ACROSS THE OCEAN IN GREAT CANOES…

The generally accepted theory places the origins of the great migrations that populated the Pacific with Polynesian peoples three or four thousand years ago in Southeast Asia.

Using double-hulled sailing canoes built from wood and woven fibres, these early navigators travelled east through their knowledge of winds, currents and stars, settling the central Pacific archipelagos, including the Cook Islands and Tahiti and its islands, between 500 BC and AD 500.

These great voyages, completed around AD 1000, gave rise to the Polynesian Triangle, with Hawai‘i to the north, Easter Island to the east, Tahiti and its islands to the west, and New Zealand to the southwest. The related languages spoken across these islands reflect the shared origins of their peoples.

THE ARRIVAL OF EUROPEANS

In the sixteenth century, Magellan and then Mendaña reached the Tuamotu and Marquesas Islands respectively. The first recorded European arrival in Tahiti is associated with the Englishman Samuel Wallis in 1767. The following year, the French explorer Bougainville named the island “New Cythera”. James Cook arrived a year later. Tahiti and its islands were then divided among several chiefdoms and kingdoms, and Polynesian cosmology included many deities. Protestant and Catholic missionaries gradually evangelised the islands. With European assistance, one chief consolidated his power and established the Pōmare dynasty.

In the nineteenth century, Tahiti and its islands became the focus of religious, commercial and strategic rivalry between France and Britain. A French protectorate was signed with Queen Pōmare IV in 1842, covering Tahiti and Moorea. Annexation was accepted in 1880 by Pōmare V, Tahiti's last king.

The 1960s marked a turning point for Tahiti and its islands. The establishment of the Pacific Testing Centre (CEP) in 1963 brought rapid change: migration from the outer islands to Tahiti, growth in local businesses and services, higher living standards and exposure to a previously unfamiliar consumer society.

TIMELINE

  • 4000–3000 BC: the first waves of settlement in the South Pacific from Southeast Asia.
  • Third–sixth centuries: early settlement in the Marquesas.
  • 850–1000: settlement from the Marquesas towards the Leeward Islands, Hawai‘i, the Cook Islands, Easter Island and New Zealand.
  • 1521: Magellan sights part of the Tuamotu Islands.
  • 1595: Álvaro de Mendaña reaches the Marquesas.
  • 1767: Wallis arrives in Tahiti.
  • 1768: Bougainville names the island New Cythera.
  • 1769: Cook's first voyage to Tahiti.
  • 1768: Bougainville arrives in Tahiti and claims possession of the Society Islands.
  • 1774: Cook takes a Tahitian, Pa‘i, to Europe.
  • 1773: Cook's second voyage to Tahiti.
  • 1777: Cook's final voyage to Polynesia.
  • 1788–1791: the Bounty mutiny period.
  • 1793: the beginning of the Pōmare dynasty.
  • 1797: the first London Missionary Society missionaries arrive.
  • 1797: establishment of the Pōmare dynasty.
  • 1815: Polynesian chiefs lose the Battle of Fe‘i Pī; Pōmare II converts to Christianity.
  • 1819: Pōmare II establishes the Pōmare Code.
  • 1836: British Protestants secure the expulsion of French missionaries.
  • 1841: Dupetit-Thouars proclaims a French protectorate over Tahiti, an initiative ratified by Britain.
  • 1844–1847: the Franco-Tahitian War.
  • 1847: Pōmare IV accepts the French protectorate.
  • 1914–1918 and 1939–1945: many islanders join the French forces.
  • 1958: the French Establishments in Oceania become French Polynesia.

A LIVING TRADITIONAL CULTURE

A cradle of the Mā‘ohi civilisation that spread across the Polynesian Triangle, the Marquesas retain impressive remains and vibrant traditions.

Tiki stone figures, me‘ae and paepae — religious sites and sacred spaces made from standing stones, aligned stones or raised stone platforms — are found throughout the islands.

The revival of traditional arts is reflected in tattooing, originally an ancestral expression of political, social and religious values and symbols. Today, it also adorns the body, with the aesthetics of designs often taking precedence over their original meanings.

This revival is also evident in dance and polyphonic singing, including tārava, ‘ute and rū‘au, which express the spirit of the Polynesian people.

This cultural energy comes alive in many celebrations, above all the Heiva i Tahiti in July. Groups of singers, dancers, musicians and performers, sometimes numbering up to 150, compete through music, choreography and costume. Poetry also finds expression in ‘ōrero, the art of public speaking, with powerful performances rooted in ancestral oral tradition, often accompanied by the clear sound of the vivo, or nose flute.