Tahitians living near a subdivision under construction on Huahine are protesting the destruction of their natural environment, especially the backfilling of land on the shore of a small lake. An article last week in La Dépêche de Tahiti, a major Tahitian daily newspaper, describes the growing local controversy. The north… Continue reading…
A scholarly analysis of a 2004 French Polynesian novel suggests that there are different ways of understanding the history and culture of the Tahitians, especially in contrast to those of the French colonizers. The scholars, Andrew Cowell and Maureen DeNino, appear to suggest that the novel Hutu Pāinu: Tahiti, Racines… Continue reading…
A Tahitian news source reported last week that two different men had assaulted two different women, one in Papeete and the other on the normally more peaceful island of Huahine. Both women filed complaints with the police. The details serve to challenge the idea that the Tahitians are still able… Continue reading…
Corrupt politicians are hardly news anywhere in the world, but Gaston Flosse, the President of French Polynesia, might deserve a prize as an extreme example of the phenomenon. The highest court in France last Thursday upheld his conviction for corruption last year, which resulted in a suspended jail sentence for… Continue reading…
Susan Spano described a scary incident that occurred on Huahine, one of the Society Islands located 100 miles northwest of Tahiti. A former travel writer for the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times, she was interviewed by the L.A. Times last week regarding a new book she has… Continue reading…
Oscar Temaru, the leader of the opposition in French Polynesia, has called on educators in the territory to begin teaching children in English rather than in French. In early May, Temaru, the leader of the pro-independence party, was defeated in territorial elections for president by his long-time opponent, Gaston Flosse,… Continue reading…
Last week, a nonviolent rebel group in Tahiti made its latest peaceful attempt to establish an independent nation in the Society Islands, free from French control and influence. The somewhat quixotic group, styling itself as the Republic of Hau Pakumotu, attempted to raise its flag over land it claims, but… Continue reading…
Reports in June that the Tahitians were not allowed to speak their own language in the French Polynesia Territorial Assembly have irritated people in Tahiti. The assembly has taken up the matter and issued a protest, though some members of the opposition, the independence party, are opposed to even asking… Continue reading…
The Supreme Court of France recently struck down two laws passed in French Polynesia because some of the debates in the territorial assembly were held in the Tahitian language. In response, Édouard Fritch, the President of the Territorial Assembly, asked the President of France if he would support amending French… Continue reading…
In early May, the citizens of French Polynesia voted in a new president, an opponent of independence, prompting The Economist last week to weigh in on colonialism in the Pacific region. Tahiti is the most populous member of the Society Islands archipelago, which is the heart of French Polynesia. Throughout… Continue reading…
