History of Tahiti

descendants of Polynesian gods and invested with supernatural power (mana). A symbol of their status were belts made of red feathers. However, clan leaders did not hold absolute power, and their role included consulting with general assemblies or councils, especially in times of war. The marae was a sacred place of worship constructed of raised stone platforms in open ground, performing a cultural function similar to such structures in other Polynesian societies. The marae were at the centre of the spiritual and social life of the clan. Here, gods were invoked and leaders enthroned. It was also a place for ceremonies such as preparation for war, birth celebrations as well as burial rituals. Types of marae ranged from simple family platforms to larger edifices for leaders of high status, although all were considered tapu. Early European contact saw the arrival of the London Missionary Society in 1797 who introduced Christianity and documented the Tahitian language (Reo Tahiti).

First European visits

The first known Europeans to see Tahiti were the crew of the HMS Dolphin and its English captain Samuel Wallis. They stayed among the islands near Tahiti between 19 June and 28 July 1767 during their circumnavigation of the globe. Wallis was received by Queen Purea. A later report of an earlier sighting of Tahiti by the Portuguese navigator Pedro Fernandes de Queirós, serving the Spanish Crown, in 1606, is likely to have been mistaken with a sighting of La Sagitaria Island (Rekareka), to the SE of Tahiti.

The relaxed and contented nature of the people and the characterization of the island as a paradise impressed early Europeans, planting the seed for a romanticisation by the West that endures to this day.

Wallis was followed in April 1768 by the French explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville, completing the first French