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Indigenous groups around the world have endured generations of colonial violence and historical oppression. Postcolonial theories provide a framework for understanding the impacts of these experiences on the well-being of individuals and communities. Yet more research is needed to understand the unique well-being needs of Indigenous peoples and to appropriately address the disparities perpetuated by the legacies of colonialism. As the most remote, Indigenously-inhabited island in the world, the local community on Rapa Nui ("Easter Island") continues to utilize their traditional healing system as a critical tool in maintaining their well-being, resilience, and ability to resist. This dissertation uses ethnographic data from Rapanui healers and their patients to reveal how the Rapanui medical traditions are intimately connected to their kinship structures, ancestral lands, and Rapanui identities. Participating in each of these areas promotes Rapanui well-being, and strengthens individual and community resilience. The Rapanui traditional healing system supports family and community connectedness through encouraging intergenerational solidarity and community reciprocity, and the reciprocal connection to their ancestral lands promotes treatment agency within the island environment. Maintaining a Rapanui identity is also an important element of utilizing the ancestral medicines. Finally, by incorporating the Indigenous concept of survivance within the island's "cheap colonialism" context, this study shows how traditional healing systems enable survival through resistance and active presence, and allows the Rapanui to further protect their ancestral medicines for future generations.