An interesting drama that played out last week in a courtroom in Papeete, the capital of French Polynesia, evidently captured the attention and sympathies of the Tahitians. A magistrate agreed with the pleas of two homeless Tahitian people that they had the right to keep their dogs with them, despite… Continue reading…
An interesting drama that played out last week in a courtroom in Papeete, the capital of French Polynesia, evidently captured the attention and sympathies of the Tahitians. A magistrate agreed with the pleas of two homeless Tahitian people that they had the right to keep their dogs with them, despite… Continue reading…
Gerard Hindmarsh traveled from New Zealand to the Society Islands last week to pursue his obsessive investigation of the sea-faring traditions of the Tahitian people. The author of an article early last year about Polynesian oceanic travel 800 years ago updated his findings with another report on May 5. A… Continue reading…
A cooperative sporting event between a Tahitian team and one from Hawaii last week provided welcome relief from all the news about the Winter Olympics competitions in South Korea. A brief news story on February 20 by a Honolulu television station reported on a non-competitive canoe race in the water… Continue reading…
Violence in the home is a worldwide issue, especially for people concerned about developing more peaceful societies. Thus, a report last week on the rise of domestic abuse among the Tahitians suggests the value of a review of the history and cultural values which inhibit such violence. Or at least,… Continue reading…
In his book Tahitians: Mind and Experience in the Society Islands, Robert Levy (1973) explained that relationships in French Polynesia were more egalitarian in some communities than in others. In the small, rural village on Huahine where he did much of his fieldwork, the Tahitians were mostly free of vertical… Continue reading…
A storm has been brewing over a proposed development on the northwest coast of Raiatea, but the disgruntled Tahitians are so far expressing their opposition through petitions and protests. One of the Leeward Group in the Society Islands, Raiatea is perhaps best known for its remarkable Taputapuatea Marae, a large… Continue reading…
A storm has been brewing over a proposed development on the northwest coast of Raiatea, but the disgruntled Tahitians are so far expressing their opposition through petitions and protests. One of the Leeward Group in the Society Islands, Raiatea is perhaps best known for its remarkable Taputapuatea Marae, a large… Continue reading…
On July 9, UNESCO declared an ancient religious complex of the Tahitians to be a World Heritage Site in recognition of its significance as a traditional cultural center of many Pacific societies. A New Zealand professor explained the importance of the designation for Radio New Zealand last week. The Taputapuatea… Continue reading…
Scholars have found evidence that about 800 years ago people used large, seafaring canoes to travel between the Society Islands and New Zealand, a distance of nearly 3,000 miles. A report in a New Zealand newspaper last week explained why experts consider the long-distance travels of the Tahitians, and other… Continue reading…
