Police evict Rapa Nui clan from Easter Island hotel

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12378736

Police on Easter Island have evicted a group of indigenous people who had been occupying the grounds of a luxury hotel since last year.

"The group of Rapa Nui say the land on which the hotel was built had been illegally taken from their ancestors generations ago .... The hotel was bought from the Chilean government by the Scheiss family, a powerful investment group..."

Well, I guess we shouldn't be surprised when this investment group does something crappy.

From what I understand they want to put a casino on the island for tourists . Good plan?????????????? They also built public bathrooms over and ancient burial ground . Who's on this planning commision ?

Thanks for posting this, Martian.

I discuss this luxury hotel, and the horrible implications of its very existence, in my book Big Stone Head: Easter Island and Pop Culture.
http://www.bigstonehead.com

This is a complex issue with many layers of implication for all concerned parties.
however, suffice to say, the Rapa Nui activists are (from my perspective), in the right.
Best of luck to them.

[ Edited by: tikibars 2011-02-07 18:04 ]