Jacobo Hey Paoa
{{short description|Chilean attorney and politician}}
Jacobo Hey Paoa is the first Rapa Nui male to earn a law degree and become an attorney.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vXjxAQAAQBAJ&pg=PR188|title=Island at the End of the World: The Turbulent History of Easter Island|last=Fischer|first=Steven Roger|date=2006-06-01|publisher=Reaktion Books|isbn=9781861894168|language=en}}{{Cite web|url=http://netcontrol.net/archives-98/257020/index.shtml|title=Archive of ::G. McCall -- Rapanui (Easter Island)|date=1995|website=netcontrol.net|access-date=2018-06-09}}
Family
His parents, Urbano Edmunds Hey and Carolina Paoa Rangitopa were from Rapa-Nui. Urbano, who once served as the mayor of Hanga Roa, was the son of Henry Percy Edmunds and Sofia Catalina Renga No'i No'i Hereveri Vaka.{{Cite web|url=https://www.myheritage.com/names/henry_edmunds|title=Henry Edmunds - Historical records and family trees - MyHeritage|website=www.myheritage.com|access-date=2018-06-09}}{{Cite journal|date=Summer 1990|title=What's New in Hangaroa|url=http://islandheritage.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Rapa_Nui_Journal_4_2_Summer_1990.pdf|journal=Rapa Nui Journal|volume=4|pages=32}} From 1904 to 1929, Edmunds was the manager of the Scottish-Chilean company Williamson Balfour Agency—a sheep-raising and nitrates merchant that created the Island Exploitation Company.{{Cite news|url=https://imaginaisladepascua.com/en/easter-islands/easter-island-history/|title=EASTER ISLAND HISTORY {{!}} Imagina Easter Island|work=Imagina Easter Island|access-date=2018-06-09|language=es-ES}}{{Cite web|url=http://libweb.hawaii.edu/digicoll/rapanui/edmunds.html|title=Rapanui: Edmunds and Bryan Photograph Collection -- Henry P. Edmunds|last=Library|first=Special Collections, University of Hawaii at Manoa Hamilton|website=libweb.hawaii.edu|access-date=2018-06-09}} In addition to Urbano, Edmunds fathered Juan Edmunds Rapahango from a prior marriage. Rapahango was the father of politician Pedro Edmunds Paoa, and each would serve as the Mayor of Easter Island (Rapahango: 1973-1979, 1990-1992; Paoa: 1994-2008, 2012-ongoing).
Educational background and legal career
Jacobo Hey Paoa traveled from Easter Island and settled in Santiago, Chile, at thirteen. He had difficulty adjusting to his new life, as he did not speak Spanish and was enrolled at an experimental school with unconventional teaching methods. Later, as an adult, Paoa himself entered the educational field. He graduated from the José Abelardo Núñez Higher Normal School as a Normalist Professor and eventually became the educational institution's director. In 1974, he began studying law at the University of Chile. He earned a Master's in Labor Law and Social Security—even receiving an exchange scholarship from the Rotary Club to study in Chicago, Illinois.
Political life
By 1983, he returned to Easter Island. He served as the Provincial Governor from 1990 to 2000 during the governments of the center-left Concertación coalition until his resignation.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=01U5DrqoMJgC&pg=PA64|title=Historical Dictionary of Polynesia|last=Craig|first=Robert D.|date=2002|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=9780810842373|language=en}} He was instrumental in preparing the Indigenous Law 19.253 and its subsequent modification to restore the land to the members of the Rapa Nui people.{{Cite web|url=http://www.abogados.cl/cgi-bin/procesa.pl?plantilla=/v2/cont_revista.html&idcat=32&id_cat=25&id_art=130&nseccion=%25BFPor%2520Qu%25E9%2520Asociarse%253F%2520%253A%2520Revista%2520del%2520Abogado%2520%253A%2520Revista%2520N%25BA%252035%2520%253A%2520ENTREVISTA|title=Colegio de Abogados de Chile|website=www.abogados.cl|access-date=2018-06-09}} He currently serves as Secretary of the Court, Notary, and Conservator of the Island's Real Estate.{{Cite web|url=http://www.dpp.cl/sala_prensa/noticias_detalle/7923/defensor-publico-de-isla-de-pascua-difunde-defensa-especializada-en-tribunal|title=:: Defensoría Penal Pública ::|website=www.dpp.cl|language=es|access-date=2018-06-09}} In certain instances, he is even called upon to serve as an alternate or subrogated judge for the Easter Island Court.{{Cite web|url=http://www.rapanui.net/component/content/article/8-noticias-espanol/357-jose-fati-tepano-juro-como-el-primer-rapa-nui-en-ser-juez-titular.html|title=Rapa Nui - Rapa Nui|last=Sandoval|first=Camila|website=www.rapanui.net|language=es-es|access-date=2018-06-09|archive-date=2018-06-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612143937/http://www.rapanui.net/component/content/article/8-noticias-espanol/357-jose-fati-tepano-juro-como-el-primer-rapa-nui-en-ser-juez-titular.html|url-status=dead}}