The Rapanui diaspora in Tahiti and the lands of Pamatai (1871-1970)

International audienceWhen commercial flights between Rapa Nui and Tahiti began in 1968, after nearly 70 years of colonial confinement,a new migratory process began from Rapa Nui to Tahiti. This included claims of ownership of the lands of Pamatai,bought 80 years earlier by a group of 25 Rapanui immigrants. For the Rapanui people, the history of the landsof Pamatai evokes a series of memories and forgotten events, genealogical ties, as well as a constant search for alinkage with Tahiti – a “memory of diaspora.”In this paper, I analyze the history of links between Rapanui people and Tahiti and the role of the lands ofPamatai in the Rapanui migration process: the exodus during the nineteenth century, confinement on Easter Island,the broken link with Tahiti, and Rapanui claims for ownership of the lands of Pamatai after the 1970s