New Zealand. 2018. Chief Relations). Treaty Negotiator Accused of Acting in Underhill, Bridget, editor. 2017. “Edward Bad Faith. Morning Report, 2 November. Te Rangihiwinui (Hiwi) Tauroa.” In https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/ programmes/morningreport/audio/ https://www.komako 2018669445/chief-treaty-negotiator .org.nz/person/1103 -accused-of-acting-in-bad-faith unga, United Nations General Assem- ———. 2019a. New Zealand’s Dark- bly. 2019a. Addendum to Report of the est Day: A Timeline of the Christchurch Working Group on the Universal Periodic Terror Attacks. http://shorthand.radionz Review: New Zealand: Views on Conclu- .co.nz/NZ-DARKEST-DAY/index.html sions and/or Recommendations, Voluntary ———. 2019b. Strong Public Support to Commitments and Replies Presented by Remove Contentious Te Mata Peak Track. the State under Review. A/HRC/41/4/ 13 May. https://www.rnz Add.1. 17 June. Available from https:// political reviews • polynesia 249 www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Pages/ period, we’ve seen Niue’s application NZindex.aspx for membership in the Asian Develop- ———. 2019b. Report of the Working ment Bank (adb) accepted; an apol- Group on the Universal Periodic Review: ogy from Radio New Zealand (rnz) New Zealand. A/HRC/41/4. 1 April. for unsubstantiated allegations made https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/ against Premier Sir Toke Talagi; oppo- UNDOC/GEN/G19/087/77/PDF/ sition to and court injunctions filed G1908777.pdf?OpenElement against government-funded projects; University of Waikato. 2019. Te and a member of Parliament (mp) who Wharehuia Milroy Remembered. 16 May. brought a packet of marijuana into https://www.waikato.ac.nz/news-opinion/ an assembly sitting. Throughout this media/2019/te-wharehuia-milroy period, the premier also spent signifi- -remembered cant time in New Zealand for medical Waitangi Tribunal. 2004. care. Despite ill health, the premier ki Ahuriri Report, Wai . Wellington: was said to have still undertaken work Legislation Direct. https://forms.justice and carried out talks with prospective .govt.nz/search/Documents/WT/wt_DOC diplomatic and development partners. _68598011/Wai201.pdf Niue’s application to become a ———. 2019. Hauora: Report on Stage member of the adb was accepted, One of the Health Services and Outcomes which was a historical decision Kaupapa Inquiry. Wai 2575. Wellington: for the island, as it had unsuccess- Waitangi Tribunal. https://forms.justice fully applied twice before (bcn, 12 .govt.nz/search/Documents/WT/wt_DOC March 2019). This membership is _152801817/Hauora%20W.pdf also significant because it provides Welfare Expert Advisory Group. 2019. the island, the adb’s sixty-eighth member and the forty-ninth from the Security in New Zealand. Wellington: Asia-Pacific region, with an additional Welfare Expert Advisory Group. avenue of funding to help drive social http://www.weag.govt.nz/weag-report/ and economic development (bcn, whakamana-tangata/ 12 March 2019). Young, Nick. 2018. Celebrations as High It will be interesting to see just how Court Upholds Seabed Mining Appeal. the us$100,000 annual membership Press release, 28 August. https://www fee, which is quite high for a small .greenpeace.org/new-zealand/press-release/ state, will be fronted. The full cost celebrations-as-high-court-upholds-seabed and benefits of the membership will -mining-appeal/ be determined in the long run; how- ever, Niue will greatly benefit from the associated financial and techni- Niue cal assistance, including assistance with infrastructure development, It has been business as usual within financial management of the public Niue’s governance and politics, with sector and its projects, and capac- surprising events unfolding every now ity building. A focus on building the and then, providing exciting political management capacity of Niue would items to discuss. Within this review be an especially valuable use of this 250 the contemporary pacific • 32:1 (2020) adb membership, as, going forward, with Radio New Zealand. Later it was donors and partners will come and revealed that in fact none of this was go, but it would be most effective true and that there was no investiga- for Niue to learn how to manage its tion being undertaken. The premier own affairs with all stakeholders. The received an apology from Radio New Asian Development Bank Member- Zealand for the errors in their report- ship Act 2018 was passed by the Niue ing (rnz 2018a). Assembly, with the cabinet autho- Further pushing the premier into rized on behalf of Niue to carry out the media spotlight, there was con- a number of responsibilities, includ- troversy around a letter that was sent ing the borrowing, acquisition, and by New Zealand’s auditor-general repayment of funds on behalf of Niue to the premier with regard to Niue’s and the issuing of directives necessary “unexplained revenue shortfalls” to satisfy its obligations to the adb and “budget blowout” (Smith 2018). (Government of Niue 2018). A degree It was alleged that these concerns of comfort and reassurance was felt as emerged from an audit of 2015 the premier noted that the government records, in which there were financial will not be rushing to borrow funds discrepancies with a shortfall of and will only seek assistance if needed nz$820,000 and a budget blowout (bcn, 14 March 2019). of nz$1.2 million (nz$1 million = In November 2018, Radio New us$630,332). The auditor-general Zealand published an article alleging made recommendations for Niue that the New Zealand government, to commit extra resources to its tax specifically the Office of the Auditor- office as a preventive measure and for General, was investigating the Niue greater accountability. The premier premier’s shareholdings within Niue’s told local media that Niue had already state-owned enterprises; this article revamped its tax office with stronger has since been taken down. Questions financial systems and processes (rnz and allegations were first raised by 2018b). The auditor-general raised opposition mp and former High Com- further concerns about project man- missioner to New Zealand O’Love agement and the financial record keep- Jacobsen, who allegedly accused the ing for donor-funded projects. The premier of being the sole shareholder premier then hit back again, describ- of state-owned enterprises in Niue. ing the auditor-general’s work as This was driven in part by the fact “shoddy” and calling for an indepen- that the mp had received no answers dent assessment (rnz 2018b). in Parliament regarding the delay in Section 60 of the Niue Constitution a number of state-owned enterprises’ Act 1974 provides a mandate for the budgets being presented to Parlia- New Zealand Office of the Auditor- ment for scrutiny (bcn, 13 Dec 2018). General to audit at least once annu- The opposition mp had allegedly ally the Niue Government Account, asked numerous times in the assem- including all of the executive govern- bly why the budgets were late but ment’s public departments and offices never received a satisfactory answer. and public and statutory authorities’ Jacobsen then raised her concerns accounts and funds (Government political reviews • polynesia 251 of Niue 2006). The delay in audits perceived “strain” on Niue’s relation- undertaken and the failure to provide ship with New Zealand, although nei- financial statements for several years ther will say there is anything wrong. is unacceptable and raises questions The premier accusing New Zealand’s as to Niue’s accounting processes. auditor-general of not doing his job This further emphasizes the need for properly certainly reflects that Niue the Niue government to work closely is not afraid to reaffirm its position with the New Zealand Office of the as an equal partner of New Zealand. Auditor-General, especially as New As Niue has gained more diplomatic Zealand continues to provide finan- partners and joined more international cial administrative assistance to Niue. organizations, it has used its relations Allegations and name-calling will and the changing political landscape neither improve Niue’s accounting nor not only to leverage against demands resolve the backlog and related issues. from New Zealand but also to reassert In October 2018, the premier its position as a capable state. weighed in on comments made by In addition to all of this, observa- broadcaster Heather du Plessis-Allan, tions have shown that media com- who called the Pacific Islands and its mentaries about Niue’s politics and leaders “leeches” on New Zealand governance have all emanated from and questioned the amount of finan- media outlets in New Zealand, not cial assistance continuously provided Niue. This includes items from within to Pacific Island nations, who were the , often raised by not deemed (by the broadcaster) to be opposition mps. The Broadcasting of any benefit for New Zealand (bsa Corporation of Niue (bcn) does not 2019). The premier called the com- appear to be presenting the same polit- ments “idiotic,” as du Plessis-Allan ical content as in previous years. In all singled out Niue, stating that the pen- of bcn’s news bulletins between July sion portability scheme that Niueans 2018 and June 2019, presentations on are eligible for amounted to “welfare Niue’s politics and governance have sponging” (rnz 2018c). The ill- focused largely on providing updates advised comments by du Plessis-Allan on events within the assembly, oppo- lacked insight into and valuing of sition mps and their activities, and the history and relationship between media statements issued by the Office Niue and New Zealand. Although it is of the Premier in response to ques- understandably the journalist’s role to tions and accusations. The “what,” ask questions and be “thought pro- “why,” and “who” are always cov- voking,” in this case, it was done in ered, but not the “so what.” There is the most ignorant manner. a lack of political commentary and Throughout the review period, analytical depth regarding political the premier of Niue has been in the affairs within Niue, and since bcn is media limelight, issuing comebacks the biggest media outlet on the island, of a hard-hitting nature against those this raises questions regarding the who have published discriminatory relationship between bcn, especially and defamatory comments about him. its board, and the government and the These controversies have created a role they have in determining what 252 the contemporary pacific • 32:1 (2020) is broadcasted. Although, with bcn would become both a social and a being a state-owned enterprise, this political challenge, which may prove is expected. Freedom of information difficult for a small island to manage. is an important pillar of a democratic It is hoped that through the Misuse of state, and the media plays an impor- Drugs Amendment Act 2019, which tant role in disseminating informa- was passed this year, strong laws and tion and serves as a link between the enforcement will prevent this from government and people. Niue needs happening (Government of Niue more media outlets, many of whom 2019). are currently bloggers, to come to the Questions were raised regarding fore and report critically on political whether Coe had breached an mp discussions. code of conduct by bringing mari- In another unexpected event within juana into Parliament (bcn, 16 May the Niue Assembly, opposition mp 2019). As this was the first time the Terry Coe brought a packet of mari- assembly had experienced an incident juana to an assembly sitting in a bid to of this nature, it was revealed that the make a statement on just how easy it assembly does not have a disciplin- was at the time to obtain illicit drugs ary or ethics committee to determine in Niue and to lobby against its pres- courses of action in such events (bcn, ence and use on the island (rnz 2019). 16 May 2019). This was deemed a Coe alleged that a visiting “tourist or serious matter by some mps, so, if consultant” provided the packet, con- anything, this stunt by Coe highlights sequently giving rise to a discussion on not just the issue of illicit drug aware- drug availability, a potential increase ness but also the need for an Mp code in illicit drug use in Niue, and the lack of conduct. of legislation and enforcement mea- Prior to this, Coe had taken Vaiea sures in place (bcn, 4 April 2019). It Farm to the Niue High Court over is arguable whether the stunt resulted its license to export Niue’s water in the commotion that Coe was after, and the lack of government consul- as several members in assembly were tations regarding the project (rnz described as unaware of what mari- 2018d). In the end, the government juana is and what it looks like. It was welcomed submissions on the project. perhaps the first time many mps had Water is a commodity that presents seen it. great opportunity for Niue, with In light of increasing transnational Niue honey, nonu (noni juice), and crime incidents in other Pacific Islands vanilla as examples of exports that such as Tonga, Cook Islands, and have proved successful. An overseas Fiji, this was certainly a topic worthy hydrologist undertook an assessment of increased awareness within the of Niue’s water supplies and noted assembly and among the public. The that the island only uses 3 to 5 percent drug may be available in Niue, and of its water lens annually, which fills it is assumed that it has been for a up each time it rains (bcn, 16 Oct number of years but not yet in quanti- 2018). Should the island experience ties that could lead to significant social a drought, this water lens would still harm. It is only at that point that it provide water for over ten years. political reviews • polynesia 253

Water supplies are therefore sustain- continuously finding new ways to get able, but there needs to be close atten- his points across to the government tion paid to the management, adminis- and to raise awareness on different tration, quality control, and marketing issues. However, these activities raise of water as a product in order for concerns regarding the lack of atten- this endeavor to be successful. It is tion and adherence to laws and due also important that each phase of any process, thereby posing a risk to these water project, including consultations, development projects and invest- be followed by the government. ments. It does not help that there are In May 2019, Coe filed a court also continuous external interjections injunction against the construction against management oversights. On a of a new government building that small island, politics and development would replace the old Fale Fono build- are so closely intertwined that projects ing, arguing that, as required by law, have become a power-play field public tender should have been issued between political opponents. for the development project because Australia’s presence on the island its estimated cost exceeds nz$10,000 is set to increase with a new diplo- (bcn, 21 May 2019). The premier matic post opening in Niue (bcn, stated that a selective procurement 8 Nov 2018). This will further Niue’s process had been undertaken, follow- increasing use of its relationships and ing the Niue government’s procure- memberships with traditional and ment procedure and guidelines, and nontraditional stakeholders as lever- that the successful applicant was a age against demands and assistance trusted and leading contractor who from traditional partners such as New had recently completed the island’s Zealand. In the past year, Niue has new supermarket and museum build- also gained a new diplomatic relation- ings. It was later found that Coe filed ship with Indonesia (Siohane 2019). the court injunction pursuant to the Prior to the official signing of this new Assembly Members’ Interests Act relationship, six workers from Indone- 2006, which relates to the interests of sia were brought over to Niue to help mps and their engagement in or wish with a shortage of labor supply (bcn, to tender for government contracts 21 Feb 2019). The premier noted that above nz$10,000. Because mps were the workers will assist with work in not involved in the project in this road maintenance, noni fruit harvest- way, the act was inapplicable. The ing, and other odd jobs. These work- case was later dismissed by the chief ers were stated to be paid as per other justice of the High Court of Niue, public service employees in Niue—by who made recommendations to clarify their employers or through projects Niue’s legislation on the subject. It they assist with. The workers will be is understood that the government is on Niue for up to two years, depend- redrafting its legislation and guidelines ing on the labor need (bcn, 21 Feb concerning procurement processes fol- 2019). lowing the issues raised in this case. It was interesting that Niue signed Overall, Coe takes the title of being diplomatic relations with Indone- the most active and innovative mp, sia, given that Indonesia abstained 254 the contemporary pacific • 32:1 (2020) from voting for a UN resolution to and actions. With the premier fre- strengthen UN engagement in the quently absent, the acting premier and Pacific through the Pacific Islands cabinet ministers traveling, and mem- Forum in order to achieve the Sustain- bers assisting ministers put in place able Development Goals and build to represent the cabinet, we must also resilience within the region in response question whether members assisting to climate change (United Nations members are effective representatives 2019). Both China and Indonesia for the cabinet or simply buffers who abstained from voting, but since pass on any questions the assembly climate change has been described as might have. a top priority for Niue—as illustrated In addition, elections are looming, by the millions of dollars invested in and increased activity, campaigns, and renewable energy and the adoption public debates are expected over the of a Niue Climate Action Plan—rela- coming year. For Niue, the concept of tions with Indonesia and China almost party politics is not viable, therefore make climate change a secondary election campaigns are carried out on priority. Perhaps diplomatic relations a much smaller scale in comparison will be Niue’s vehicle for discuss- to countries such as New Zealand. ing these subjects with Indonesia, Campaigns in Niue tend to focus on although the ability of a small state to familial and professional affiliations influence bigger states’ positions on and on what a candidate has done, or such subjects is minimal. can continue to do, for the public. All As of July 2019, we are already in all, the Niue government, includ- over halfway through the premier’s ing Parliament, needs a refresh—new fourth term, and after his substantial blood and different opinions and amount of time away from the island perspectives. It is hoped that we are for medical care, it appears that oppo- not decades away from seeing a spout sition mps have found it relatively of young professionals and determined difficult to engage with the govern- candidates join Parliament, moving ment—specifically the premier and his the island’s politics and governance cabinet—and have resorted to pull- away from the idea that only the old ing stunts like bringing marijuana to are wise and know best. Niue has a the assembly and turning to overseas long way to go in terms of having media outlets to share concerns and effective mps in place, and there is a seek answers. great imbalance between the capabili- This forces us to question whether ties of common roll and village rep- the current arrangement—that is, the resentatives. In recent years, the most parliamentary structure of the Niue active mps have been the cabinet and assembly—is effective for the island. the premier themselves and opposition For such a small legislature, there mps who have been in the game for a appears to be very little engagement long time. It would only be beneficial between the opposition and the pre- for Niue to have more active, inquisi- mier and his cabinet, thus undermin- tive mps who not only represent their ing the ability of members to hold the constituencies but also keep the gov- latter accountable for their decisions ernment accountable. political reviews • polynesia 255

In addition, a review of Niue’s with the public, it did not appear to electoral and legislative systems bother New Zealand. is needed. The current system has Niue’s politics within this period been in place for over forty years, have been dominated by controver- and circumstances have changed sial projects and opposition mps who in Niue over that time. One aspect struggle to get answers out of the gov- that requires review is constituency ernment. Overall, Niue continues to boundaries. For example the villages grow—in terms of both development of Toi, Vaiea, Namukulu, and Hikuta- and its international partnerships— vake each have fewer than forty and it is hoped that with the upcoming registered voters, but their results are election year a more diverse, experi- weighted the same as those of the enced, and effective group of mps will villages of South, Alofi North, be elected. In terms of demographics, and Hakupu, each of which has more Niue has a stable, stationary popula- than one hundred voters (see, eg, tion. Figures from 2011 show a total Department of Justice, Lands, Survey population of 1,611, and the 2017 & Community Affairs 2017). These census indicates a residential popula- imbalances need to be revised, and, tion of 1,591 and an overseas popula- as I understand, numerous attempts tion of 193 (Statistics Niue 2012; bcn, to do so thus far have amounted to 10 May 2018). Now that the popula- nothing. tion has stabilized, the government is Finally, for the first time in forty- better able to plan its support services, four years, the government issued a improve the standard of living, and notice to community leaders abroad develop targeted initiatives to stimu- not to raise New Zealand’s flag in any late sustainable economic growth. Constitution Day ceremonies (note This is reassuring in contrast to the personally seen by the author). The outward migration and depopulation premier’s decision to distribute this trends Niue had previously experi- notice was to highlight that 19 Octo- enced, and it will hopefully contribute ber is Niue’s Constitution Day, not to Niue’s growth. With the premier’s New Zealand’s. This was met with frequent absence throughout the past remarks of disappointment by many couple of terms, one saying comes to Niueans on island and abroad, who mind: great leaders know when to noted that the raising of both flags at step aside to enable another to lead constitution celebrations has become a with one hundred percent capacity, tradition and acknowledges the special capability, energy, and commitment. relationship the countries share. New Politics can be draining, and it is Zealand High Commissioner to Niue uncomfortable and concerning to see His Excellency Kirk Yates stated that an ailing leader in charge of a coun- the relationship “was not in jeopardy” try despite goodwill and intentions. and that “New Zealand does not Here’s wishing all the best to Niue and have any thoughts on the flag raising” its potential candidates for the coming (bcn, 16 Oct 2018). Regardless of elections. whether this was a decision that salote talagi should have involved consultation 256 the contemporary pacific • 32:1 (2020)

References www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific -news/367837/niue-premier-says-leeches All websites accessed 19 September 2019. -comment-idiotic bcn, Broadcasting Corporation of Niue. ———. 2018d. Niue Public Get Say over News videos published in English and Water Bottling Controversy. 11 October. Niuean on YouTube by NIUEtv. Available https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/ from https://www.youtube.com/user/ pacific-news/368474/niue-public-get-say NIUETV/videos -over-water-bottling-controversy bsa, Broadcasting Standards Author- ———. 2019. Niue Police Investigate mp ity. 2019. Newstalk zb’s Heather du over Marijuana Exhibit. 15 May. https:// Plessis-Allan Found to Have Breached www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/ Broadcasting Standards with Pacific 389256/niue-police-investigate-mp-over Islands Comments. Media release, 4 April. -marijuana-exhibit https://bsa.govt.nz/oldsite/assets/Media _Releases/190402_Media_Release Siohane, G. 2019. Niue’s Diplomatic _-_Newstalk_ZB.pdf Relations. Interview by S Talagi. Welling- ton, New Zealand, 31 June. Department of Justice, Lands, Survey & Community Affairs. 2017. Niue Legisla- Smith, Mackenzie. 2018. NZ Warns Niue tive Assembly General Elections th May over Revenue Shortfalls, Budget Blowouts. Alofi, Niue: Depart- rnz, 11 October. https://www.rnz.co.nz/ ment of Justice. Copy in author’s files. international/pacific-news/368331/nz -warns-niue-over-revenue-shortfalls Government of Niue. 2006. Niue Laws / -budget-blowouts Tau Fakatufono-Tohi a Niue: Legislation Statistics Niue. 2012. Niue at a Glance. as at December . Volume 1. Alofi: https://niue.prism.spc.int/ Government of Niue. http://www.gov.nu/ wb/media/Volume%201.pdf United Nations. 2019. General Assembly Adopts Resolution on Enhancing United ———. 2018. Asian Development Bank Nations Cooperation with Pacific Islands Act. Forum, Pays Tribute to Late President of ———. 2019. Misuse of Drugs Amend- Tunisia. Meetings coverage, 1 August. ment Act 2019. https://www.un.org/press/en/2019/ rnz, Radio New Zealand. 2018a. Apology ga12168.doc.htm to the Honourable Sir Toke Talagi, Premier of the Government of Niue. 20 December. https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/ Pitcairn pacific-news/378716/apology-to-the -honourable-sir-toke-talagi-premier-of The islands of Pitcairn, Henderson, -the-government-of-niue Ducie, and Oeno (commonly known ———. 2018b. Niue Defends Account- as Pitcairn) make up a single territory, ing Issues, Blaming NZ Auditor General. the last remaining United Kingdom 11 October. https://www.rnz.co.nz/ Overseas Territory in the Pacific international/pacific-news/368412/niue Ocean. Much of the period under -defends-accounting-issues-blaming review (1 July 2018–30 June 2019) -nz-auditor-general followed a similar path to that of ———. 2018c. Niue Premier Says Leeches the previous twelve months, with the Comment “Idiotic.” 3 October. https:// local community exploring various political reviews • polynesia 257 opportunities for consolidating and spent some time on the island. The strengthening their extremely vulner- article began by stating that, “rocked able position, while also being con- by child-abuse scandals, the locals strained by well-entrenched issues, were hostile and a culture of silence such as population size, economic culminated in the worst experience of viability, external perceptions of the [the photographer’s] life.” It suggested local community, and the continuing that Pitcairn was introverted, that saga of Brexit. In addition, the House the Islanders disliked outsiders, and of Commons Foreign Affairs Commit- that the experiences of the photogra- tee (fac) undertook an investigation pher showed “that their ideas about into the overseas territories (ots), the relationships and sex have not come findings of which had some potentially on very far.” The alleged response important implications for Pitcairn. from a leading member of the commu- Let us begin this review with a nity was, “If you [make a complaint] consideration of Pitcairn’s extremely you’re jeopardising our future” small population. The local news- (Richardson 2019). The agenda of paper, Pitcairn Miscellany, reported the article was quite clear, but it did that on 24 March 2019 the island’s highlight some of the key issues that population was only thirty-seven—a Pitcairn is really struggling to over- near historically low figure. There come. were fifteen women, nineteen men, The Islanders tried to draw a line and three children (Pitcairn Miscellany under the sex abuse scandals. On 2019b, 9). Although the overall figure 30 November 2018 the Child Safe- is reduced slightly by the fact that at guarding Memorial was unveiled the age of thirteen children continue (pic 2018b, 2). It read, “To say we’re their schooling in New Zealand, the sorry does not seek punishment or current workforce is still only about blame, it doesn’t say they were right thirty. Pitcairn Councillor Leslie and we were wrong, just that we have Jaques suggested the number was learnt and understand the error of our “too low and which [sic] means things ways.” Whether a long-delayed plaque don’t happen and don’t get done” with some wording on it that fails to (Richardson 2019). Commenting on accept full culpability is sufficient is this situation, one observer who had certainly open to debate. Considered spent some time on the island sug- within the context of the Telegraph gested that the community was “on article, one might have to argue that it the precipice of extinction” (Richard- is not. son 2019). Nevertheless, the local council The tenor of a piece by Nigel Rich- remained committed to its new settlers ardson in the Telegraph was highly program; it established “The New critical and did not help Pitcairn’s Settlers Orientation Group” (pic cause at all. The article was entitled 2019a, 1) and approved long-term “Secrets of Pitcairn, the Tropical visitor visas to aid settlement (pic Island that Covered Up a Child-Sex 2018a, 3). At least two new applica- Scandal,” and it focused on the experi- tions to settle were approved during ences of a photographer who had the period under review, but a recent 258 the contemporary pacific • 32:1 (2020) arrival departed. This was reported in match EU funding for the territories the Pitcairn Miscellany: “For the past up until 2020, including in the event 9 months a Gentleman from Europe of no deal, but was much less clear on has been living upon Pitcairn as an what might happen beyond that date. intending resident. It is with sadness In evidence to the fac, the Foreign to report that his settlement appears and Commonwealth Office noted its to have been unsuccessful, as in late plans to “review objectively the way in August he chose to depart” (2018c, which the UK Government’s commit- 4). So it is clear that despite significant ments to the ots is most effectively investment, time, and promotion, the discharged, taking account of the costs settler program has not proved to be a and benefits of the current arrange- success so far. ments” (fac 2019, 22). One factor is of course the remote- The lack of financial certainty ness of Pitcairn, including the difficul- created real anxiety in Pitcairn. In his ties Islanders face in accessing medical evidence to the fac councillor, Jaques services. This was starkly highlighted stated, “Pitcairn is concerned about in a story in the Pitcairn Miscellany, the replacement mechanism for EU which described the journey of an funding post Brexit. It is imperative Islander who required medical atten- that funding continues and a solid tion (2018d, 8). The trip from Pitcairn commitment on this is given by hmg to the Papeete Central Hospital in [Her Majesty’s Government]” (fac Tahiti required a thirty-hour journey 2018, Q196). Later in his evidence, at sea to Mangareva; a thirty-minute Jaques complained that “we have been water taxi ride to a neighboring islet given no assurance—in fact, no word where the airport is located; a five- at all.” Further, he argued, “The other hour flight to Tahiti; and, finally, a thing that concerns us . . . is how [any thirty-minute taxi journey. Then all of UK] funding would be disbursed. the medical appointments needed to The EU have an equitable, prorated be concluded within four days; if not, distribution under the edf [European the Islander would have had to wait Development Fund]. From the little bit another three months until the next we have heard, dfid [Department for supply and passenger rotation. International Development] intends Pitcairn’s structural and long- to have perhaps a bidding process of standing difficulties were not eased some kind. If that is the case, it will by the continuing uncertainty over marginalise smaller, less capable terri- the UK’s relationship with the Euro- tories such as ourselves. We would like pean Union (EU) and the process assurances that funds will be distrib- of Brexit. During the period under uted on an equitable, prorated basis review, the UK government struggled in the same way as they are under the and failed to get enough support in edf” (fac 2018, Q214). the House of Commons to allow the The continuing significance of EU UK to leave the EU. This continued funding was clear during the period to create significant uncertainty for under review. For example, a renew- the overseas territories, including able energy project was initiated (pic Pitcairn. The government pledged to 2019b, 3); a new Ship to Shore Vessel political reviews • polynesia 259 was built (pic 2019b, 2); and a new ments continuing post Brexit” (pic replacement “Welcome to Pitcairn” 2018a, 4). sign for the alternate harbor was Positive news came from other delivered (pic 2019b, 2). Further, quarters, too. The most notewor- the construction of a new store was thy was Pitcairn and its neighboring financed. In an article on its construc- islands being recognized as an Inter- tion, the Pitcairn Miscellany noted national Dark Sky Sanctuary (ie, an caustically that “this particular avenue area with no nightly light pollution of of funding will come to an end at the atmosphere). When the decision some point as our member state, the was announced in early April, Pitcairn UK, continues its exit from the Euro- became only the ninth such sanctuary pean Union. Although affected by the on Earth. Pitcairn was the only island Brexit referendum, with the exception group and the first United Kingdom of Gibraltar, no British Overseas Terri- Overseas Territory to be granted this tories residents were permitted to cast status. The sanctuary, named Mata ki a vote” (2018b, 8). te Rangi, or “Eyes to the Skies” (one The importance of EU funding of the possible old Mangarevan names and the concerns over its loss were for the island from the time of Poly- highlighted by the fac in its report. It nesian settlement prior to European argued that the “Government must rediscovery), covers a total area of 1.3 offer clarity on its long-term vision million square kilometers (ida 2019). for the funding of the ots” and that The Islanders hoped that sanctuary “the Government should explore status would increase the number of options for a dedicated development “astro-tourists” and offer some new and stimulus fund . . . which would employment opportunities, given the allow for the long-term, sustainable need for local night-sky guides. development of aid-dependent territo- Opportunities for increased tourism ries” (fac 2019, 23). In response, the were boosted further by the establish- government gave little further clarifi- ment of a new shipping service in cation or reassurance, so by the end of March 2019—the mv Silver Supporter. the period under review, Pitcairn and The new schedule will see twenty-one the other overseas territories remained passenger sailings to the island per unsure about what would happen to a year, up from twelve, together with crucial stream of support after 2020. increased opportunities for special Some better news in relation to interest cruises and charters. The Brexit came with a letter from Brexit hope in initiating the service was that Minister Robin Walker considering more regular sailings from Mangareva Pitcairn’s concerns over the free would give tourists greater flexibility movement of people to French Poly- and choice in visiting Pitcairn. How- nesia and Islanders’ continued use of ever, there was a problem. It became the hospital in Tahiti, both of which clear in late May that the Silver Sup- were under threat. However, the letter porter was unable to pick up or drop noted that the issues had been investi- off freight at Mangareva. The issue gated and that “there does not appear was highlighted during a public meet- to be any barriers to these arrange- ing of the Pitcairn Island Council on 260 the contemporary pacific • 32:1 (2020)

29 May. An excerpt from the minutes In mid-April, the reads, “[The Administrator] explained Tourism Travel Coordinator joined that permission to [transport freight] the South Pacific Cruise Alliance at needs to be granted by the French the Seatrade Cruise Global Conven- Government, not the French Polyne- tion (Pitcairn Miscellany 2019a, 8). sian Government. It was noted from The newly acquired Dark Sky Sanctu- the gallery that Pitcairn was told . . . ary status was promoted, and a range that usual charges for goods freighted of meetings were held with leading between Pitcairn and Mangareva will cruise line companies, such as Car- apply with the new ship. The Admin- nival Cruises and Silver Sea Cruises. istrator responded that [the French The work with the cruise line industry Government] will not allow freight had some success; in the 2019 season, transfers at Mangareva because it is seventeen cruise ships were booked to not an international port” (pic 2019b, call, with a higher number expected in 1). Foreshadowing the issue, a section 2020 (Pitcairn Miscellany 2019a, 8). from a previous meeting’s minutes However, due to either bad weather explains that despite protestations that or the island’s lack of capacity to those who wished to buy goods from welcome a large number of passen- Tahiti were not trying to dodge freight gers at one time, more often than or taxes, that was a long-running con- not, instead of passengers leaving the cern of the French Polynesian authori- cruise ships, Islanders boarded. This ties. Previously they had requested of course limited the experience of the that Pitcairners cease the smuggling visit for the tourists and reduced the of alcohol and cigarettes and noted potential income for Islanders. that Pitcairn’s use of Mangareva was a In June, a team of international “privilege and not a right” (pic 2017, scientists, environmentalists, and 3). a photographer visited Henderson In other notable developments, Island, funded by the UK govern- October saw a visit to Pitcairn by a ment and the Pew Trusts. This was in representative of the Blue Belt Pro- response to an initial research study gramme at the Marine Management that highlighted the large amount Organisation in the United Kingdom. (37.7 million pieces) of plastic on the The purpose of the visit was to receive island, meaning that it had the highest feedback from the local community density of plastic debris recorded any- about how the Pitcairn Islands Marine where in the world. It was estimated Protected Area (mpa) could be man- that 3,500 pieces of plastic wash up aged effectively. Islanders’ input was on the island each day (Vance 2019). then to be used to assist in the drafting The expedition investigated the quan- of an mpa management plan (Pitcairn tity of plastics, the rate of accumula- Miscellany 2018a, 3). Although an tion, and the impact on the marine important development, it is interest- and land environments. A preliminary ing to note that the protected area was team visited in March and described first established in March 2015—four what they saw, including plastic toys, years on, no plan has yet been put in fishing nets, bottles, toothbrushes, place to safeguard the designated area. and “even a fridge door.” The waste political reviews • polynesia 261 originated across the world, traveling investment” (2019a, 23). Pitcairn was from countries as far afield as Croatia, not explicitly mentioned, but it was Honduras, Spain, and Taiwan (Vance clear to whom the fac was referring. 2019). There is a palpable sense that the long In conclusion, during the year history of Pitcairn as a permanently under review, Pitcairn remained a hive populated territory may soon be com- of activity, with the local commu- ing to an end. nity exploring new ways to mitigate peter clegg its vulnerable position. There were clearly some successes, including the International Dark Sky Sanctuary References designation, the new shipping service, All websites accessed 23 September 2019. and the increasing number of cruise ship arrivals. This suggests that the fac, Foreign Affairs Committee. 2018. Pitcairn Island Council and the UK Oral Evidence: Future of the UK Overseas government felt that new initiatives Territories, House of Commons, HC 1464, 5 December. http://data.parliament.uk/ were worth undertaking to offer hope writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/ for the island. However, long-standing evidencedocument/foreign-affairs tropes were still very difficult if not -committee/the-future-of-the-uk-overseas impossible to shake off: the continu- -territories/oral/93391.pdf ing legacy of the child sex abuse ———. 2019. Global Britain and the scandals, the more broadly perceived British Overseas Territories: Resetting the hostile environment to “outsiders,” Relationship, Fifteenth Report of Session and Pitcairn’s fundamental isolation. 2017–19, HC 1464. https://publications The continuing uncertainty in rela- .parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/ tion to Brexit did not help matters cmfaff/1464/1464.pdf either. Ironically, because of Brexit, it ida, International Dark-Sky Association. is unlikely that the United Kingdom, 2019. Pitcairn Islands Announced Inter- with its own vulnerabilities, will take national Dark Sky Sanctuary. 15 April. any precipitative action in the short https://www.darksky.org/pitcairn-islands term to move the shrinking and barely -announced-international-dark-sky viable population off Pitcairn and -sanctuary/ relocate them elsewhere. However, pic, Pitcairn Island Council. 2017. two final quotes may give a hint of Minutes of the Public Meeting Held at the the future direction of policy. One is Public Hall. 29 March. http://www from the Telegraph : “Many islanders .government.pn/minutes/APPROVED believe Britain is looking for an excuse %20Council%20minutes%2029th to wash its hands of this remote and %20March%202017.pdf costly anachronism” (Richardson ———. 2018a. Minutes of the Council 2019). The second is from the fac Meeting Held at the Public Hall. 8 August. report: “There must be scope to ask http://www.pitcairn.pn/minutes/Approved hard questions about the long-term %20Council%20Meeting%20Minutes sustainability and viability of indi- %20Aug%208th%202018.pdf vidual overseas territories without ———. 2018b. Minutes of the Special further significant levels of UK capital Council Meeting Held at the Public Hall. 262 the contemporary pacific • 32:1 (2020)

26 September. http://www.pitcairn.pn/ visit of his second term as Chilean minutes/Approved%20Special%20 president. While coming primarily to Council%20Meeting%20Minutes%20 welcome the first group of tourists to 26th%20Sept%202018.pdf arrive under the new law regulating ———. 2019a. Minutes of the Council visitation and residency on the island Meeting Held at the Public Hall. 29 May. (Ley Residencia y Permanencia en http://www.pitcairn.pn/minutes/ Rapa Nui, 21.070), he also used Approved%20Council%20Meeting%20 the occasion to introduce two new Minutes%20May%2029th%202019.pdf councils and promote legislation for ———. 2019b. Public Meeting Notes; changing the island’s name. Specifics Held at the Public Hall. 29 May. http:// of the visit, as well as conflict during www.pitcairn.pn/minutes/Approved his presence, presaged many of the %20Public%20Meeting%20Notes paramount political issues of the 20May%2028th%202019.pdf review period. Pitcairn Miscellany. 2018a. Blue Belt Visit After receiving the first tourists to Pitcairn. 61 (11 [Nov]): 3. the following day at the Mataveri ———. 2018b. Building of the Store. International Airport, he introduced 61 (7 [July]): 8. a new council on population control (Consejo de Gestión de Carga ———. 2018c. Intending Pitcairn Island Demográfica de Rapa Nui) at the Resident Departs. 61 (9 [Sept]): 4. sacred monumental grounds of Tahai. ———. 2018d. Thumbs Up!—Part 3 of In a context where the population 4—Hospital Check. 61 (8 [Aug]): 8. had more than doubled, from 3,791 ———. 2019a. Pitcairn Islands Tourism in 2002 to 7,750 in 2017, and where Joins the South Pacific Cruise Alliance tourists exceeded 120,000 in 2017, at Seatrade Cruise Global 2019. 62 President Piñera conceived the new (4 [April]): 5. council and law as designed to address ———. 2019b. Population as at [sic] 24th the problem that “there are many March 2019. 62 (3 [March]): 9.Richard- tourist places that, because they were son, Nigel. 2019. Secrets of Pitcairn, the not cared for in time, were destroyed Tropical Island that Covered Up a Child- and simply disappeared” (Ministe- Sex Scandal. Telegraph, 11 May. rio Secretaria General de Gobierno, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/ 1 Aug 2018). Recognizing tourism as secrets-pitcairn-tropical-island-covered “a fundamental engine of the island’s -child-sex-scandal/ development,” he hoped the new con- Vance, Andrea. 2019. A Remote Pacific trols would manage “a fair balance” Island Is Covered in Plastic; Scientists between tourism and conservation of Are Determined to Clean It Up. Sunday the “natural beauty, history, legends, Star-Times, 2 June. and language” of the island (Minis- terio Secretaría General de Gobierno, 1 Aug 2018). In addition to the coun- Rapa Nui cil on population control, President Piñera also introduced El Consejo On 31 July 2018, Sebastián Piñera del Mar (the council of the sea) to arrived to the island for the first manage the formation of the island’s political reviews • polynesia 263

Marine Protected Area, which like Ley it is known throughout the world, but Residencia was detailed in a previous incorporating its ethnic and cultural review (Young 2019). Both councils denomination” (El Dínamo, 27 May integrate Rapa Nui representatives 2016). Prior to the arrival of Presi- into a larger committee constituted dent Piñera, Rapa Nui leaders were by the members of the Commission vocal in emphasizing their preference. for the Development of Easter Island Camilo Rapu, President of the Ma‘u (codeipa) that includes officials from Henua (the Indigenous institution various state ministries, for example, responsible for managing the sacred the Ministry of Defense (Gobierno de sites and cultural heritage of Rapa Nui Chile, 1 Aug 2018). National Park), supported changing During an address at King Riro the name to strictly “Rapa Nui,” a Plaza outside the offices of the name he considered “representative governor, President Piñera promoted of the people, and their language, his- legislation that would mandate an tory, and cultural heritage” (Teletrece, official name change for the island, 8 July 2018). Rapa Nui Mayor Petero initiated during the prior administra- Edmunds also supported the change tion of Michelle Bachelet. In May to strictly “Rapa Nui,” a change he 2016, Osvaldo Andrade, a represen- emphasized the Indigenous people had tative of the Leftist political party requested for “decades” (La Tercera, Partido Socialista de Chile and leader 1 Aug 2018). Given that President of the lower house of the Chilean Piñera had highlighted the “urgency” National Congress, started a legisla- of a name change that would “recog- tive project to constitutionally change nize the original, millennial history of the name of the island from “Isla de the island” (Prensa Presidencía 2018), Pascua” (Easter Island) to “Rapa one might presume his speech at the Nui.” Concurrently, Congressman plaza supported the bill Congress- Osvaldo Urrutia, a representative of man Andrade proposed. However, the right-wing political party Unión as a member of right-wing alliance Demócrata Independiente (udi), Chile Vamos, which also includes the proposed the name change instead udi political party, he endorsed and to “Rapa Nui-Isla de Pascua” (El became signatory instead to Congress- Dínamo, 27 May 2016). Congressman man Urrutia’s proposal. Andrade’s proposal emphasized the Tension in state discourse over a name change as necessary for demon- possible change of the island’s name strating that the Chilean state is now was not the greatest problem that “respectful of the diverse cultures and intensified after Piñera’s visit; rather, peoples” and stressed that the Rapa it was public dispute of the of the Nui people now have an opportunity Ma‘u Henua Indigenous Community. to “live by the name they have given As chronicled in prior reviews, the themselves” (La Tercera, 1 Aug 2018). March 2015 reclamation of the sacred Congressman Urrutia’s proposal was places (vahi tupuna) and ancestral instead designed to “recognize the valuables (hauha‘a tupuna) that the union between the continent and the state had developed into a Chilean island, maintaining the name by which national park beginning in 1935 and 264 the contemporary pacific • 32:1 (2020) a unesco World Heritage site in in the management of the Park’s 1995 without consulting the Rapa income and expenses” that could Nui people (Young 2016, 2017), an “compromise the management of the Rapa Nui National Park, and in the community, culminated in 2017 in a future, generate its economic infeasi- fifty-year concession of administrative bility” (Ministerio de Bienes Nacio- control of Rapa Nui cultural heritage nales 2019). While admitting some to Ma‘u Henua under the supervision failures (El Desconcierto, 1 March 2019), Rapu utilized the state judicial family representatives) (Young 2019). system to void the vote and retain his Though the community and munici- office until a scheduled August 2020 pal government had requested Rapu election for a new directory (Biobio, to run for the office of Ma‘u Henua 2 Aug 2019). president, and he had been elected Just after the close of the review with 80 percent of the vote in 2016 period, the conflict officially ended as (Moe Varua 2019c), by April 2018 Rivera conceded to Rapu’s authority in light of the court decision (Biobio, question a “lack of transparency” in 2 Aug 2019); still, the scope, source, management practices some consid- and substance of mismanagement ered “operating behind the backs of remained debated in community life (Prensa Rapa Nui, 10 April 2019). in during July and August 2019. No During Piñera’s visit, key tourist sites Rapa Nui people I spoke with during were occupied, and the directory of the course of a month appeared Ma‘u Henua was publicly contested happy with Rapu’s leadership, and (Biobio, 1 Aug 2019). By December most believed he was responsible for 2018 significant problems of Ma‘u Henua; had organized a formal censure of however, some directed blame else- Rapu (El Desconcierto, 28 Feb 2019) where, questioned the motives of the and a vote in March 2019 for a new state audit and competing directory, directory led by Nancy Rivera (El and doubted the more serious accusa- Desconcierto, 11 May 2019), which tions against him. The most egregious was legitimated immediately by the criticism of Rapu and Ma‘u Henua state Indigenous Development Corpo- circulated in a series of news articles ration (conadi) and in April by the published by the US-based website state-based government institutions Mongabay.org, which was reprinted for the Rapa Nui people: the offices by the news site El Desconcierto and of the mayor and governor and the referenced in other Chilean media, island-based development commission like El Libero. In its sensationalization (codeipa) (El Ciudadano, 12 May of the conflict, Mongabay portrayed 2019). Supported by municipal and Rapa Nui as a “polarized society” state political institutions, the new embroiled in a “financial chaos” directory demanded the resignation of that was publicly symbolized in the Rapu amid a state financial audit that burning of the island’s courthouse found “great administrative disorder and the “lynching” of Juan “Paki” political reviews • polynesia 265

Nahoe Hereveri in response to the because he first attacked the nephew local murder of Luis Araki Paoa by in retaliation for the collapse of fences Paki on 28 January 2019 (Mongabay, separating the land and cows between 28 Feb 2019). In its analysis of the Paki and Luis’s brother (La Tercera, financial chaos, the website high- 30 Jan 2019). When Luis and friends lighted “nepotism and fraud” in the confronted Paki, Paki reportedly Ma‘u Henua directory (Mongabay, lethally stabbed Luis (El Mercurio, 9 March 2019). Investigation of 23 Feb 2019). Cows, fences, and financial records from 2016–2018 by a man—Paki—with an established Mongabay reportedly demonstrated record of violence dating to childhood that “more than half a million US in the mean streets of Santiago, Chile, dollars were transferred from the bank rather than Rapa Nui (Economia y accounts of Ma‘u Henua to the direct Negocios, 23 Feb 2019) are the factors and close relatives of Camilo Rapu” as in the murder—not Ma‘u Henua. Ma‘u Henua rented office space and The murder is one of only three in bought supplies from “family busi- twenty years noted on the island (El nesses” (Mongabay, 13 June 2019). Mercurio, 23 Feb 2019). Ma‘u Henua was also found to have Assuming the coherence of the over a million dollars in unreported results of the audit, one might imagine expenditures, nearly two hundred lost that the perceived failures of Ma‘u checks, and over three million dollars Henua had destabilized the tourism not deposited into the proper accounts economy. Financial information not (Mongabay, 27 Feb 2019). shared by Mongabay and others of its Without excusing Rapu and the discourse network, however, suggests Ma‘u Henua directory, it is impor- tourism has strengthened under the tant to place some of the Mongabay current leadership of Ma‘u Henua, investigation “under erasure” (Derrida as increased profits earned by the 1997, 60)—that is, examine how the institution have been reinvested in meaning of information present in conservation, development, and jobs. Mongabay’s analysis of Ma‘u Henua While the Chilean National Forest is complicated by consideration of Corporation (conaf) at best achieved information absent in their story. 900 million Chilean pesos (about Following Luis’s murder, while some us$1.2 million) in profit, Ma‘u Henua in the Rapa Nui community did per- raised 4.3 billion (about us$6 million) ceive the intensity of violence at the in 2017. More importantly, where less courthouse as exacerbated by tensions than one-third of the profits of conaf surrounding conflict over the direc- typically returned to the island, as tory of Ma‘u Henua (El Correo del they were distributed across other Moai, 20 Feb 2019), the murder was parks of the state, under Ma‘u Henua predominately explained in Chilean all the money stayed in Rapa Nui (El media as emerging from an escala- Ciudadano, 12 May 2019). Ma‘u tion of prior conflict between Paki Henua reinvested some of the profits and Luis’s twelve-year-old nephew. in expanded conservation of sacred Though investigations are ongoing, sites through improved enclosures, Luis supposedly confronted Paki increased shelters, and “sustainability 266 the contemporary pacific • 32:1 (2020) initiatives,” such as “solar panels, prior managers? As problems in post- eco-baths, biodigesters, and rain- colonial states must be understood in water collections” (El Desconcierto, relation to “legacy” conditions created 1 March 2019), and added twenty by the colonial state (Krishna 2008), more sacred sites to its conservation problems in Ma‘u Henua should be program (Moe Varua 2019c). Profits analyzed in relation to the conditions were also applied toward the creation established or, perhaps more accu- of three hundred more jobs, nearly all rately, unestablished by Chile. Accord- for Rapa Nui youth (El Ciudadano, ing to Rapu’s testimony, a significant 12 May 2019), and were engaged to factor in the financial difficulties of help support the conservation of the Ma‘u Henua generally, and a reason Rapa Nui language (unesco 2019), why he turned to businesses tied to the perpetuation of contemporary his family for support, was that the Indigenous sports (Moe Varua 2019c), directory was not paid until 2017 and the cultural revival of Polynesian and the state did not initially provide voyaging by Rapa Nui (Moe Varua resources to finance the organization; 2019a). in this context, they turned to family Regardless of the ultimate source businesses willing to work on credit and substance of the financial mis- (Moe Varua 2019c). The financial management, Ma‘u Henua and Rapu issues Mongabay stressed to iden- will continue to be responsible for tify—fraud and nepotism in Ma‘u explaining their role in the problems Henua—also fall silent on the context that have occurred under their leader- that conditions their appearance. ship. However, Mongabay’s conclu- Technical analysis, as is common in sions are significantly compromised the contemporary era, “de-politicized” when it is recognized that the account- the historical foundations of the ing they fault occurred in part during political situation (Edkins 1999, 1–2). the period of coadministration. Ma‘u It also ignored a significant cultural Henua did not become self-determin- context of any nepotism in Rapa Nui. ing until December 2017—more than In a world where, as Mayor Edmunds a year after the start of the 2016–2018 noted, all Rapa Nui people descend period Mongabay analyzed. Any from one of “thirty-four women” financial disorder between 2016 and of the late nineteenth century (La 2017 cannot be blamed entirely on Tercera, 30 Jan 2019), Rapu is reason- Ma‘u Henua; it must be shared with able to emphasize that “it is practi- the coadministrator: the state gener- cally impossible not to hire a relative” ally and, more specifically, conaf— (Biobio, 19 April 2019). However, he the institution previously managing is wise to also recognize that he can the Rapa Nui National Park. Further, do a better job of sharing financial why should the state and conaf opportunities with all of the families be free of blame for problems in of Rapa Nui (El Disconciereto, 28 Feb 2018–2019? Was not the point of 2019), even though kinship remains coadministration, in part at least, for the foundation of island social rela- Ma‘u Henua to learn the tools and tions among Rapa Nui people (McCall techniques of management from the 1976, 13). political reviews • polynesia 267

Though Rapu accepted fault for favoring his own close relatives in the explicitly committed to retaining initial development of Ma‘u Henua, self-determination of their ancestral he has continued to deny the bulk of cultural heritage and sacred sites (El the allegations of the formal audits Desconcierto, 1 March 2019), their and various financial reports that appeal to state institutions like the have circulated through social media offices of the governor and mayor, as networks. He notes that the state audit well as organizations like codeipa by the Ministry of National Goods and conadi, would have undermined (El Ministerio de Bienes Nacionales) the autonomy of Ma‘u Henua as was conducted in only two days, whereas during the era of conaf, it Rapu’s refusal to step down and sign was completed across three months a restructured concession (Moe Varua (Moe Varua 2019c). He conceives 2019b) prevented, at least for now, the reported missing checks, deposits, the return of state control of Rapa and expenditures as part of a “smear Nui cultural heritage and sacred sites. campaign” (El Desconcierto, 1 March Rivera and her supporters, intention- 2019) and an “incomplete audit that ally or not, appear to have been pawns the community has responded to point in a more complex colonial strategy by point” (El Ciudadano, 27 July of the state of Chile to undermine 2019). He believes any financial absences are likely accounted for in the Rapa Nui people (El Ciudadano, the seventy-one out of seventy-eight 27 July 2019). Did they forget it was files and 250 books missing from President Piñera who was respon- the hasty audit (Moe Varua 2019c). sible for the shooting (puhipuhi) of Rafael “Rinko” Tuki, the Rapa Nui the Rapa Nui people that ended the representative of conadi who was 2010–2011 political occupations and not only on the front lines of the demonstrations, an action that was 2015 reclamations but also consulted condemned in the US Congress and at personally with Bolivian President the United Nations (UN) and that was Evo Morales during the height of the in violation of pending precaution- conflict (Young 2017, 176), views the ary measures at the Organization of attack on Ma‘u Henua as part of an American States (Young 2012)? attempted “coup d’etat” by the state Despite internal conflict over the to cancel the fifty-year concession directory of Ma‘u Henua, Rapa Nui of the park to the Rapa Nui people movement for control and repatriation (El Mostrador, 12 April 2019), an of their ancestral valuables (hauha‘a interpretation backed by the Chilean tupuna) continued to gain momentum. mayor of Valparaíso (World News Parlamento Rapa Nui, the grass- Network, 27 July 2019). Ironically, roots political organization that led central to this interpretation is the the March 2015 legitimation of the Rivera-led direc- Chilean National Park, symbolically tory by conadi, an act later judged included an image of the moai named unlawful by the Valparaíso regional Hoa Hakananai‘a on the ticket it court (Biobio, 15 May 2019). Though designed for tourism of their sacred 268 the contemporary pacific • 32:1 (2020) places and cultural heritage when the visitors and administrators of the park reopened under Rapa Nui con- British Museum as he asked them trol. Hoa Hakananai‘a is conceived to return Hoa Hakananai‘a in the by archaeologists as a particularly recent documentary film Te Kuhane important moai for understanding o te Tupuna (Pakarati 2015). In Rapa Nui history because it includes November, a delegation of Rapa extensive symbolic forms carved on Nui leaders arrived at the museum its back that link moai construction to to officially begin dialogues for the the Taata Manu (Birdman) ceremo- return of Hoa Hakananai‘a. Anakena nies (Van Tilburg 1994, 125–147), a Manutomatoma, a member of connection that destabilizes concep- codeipa who traveled to the museum tions of Rapa Nui history in popular along with the island’s mayor, gover- science that often contrast the eras of nor, and Rapu, told the museum offi- moai and Taata Manu (Flenley and cials that to understand the Rapa Nui Bahn 2002, 173–190). Although it is request, it was important for them to one of the most famous moai statues appreciate that moai are “family” of in the world, Hoa Hakananai‘a is not the Rapa Nui people, “not just rocks,” accessible to tourists in Rapa Nui; it and that they have a cultural “role to is dislocated in London at the British protect us” (Guardian, 20 Nov 2018). Museum. Hoa Hakananai‘a was sto- By June 2019, a delegation of the len from Rapa Nui—taken from the British Museum arrived on Rapa Nui ceremonial grounds of Oroo sacred and met with local and state officials to the Taata Manu spiritual prac- to “learn more about the request” tices—in 1868 by Englishmen aboard to return the statue (Biobio, 4 June the hms Topaze under the order of 2019). For Rapa Nui people, it is Commodore Richard Powell. On important that the statue be returned return to England, Commodore Powell not in the form of restitution, but in gave him to Queen Victoria, who in repatriation; restitution would return turn donated him to the museum. the cultural heritage only to the state, Parlamento Rapa Nui, which has while repatriation would return him to included control of Rapa Nui cul- the people (Arthur 2018, 3–4). tural heritage as a central goal of its Rapa Nui also found unity during agenda for self-determination since its the review period through the arrival inception in 2001 (Teave and Cloud of the Polynesian voyaging canoe 2014), designed the ticket to raise Kuini Analola at Anakena beach on global awareness that the statue is Rapa Nui on 27 April 2019. For Lynn held prisoner in the British Museum Rapu, the cultural leader behind the and that the Rapa Nui people want voyage, the event was the fulfillment him returned to them. The charac- of a dream he shared with fellow terization of Hoa Hakananai‘a as Rapa Nui in 1985, in part inspired to a prisoner articulates with Rapa follow seaways of the seminal 1976 Nui experience of moai as the living voyage of from Hawai‘i to a ora Tahiti (Moe Varua 2019a). The April ‘o te tupuna), a sentiment Leonardo 2019 voyage of Kuini Analola to Pakarati and his family shared with Rapa Nui followed an initial voyage political reviews • polynesia 269 in the south of Chile, where Rapa Nui enous peoples in an international were joined by representatives of the seminar held in Mexico City in March Indigenous Mapuche people as part 2019 entitled “Indigenous Peoples’ of a cultural exchange (Ministerio de Rights to Autonomy and Self-Govern- las Culturas, las Artes y el Patrimonio, ment as a Manifestation of the Right 27 Feb 2019). Kuini Analola set sail to to Self-Determination.” Importantly, Rapa Nui from Valparaíso on 1 April the seminar was organized in part by 2019, utilizing “ancestral naviga- the iachr, along with the Interna- tion” techniques to create a voyaging tional Work Group for Indigenous route based on interpretation of “the Affairs (iwgia), the UN Special Rap- wind, tides, the sun, the moon and porteur on the Rights of Indigenous the stars” (Ministerio de las Culturas, Peoples, the UN Permanent Forum on las Artes y el Patrimonio, 27 April Indigenous Issues, and the UN Expert 2019). Kuini Analola is named in Mechanism on the Rights of Indig- honor of Lynn Rapu’s mother, Analola enous Peoples (iwgia 2019, 3). The Tuki (Moe Varua 2019a), a woman presence of Rapa Nui representatives who inspired the Rapa Nui people at a forum where they can articulate throughout her life and politically in their goals to be on the UN list of 2010 when, at the age of eighty-four, non-self-governing territories and to she initiated land reclamations during secure their territorial rights through the 2010–2011 conflicts (Christ 2012, the iachr (iwgia 2019, 7–9)—and 78), which were seminal to the 2015 to do so in front of leading offices 2017 and actors in the international human state concession of the Rapa Nui rights field, next to Indigenous peoples National Park to Ma‘u Henua. Lynn like the Inuit of Greenland and the Rapu received training and guidance Guarani of Bolivia, who have gained for himself and fellow Rapa Nui significantly stronger forms of recogni- involved in the project beginning in tion in comparison to the Rapa Nui 2012 from Nainoa Thompson (Moe people—should be a valuable tool for Varua 2019a), the leader of the 1999 building the importance of their case voyage of to Rapa Nui from on the global stage, which is capable Hawai‘i (Polynesian Voyaging Society of influencing Chile to change its 2017). Kuini Analola’s next goal is treatment of Rapa Nui. to voyage to Tahiti (Ministerio de las The agenda of the Mexico City Culturas, las Artes y el Patrimonio, forum also provides a framework 27 April 2019). for assessing some of the concluding While there appears to have been political developments during the no legal progress in the Rapa Nui review period. After some progress petition at the Inter-American Com- toward a change strictly to the island’s mission on Human Rights (iachr) Indigenous name, at the close of the for the state of Chile to restore their review period, state forces reasserted “ancestral property rights” described the hyphenated name. Both proposals in a past review (Young 2019), Rapa were considered in various subcom- Nui representatives did present their mittees of the National Congress in case alongside sixteen other Indig- July and August, but a unanimous 270 the contemporary pacific • 32:1 (2020) vote in the lower house (the Cham- alternative Indigenous name, Te Pito ber of Deputies) ultimately endorsed o te Henua, generally everyone I a change from “Isla de Pascua” to questioned approved the change from “Rapa Nui” (El Ciudadano, 21 Aug “Isla de Pascua” to “Rapa Nui” and, 2018). On 7 May 2019, the Senate while not surprised by the obstruction supported the lower house, and the of the Senate, were visibly saddened bill appeared destined to be promul- to learn that state forces continued to gated into state law with President insist on retaining the colonial nomen- Piñera’s signature (Ahora Noticias, clature. Clearly, the insistence of the 7 May 2019). To the frustration of Senate and President Piñera to impose Rapa Nui people, a few days later a hyphenated name on the Rapa Nui Congressman Urrutia reasserted his people conflicts with Congressman hyphenated proposal to the Sen- Andrade’s proposal that they be given ate and forced a reevaluation for an opportunity to “live by the name the lower house as fellow senators they have given themselves.” In terms endorsed Congressman Urrutia’s sug- of the standard of the UN Declaration gested change, reportedly out of fear on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples that the alternative could negatively (undrip) emphasized in Mexico City, impact tourism (La Tercera, 10 May it also violates undrip Article 2, 2019). Rapa Nui Mayor Edmunds which insists that Indigenous peoples condemned the Senate proposal as an have a right to exercise their own “offense” to the “dignity” of the Rapa “indigenous origin or identity.” Nui people and Indigenous peoples While President Piñera appeared worldwide struggling for international impressed with the structure of the recognition (Biobio, 20 June 2019). new councils he introduced to Rapa He highlighted that because the Senate Nui in August 2018, their integration modification was enacted without with codeipa and the Chilean law consultation with the Rapa Nui people 19,253 (Ley Indígena) that legislates it and exposed their identity to further perpetuates the basic problem iwgia “ruin,” it simply strengthened the has highlighted for years and restated importance of the Rapa Nui move- this year: “that [state] law does not ment to restore Indigenous title to meet the standards of international their territory and gain independence law regarding the indigenous peoples’ from Chile (Biobio, 29 May 2019). As rights” (iwgia 2019b). Accord- the lower house refused the changes ing to undrip Article 5, Indigenous suggested by the Senate, the issue peoples have a right “to maintain remains in debate within the Chilean and strengthen their distinct political, National Congress and without an legal, economic, social and cultural obvious path toward resolution institutions, while retaining their right (Biobio, 28 May 2019). to participate fully, if they so choose, During my residence on the island in the political, economic, social and from July to August 2019, I encoun- cultural life of the state.” By integrat- tered no Rapa Nui person in support ing Rapa Nui councils on the sea and of the hyphenated name. While some population into the larger structures Rapa Nui people also promoted an of codeipa that incorporate Chilean political reviews • polynesia 271 ministries such as the Ministry of Nui on the UN list of non-self-govern- Defense, clearly President Piñera is ing territories and use that structure not respecting the right of Rapa Nui to help Ma‘u Henua function more people to “choose” whether or not effectively. Given that Rapa Nui is a they want to be part of state mili- unesco World Heritage site already, tary operations. Given that the state the United Nations would likely have military recently bludgeoned and shot a number of instruments available. Rapa Nui people in 2010–2011, it Though state knowledge has not is highly unlikely that the majority been public, recent archives of 1960s would choose to participate in such a dialogues between state representatives state institution. of Chile and other states on the UN Though iwgia is critical of the Decolonization Committee respon- 2017 “concession” of the Rapa Nui sible for managing the list reveal that National Park because it fails to Chile not only has been aware that restore land rights (iwgia 2019b, Rapa Nui belongs on the list but 207), a problem emphasized by also actively distorted the facts of the Rapa Nui leaders as well (Young island to avoid enlistment when that 2019, 229), former Chilean President possibility first emerged in the 1960s Bachelet is generally respected for (Foerster 2017, 148–158). initiating progress on the recognition As Rapa Nui people move toward of Rapa Nui rights to self-determine 2020, tragically, they will do so their cultural heritage and sacred without a fundamental pou (pillar) places. The amendments to the conces- of life for many in the community: sion that the Piñera administration Ida “Mama Piru” Huke Atan, who attempted to manipulate Camilo Rapu was born 5 February 1958 and into signing would have entangled passed away on 26 September 2018. the directory of Ma‘u Henua in other Mattarena Tuki Haoa, an assistant of state institutions similar to the ways Mama Piru, sadly noted that many the aforementioned new councils are Rapa Nui people worry “that when structured. Rather than constrain she died, a part of the island died too” (pers comm). After succumbing to the amended concession would force brain cancer quickly after diagnosis Ma‘u Henua to make decisions in in Santiago, Chile, Mama Piru was consultation with the institutions returned to Rapa Nui, where she now the original concession was sup- rests beside her beloved home in Vai posed to free Ma‘u Henua from; namely, conaf, codeipa, the Monu- by recognizing Mama Piru, it is easy ments Council, and the Ministry of to articulate her spirit across many National Goods (Moe Varua 2019b). of the politics of the year. Mama Piru Rather than violate undrip Article 5 “womaned” key access points dur- further, the state of Chile could gain ing the 2015 the apparent supervision it desires the reclamation of the vahi tupuna of Ma‘u Henua through the alterna- and hauha‘a tupuna now managed tive international strategy outlined in Mexico City; it could inscribe Rapa the last days of her life she was on the 272 the contemporary pacific • 32:1 (2020) phone with Rapu, concerned not with language, and politics through a year her own survival but with possible of apprenticeship in 2008, it was one resolution of the growing conflict with of the last that is particularly symbolic Ma‘u Henua. In the 1990s, with guid- of her persona. At the 2018 meeting of ance from unesco Cultural Heritage the Native American and Indigenous Director Lyndel Prott, Mama Piru Studies Association in Los Angeles, created comprehensive inventories of after a presentation on repatriation Rapa Nui cultural heritage and bio- that she designed to articulate with logical remains at museum collections the struggles of the Tongva Indigenous throughout Europe and the world— people of Southern California who including the collections of the Musée were in part constituting the audience, de l’Homme in Paris, the Pitt-Rivers a man who never met her before took Museum in Oxford, England, and the a gold ring off his finger and gave it American Museum of Natural History to her to honor the inspiration she in New York City. This was founda- instilled in the room. It is one of many tional to her pioneering formation of stories that can begin to illuminate the Rapa Nui Repatriation Program why she acquired the nickname “Piru” in 2013 and its Ka Haka Hoki Mai Te (precious). At the height of the 2015 Mana Tupuna project, which realized the first repatriation of Rapa Nui to journalists that Rapa Nui gained ancestral bones (ivi) from New Zea- inspiration from the ancestral world land in 2018 (Arthur 2018, 15–18). embodied in the moai who perpetually Any repatriation of Hoa Hakananai‘a “talk” with the Rapa Nui people, who and other cultural heritage or bio- are “the children of their children” logical remains will follow paths (El Ciudadano, 25 Sept 2015). Rapa grounded by Mama Piru. She was Nui people who continue to live with also seminal in environmental con- the spirit of Mama Piru perhaps now servation and sustainability projects. can find some comfort in realizing Long before global and state officials moai talks can now include her and developed concern with the ocean and the children of Mama Piru. island coasts, Mama Piru organized forrest wade young weekend cleanup crews that volun- teered their time and labor to pick up the trash (ioio) from around the References world that perpetually washes ashore on Rapa Nui. When the municipal- Ahora Noticias. Chilean television news ity became serious about recycling, it station with online news. Santiago, Chile. selected Mama Piru to lead the Orito www.ahoranoticias.cl/ Recycling Center. I am told there are Arthur, Jacinta. 2018. Repatriación indí- now at least five people struggling to gena en el Museo Rapa Nui. Colecciones do the work she alone did throughout Digitales, Subdirección de Investigación, the island. Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural. Of the many memories I have of Biobio. Daily Internet news and radio. the kind of person who founded my Concepción, Chile. http://www.biobiochile understanding of Rapa Nui culture, .cl/ political reviews • polynesia 273

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