Tahiti, A Brief History
Settlement
4000 years ago, settlers from South East Asia left the mainland and travelled eastward, populating Melanesia and Micronesia. They sailed across the vast Pacific Ocean on double-hulled sailing ships made from tree trunks and plant fibre. These Austronesian people became masters of high sea navigation as their journeys became longer as land masses became further and further apart.
Instinctually, using nature-based navigational techniques (star positions, reading the swell in the ocean and cloud formations) these incredibly skilled navigators and sophisticated, highly organized people discovered and settled the current Cook Islands and most of the Polynesian islands between 700 – 500 BC.
From the Polynesian islands, these people (the “Moahi”) sailed to and settled Hawaii, The Easter Islands and New Zealand between 300 AD and 700 BC. This formed what has become known as “The Polynesian Triangle”.
Due to their isolation, the Moahi people across the Polynesian Triangle developed a unique Polynesian identity that has fascinated and charmed visitors for centuries.
Discovery And Influential Visitors…
In 1521, the first Polynesian Island Puka Puka in the Tuamotu island chain was discovered by Magellan on a Spanish expedition. It wasn’t until 1767 that Captain Wallis discovered Tahiti for the British, and the islands were officially charted.
On the first round the world expedition by the French Navy, Captain Bougainville arrived on Tahiti in 1768. He wanted to rename the Islands ‘La Nouvelle Cythere’, (where according to Greek mythology the greek goddess of love Aphrodities was born) and so began the myth of paradise found on earth.
Later, Captain Cook was commissioned by the Royal Society of London to trace the transit of Venus across the sun’s surface. He arrived in Tahiti in 1769. Cook made three journeys to Tahiti, and accuratelty predicted the inevitable arrival of tradesman and missionaries that would radically change local life style.
The arrival of HMS Bounty in 1788 and the return of the mutineers to Tahiti a year later played an important role in Polynesian history. The mutineers who stayed on Tahiti trained the local population in the use of firearms and European war tactics, also exposing them to language, customs and western culture.
With the arrival of the first Protestant missionaries on the Duff sent by the London Missionary Society in 1797 followed by the Catholic missionaries, Christianity spread rapidly. When in 1819 the second King of Tahiti, Pomare was converted to Christianity new laws and codes of conduct were introduced which saw the quick demise of an ancient culture, demonised and rejected by the missionaries.
Ancient
Culture
The first visitors discovered a highly developed hierarchy of social and religious chiefs, a complicated code of etiquette and highly skillful fishermen, sailors and craftsmen.
They discovered an oral culture where colorful legends, story telling, dance and music were linked to every aspect of life, from greeting and welcoming visitors, praying, challenging other authority or power and to seduction. They discovered a people where respect, order, joy, courage and generosity were and remain key to their identity.
Control
Britain and France fought for control of Polynesia, through the influence of the Protestant and Catholic church. The Tahitian Dynasty (formed shortly after the arrival of the first explorers and missionaries) signed the islands over to France in 1842 when it become a French Protectorate. In 1880, the islands of Tahiti and Moorea were annexed (colonialised), their fate sealed by the last king of Tahiti, Pomare V.
Of the 119 islands that make up French Polynesia the last of the islands to be annexed were Rimatara and Rurutu in the Austral Islands (southeast of Tahiti). These two islands resisted French rule up until 1889, and were annexed in 1900 despite their plea for help to the British. These days the county has its autonomy and is considered a self governing overseas country of France.
Modern Change
Immigration was actively encouraged by the governing bodies during the late 1800s. In the 1900’s French Polynesia saw an influx of many European, American and Chinese citizens which led to the mixed race, tolerant society evident today in Polynesia. The ideas of chiefs and old rituals were replaced by modern living. The return of Polynesians who served under the French flag in both the First and Second World Wars resulted in a political awakening in Polynesians. Some began to call for their autonomy and some for complete independence from France.
With the creation of an International airport in 1962, Tahiti opened up to the world. The setting up of the CEP, the Pacific Experimentation Centre (Centre d’Expérimentation du Pacifique) the nuculeur tests that took place 1200km from Tahiti on the Polynesian islands of Mururoa and Fagataufa from 1966-1996 employed more than half of the Polynesian population. Looking for work and new opportunities, there was a massive migration of Polynesians from the outer islands to Tahiti. Polynesia became part of the world economy. Polynesians became modern day consumers.
Despite being “discovered” and all the tumultuous changes that followed over the last 250 years in Polynesia, the ancestral skills of the artisans, navigators, tattoo artists, fishermen, farmers, local doctors and remedy makers have survived. In fact, like the culture in general, they thrive. Just look at the men and women rowing in their Vaa’as (Tahitian canoes) in the lagoon near downtown Papeete on their lunch hours to see this testament of their culture’s endurance. Or catch the nightly news, today typically broadcast first in Tahitian, then in French. After years of being subdued and crushed the local culture is seeing a massive revival. The Polynesians’ strength and resilience go hand in hand with the amazing beauty of these breathtaking islands.
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Tripadvisor Ratings & Reviews
With an unwavering commitment to quality, we've left a trail of delighted customers eager to share their stories.
Delightful Day with Spectacular Scenery We booked this tour as a private excursion from a cruise ship.The red van was waiting for us outside of the ship's terminal. We toured with 3 other couples so it was a nice, small group.Our tour guide Dominic, is a wealth of information and has some wonderful stories about his life in Tahiti. Unfortunately, we visited on a Sunday, which was also their election day and the traffic was horrible in each direction. The delays, due to no fault of the tour provider, tainted the day. We arrived back to the ship about 2 hours past the time we had scheduled. Luckily, the ship was in port until midnight so we weren't concerned about missing the ship, just exhausted from the long day.All of the sites we were taken to were lovely, beautiful scenery along the way.We stopped at a restaurant a bit later than scheduled (again, due to traffic delays) and they were out of everything but the tuna and steak. We opted for the steak and it was fine. The restaurant is very cute, right on the beach. I wouldn't hesitate booking an excursion with Unique Tahiti again, just not on election day.BroncoFaninVA2023-05-18Great way to see Tahiti A great way to see Tahiti by road. Unfortunately on our day it was local elections so we did get stuck in a traffic jam early on in the day. This aside our guide Tracey was fun and knowledgeable and we visited some lovely locations. We stopped for lunch at a traditional Tahitian restaurant which was great too.A trip that I would firmly recommend.Finally I have to say a massive thank you to Tracey for the impromptu and unusual toilet stop on the way back to the ship! You saved my life lol.Nick B2023-05-15Unique and the BEST! Wow! What a great day in Tahiti! Dominique is an amazing tour guide..so knowledgeable and fun! We had a day to kill while waiting for our flight back home so we booked this tour. Such a good idea! Also, the red Mercedes van was super comfortable. Definitely Recommend!!!!!AlwaysLookUp2023-05-08Tahiti half day tour around island Great half day tour lots of historic sites and tour guide knew a lot of history about the islands Visited other side of island away from papeet and went to a beautiful waterful and small village where I bought a hand carved tiki statue and had the artist carve her name in it for meSaw huge fresh water eels and walking fishA blowhole and beautiful lookout spot over the islandHandmade textiles being printed It was greatSteph A2023-05-05Authentic Tahiti Tour Tracey has a great knowledge of the history and culture of the island and will take you places you would never think to go. You get to meet local people and animals and hear stories and get as much of a 'slice of life' experience as a tourist can. She also worked really hard to help us plan other activities on our trip, and she is flexible and responsive to client needs.Navigate366561180432023-05-01Tahiti Tour with Tracey was Terrific! Unique Tahiti Tour saved the day! I was looking for a port of call excursion after being disappointed with some of the cruise ship offerings the first few stops in Fiji and New Caledonia. I’m so glad I went with Tracey! She was fun and friendly from the very beginning. The conversation flowed naturally the whole time amongst our entire group and Tracey took us to all kinds of beautiful places that the main bus tours weren’t going to. I had heard it wasn’t worth staying in Tahiti, and that one’s time would be best spent going directly to Bora-Bora or Moorea, but the full day tour I took with Unique Tahiti Tours proved exactly why that’s not true! The island and the experience with Tracey were truly beautiful!Stuart L2023-04-24Beautiful tour of the real Tahiti Tracey was such an amazing tour guide and shows you a side to Tahiti you wouldn’t be able to witness yourself as a tourist She has so much insight, knowledge and wonderful things to share and made my experience at Tahiti so worthwhilePooja K2023-04-23Had a great time. Lots of good Info! We had a great time on the East Coast tour! We enjoyed Tracey's insight and perspective as she took us to various cultural and historic sites. She also took us to a couple of off-the-beaten-path locations that we would likely never known about, much less visited, and these were among the highlights of the tour. We booked the East Coast as well as West Coast tours and both times Tracey was engaging and making sure everyone was comfortable, could hear, was getting what they wanted out of the tour, etc. While we enjoyed both tours, we really liked the East Coast for the historical aspects, the waterfalls, and the tour of a local silk-screening factory!NC-HERITAGE2023-04-23Amazing Tahiti tour Wonderful tour. Tracey was great at replying to my emails. Easy pick up from ship.Our tour guide, Dominic, was amazing! He had wonderful knowledge of the whole island. Entertained us the whole 8hrs. And a visit to his amazing home to finish off the day. We really would recommend this tour group. Thank you for share your slice of heavenSerena P2023-04-20Unique! Abbiamo fatto il west coast tour di Tahiti di mezza giornata. La guida era la titolare la signora Tracy Thomas, veramente competente e coinvolgente. Ci siamo fermati più volte per vedere i posti più interessanti e affascinanti dell’isola. In pratica il tour è durato più di quattro ore. Sempre sotto la guida di Tracy ci siamo fermati più volte e abbiamo spesso conversato con i locali. Veramente “unique “!Saverio P2023-04-18