Highlighted by a ceremony including typical local foods, indigenous costumes and traditional dancing, the Eco-Polis project team was hosted for a reception by a group of island residents, including descendents of the most recent ruling family of the island clans. This group of artisans and musicians, called
El Baúl del To Tahonga is working to rediscover, preserve and promote expression of the authentic Rapa Nui cultural heritage, much of which was lost or forgotten over the course of the last century and-a-half due to cataclysmic population loss as a result of disease epidemics and slave trading raids. The indigenous people’s strong connection to the land and their reverence for the forces of nature (e.g. the sea, the wind, wildlife, etc.) underscore the importance of development programs that also protect the islands fragile natural environment. Along with local public officials and citizen stakeholders, El Baúl is one of the groups with whom the team will be cooperating in order to find ways of incorporating cultural heritage and environmental preservation efforts into the economic development, infrastructure improvement and social programs that will be proposed.
Gregory Delaune, ASLA, AICP
Direction Committee & Contract Professor, Eco-Polis Master
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