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88-674: Raʻiātea or Raiatea ( Tahitian : Raʻiātea ) is the second largest of the Society Islands , after Tahiti , in French Polynesia , in the South Pacific Ocean . The island is widely regarded as the "centre" of the eastern islands in ancient Polynesia and it is likely that the organised migrations to the Hawaiian Islands , and other parts of East Polynesia started at Raʻiātea. A traditional name for

176-449: A Karanga (call) . The wharenui is the locale for important meetings, sleepovers, and craft and other cultural activities. The wharekai (dining hall) is used primarily for communal meals, but other activities may be carried out there. Many of the words associated with marae in tropical Polynesia are retained in the Māori context. For example, the word paepae refers to the bench where

264-475: A [k] . While standard Tahitian only has [k] as a result of dissimilation, the dialects of the Leeward Islands have many cases of [k] corresponding to standard Tahitian [t] . For example, inhabitants of Maupiti pronounce their island's name [maupiki] . Finally there is a toro ʼaʼï , a trema put on the i , but only used in ïa when used as a reflexive pronoun . It does not indicate

352-464: A straight apostrophe or a curly apostrophe preferred typographically , see below) instead of the turned curly apostrophe used in Hawaiian (locally named ʻokina ). Alphabetical word ordering in dictionaries used to ignore the existence of glottal stops. However, academics and scholars now publish text content with due use of glottal stops. Although the use of ʼeta and tārava is equal to

440-602: A Danish trimotor that sank around 1900. The wreck, very well preserved, is located at a depth of about 20 m, not far from the Pearl Beach Resort on the northeast coast. The island is surrounded by a 98 km road, while another road runs through the center. Since the 1980s, numerous infrastructure works have been carried out to improve the road network and open up the southern part of the island by building bridges, asphalting and installing electricity, telephone and drinking water distribution networks. The port of Uturoa

528-596: A Marae Taputapuatea of his own to wear the Maro-'ura (red waist girdle of the ariki) in. Mangaia had a marae named Taputapuatea and an ariori (priest) house. In the remote southeastern corner of the Polynesian Triangle elements of the traditional Polynesian marae evolved into the Rapa Nui /Easter Island ahu and their iconic moai (statues). According to Salmond, marae are "portals between Po,

616-631: A Tahitian king, and the Welsh missionary, John Davies (1772–1855), to translate the Bible into Tahitian. A system of five vowels and nine consonants was adopted for the Tahitian Bible, which would become the key text by which many Polynesians would learn to read and write. John Davies's spelling book (1810) was the first book to be printed in the Tahitian language. He also published a grammar and

704-617: A central stone ahu or a'u is placed. In the Easter Island Rapa Nui culture, the term ahu or a'u has become a synonym for the whole marae complex. In some modern Polynesian societies, notably that of the Māori of New Zealand , the marae is still a vital part of everyday life. In tropical Polynesia, most marae were destroyed or abandoned with the arrival of Christianity in the 19th century, and some have become attractions for tourists or archaeologists. Nevertheless,

792-402: A dictionary of that language. Tahitian features a very small number of phonemes : five vowels and nine consonants, not counting the lengthened vowels and diphthongs . Notably, the consonant inventory lacks any sort of phonemic dorsal consonants . There is a five-vowel inventory with vowel length: When two vowels follow each other in a V 1 V 2 sequence, they form a diphthong when V 1

880-500: A different pronunciation. Usage of this diacritic was promoted by academics but has now virtually disappeared, mostly because there is no difference in the quality of the vowel when the trema is used and when the macron is used. Tahitian syllables are entirely open , as is usual in Polynesian languages. If a content word is composed of a single syllable with a single vowel, its vowel must be long. Thus, every Tahitian content word

968-519: A human sacrifice, he left on September 29, 1777, to explore other islands in the atoll. He first went to nearby Eimeo (present-day Maiao), where he stayed briefly, and then headed for Ulitea (present-day Raiatea), which is only a few days northwest of Tahiti. During his 34-day stay, a unique parrot was collected on the island. At least two specimens have been preserved for posterity and are in museums in London and Vienna. Unfortunately, there are no reports on

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1056-701: A market and two marinas. Tahitian language As Tahitian had no written tradition before the arrival of the Western colonists, the spoken language was first transcribed by missionaries of the London Missionary Society in the early 19th century. Tahitian is the most prominent of the indigenous Polynesian languages spoken in French Polynesia ( reo māʼohi ). The latter also include: When Europeans first arrived in Tahiti at

1144-401: A place where the culture can be celebrated, where the Māori language can be spoken, where intertribal obligations can be met, where customs can be explored and debated, where family occasions such as birthdays can be held, and where important ceremonies, such as welcoming visitors or farewelling the dead ( tangihanga ), can be performed. Like the related institutions of old Polynesia, the marae

1232-463: A sacred grove surrounded by tabu. Several of the sites have been restored. The largest platform was built in the early 17th century with huge upright limestone slabs and is dedicated to Oro, the god of war. There are other important ceremonial sites on the island. In the Avera valley , north of Opoa on the east coast, is another large ceremonial platform. Nearby, archaeological excavations have uncovered

1320-606: A table with all phonemes in more detail. The glottal stop or ʼeta is a genuine consonant. This is typical of Polynesian languages (compare to the Hawaiian ʻokina and others). See Typography below. Tahitian makes a phonemic distinction between long and short vowels; long vowels are marked with macron or tārava . For example, pāto , meaning 'to pick, to pluck' and pato , 'to break out', are distinguished solely by their vowel length . However, macrons are seldom written among older people because Tahitian writing

1408-605: A turned letter apostrophe ( U+02BB ʻ MODIFIER LETTER TURNED COMMA , called ʻokina in Hawaiian). As the ASCII apostrophe ( U+0027 ' APOSTROPHE ) is the character output when hitting the apostrophe key on a usual French AZERTY keyboard, it has become natural for writers to use the punctuation mark for glottal stops, although to avoid the complications caused by automatic substitution of basic punctuation characters for letters in digital documents, and

1496-574: A venue for the teaching of whaikōrero (oratory), Māori language and culture, and important ceremonies for distinguished guests of the university. Two detailed secondary-school marae are located in the Waikato at Te Awamutu College and Fairfield College . The latter was designed by a Māori architect with a detailed knowledge of carving and weaving ; its wharenui features an intricately carved revolving pou (pillar) as well as many other striking features. In addition to school activities, it

1584-399: A vocational school, three secondary schools (one of which is private) and several primary schools and kindergartens. Raiatea is the only French Polynesian island (outside of Tahiti) with a secondary school. Therefore, most students from neighboring islands, such as Bora-Bora, Tahaa, Maupiti or Huahine, come here for their secondary education. The island also has an airfield, a commercial port,

1672-846: Is VSO (verb–subject–object), which is typical of Polynesian languages, or verb-attribute-subject for stating verbs/modality (without object). Some examples of word order are: tē PRS . CONT tāmāʼa eat nei PRS . CONT au I tē tāmāʼa nei au PRS.CONT eat PRS.CONT I "I am eating" ʼua PFV tāpū chop vau I ʼi O te the vahie wood ʼua tāpū vau ʼi te vahie Marae A marae (in New Zealand Māori , Cook Islands Māori , Tahitian ), malaʻe (in Tongan ), meʻae (in Marquesan ) or malae (in Samoan )

1760-561: Is a wāhi tapu , a 'sacred place' which carries great cultural meaning. In Māori usage, the marae ātea (often shortened to marae ) is the open space in front of the wharenui (meeting house; literally "large building"). Generally the term marae is used to refer to the whole complex, including the buildings and the ātea . This area is used for pōwhiri (welcome ceremonies) featuring oratory. Some iwi (tribes) and hapū (sub-tribes) do not allow women to perform oratory on their marae , though typically women perform

1848-616: Is a French overseas territory and is therefore associated with the European Union . It is administered by a subdivision ( Subdivision administrative des Îles Sous-le-Vent ) of the High Commission of French Polynesia ( Haut-commissariat de la République en Polynésie française ) based in Papeete. The island is divided into three communes (municipalities): These three communes are inside the administrative subdivision of

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1936-561: Is a communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies. In all these languages, the term also means cleared and free of weeds or trees. Marae generally consist of an area of cleared land roughly rectangular (the marae itself), bordered with stones or wooden posts (called au in Tahitian and Cook Islands Māori) perhaps with paepae (terraces) which were traditionally used for ceremonial purposes; and in some cases, such as Easter Island ,

2024-426: Is also an important industry while farming cattle, sheep and pigs has recently decreased. There is less tourism compared to the other islands in the archipelago. The local tourist infrastructure comprises boarding houses, two marinas, a four star hotel, The Hawaiki Nui and a port for visiting cruise ships. There is also a fledgling local industry in the maintenance of yachts and shipbuilding. The main source of employment

2112-467: Is also the administrative and economic center of the Leeward Islands. The island economy is mainly agricultural with exports of vanilla , pineapple and coconut. The plant Nono (or noni ) ( Morinda citrifolia ) is also grown. Fa'aroa Valley is a large and important agricultural region with the rural economy and the cultivation of vanilla supported by a local research facility. Pearl farming

2200-408: Is also the administrative capital of the Leeward Islands and the second urban center of French Polynesia , after Papeete. The main island is of volcanic origin and consists mainly of igneous rocks. On the barrier reef and in the lagoon there are numerous white coral sand motu – low barrier reef islands – and rubble. The most beautiful sandy beaches are found on these motu, while the rocky coastline of

2288-436: Is applied to verbs, regular stress assignment results in the last syllable of the root verb being stressed. This is due to the destressing of the V 1 in /V 1 ʔV 2 / . To give an example, the word oraraʼa 'life', from ora 'to live' and -raʼa , is pronounced with antepenultimate stress. Prefixes added to a root word do not carry primary stress. For example, ʼōrama 'vision', related to rama 'vision',

2376-401: Is at least two moras long. Stress is predictable in Tahitian. It always falls on one of the final three syllables of a word, and relies on the distinction between heavy and light syllables. Syllables with diphthongs or with long vowels are both considered to be heavy . Other syllables are considered to be light. Heavy syllables always bear secondary stress. In general main stress falls on

2464-410: Is more open, and as a consequence more sonorant, than V 2 . An exception to this rule is the sequence /eu/ , which never becomes the diphthong [eu̯] . Two vowels with the same sonority are generally pronounced in hiatus, as in [no.ˈe.ma] 'November', but there is some variability. The word tiuno 'June' may be pronounced [ti.ˈu.no] , with hiatus, or [ˈtiu̯.no] , with a diphthong. Next follows

2552-416: Is stressed on the second syllable, and not the first, even though it has a long vowel. This can also be seen with the verb taʼa 'to be understood'. When combined with the causative prefix faʼa- , it becomes faʼataʼa , which is stressed on the penultimate syllable. In former practice, the Tahitian glottal stop ( ʼ ) used to be seldom written, but today it is commonly spelled out, although often as

2640-478: Is the island's public service and the consumer market. Raiatea has a small road that runs around the entire island. Raiatea Airport is an airport in Uturoa . Although the island has several hotels up to the luxury category, Raiatea is quieter and less developed in terms of tourism compared to Tahiti and Bora Bora . Raiatea is especially attractive to offshore sailors. There are several yacht charter companies, and

2728-410: Is used for weddings. As in pre-European times, marae continue to be the location of many ceremonial events, including birthdays, weddings, and anniversaries. The most important event located at marae is the tangihanga . Tangihanga are the means by which the dead are farewelled and the surviving family members supported in Māori society. As indicated by Ka'ai and Higgins, "the importance of

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2816-587: The ʼeta . In its morphology , Tahitian relies on the use of "helper words" (such as prepositions , articles , and particles ) to encode grammatical relationships, rather than on inflection, as would be typical of European languages. It is a very analytic language , except when it comes to the personal pronouns , which have separate forms for singular , plural and dual numbers . Like many Austronesian languages, Tahitian has separate words for inclusive and exclusive we , and distinguishes singular , dual , and plural . Typologically, Tahitian word order

2904-448: The Leeward Islands . Raiatea had a total of 12,832 inhabitants according to 2012 data, with a population density of 66 inhabitants/km. The official language is French. The currency is the CFP franc, which is pegged to the euro. The administrative budget of the Society Islands is substantially subsidized by French and EU funds. The main town is Uturoa , in the north of the island, which

2992-463: The Tainui and Te Arawa tribes. Favored by Raiatea's geography , with valleys bounded by rocky ridges and open to the sea, nine independent tribal principalities emerged, which in turn subdivided into individual clans. This led to a strictly stratified social pattern: Society was divided into several separate social levels. At the top were the ariki or ari'i, the noble chiefs whose claim to leadership

3080-506: The 13th century, was built by Tangi'ia who brought the central stone with him from the ancient marae of the same name at Ra'iātea . Indeed, it seems that it was quite usual in ancient times to take a stone from this marae. The son of Tetupaia and Teu had not only the right to a seat in the great Marae of Taputapuatea in Raiatea, but he could take his stone from Taputapuatea and set it up in his own district of Pare Arue (Tahiti), so founding

3168-641: The 20th century, Māori in urban areas have been establishing intertribal marae such as Maraeroa in eastern Porirua . For many Māori, the marae is just as important to them as their own homes. Some New Zealand churches also operate marae of their own, in which all of the functions of a traditional marae are carried out. Churches operating marae include the Anglican , Presbyterian , and Catholic churches. In recent years, it has become common for educational institutions, including primary and secondary schools, technical colleges, and universities, to build marae for

3256-1012: The Avamo'a Reef passage, sacred to the Polynesians, anchored in Opoa Bay and landed near the Marae Taputapuatea. He hoisted the Union Jack and took possession of the island for the British Empire in a brief ceremony. To expand the Spanish Empire , Charles III of Spain ordered expeditions to be sent to the South Pacific. Manuel de Amat y Junyent , the viceroy of Peru , sent the Spanish Navy officer Domingo de Bonechea to Raʻiātea. Bonechea, commanding

3344-582: The Pacific rat as food animals, and Europeans introduced goats, cows, sheep and horses. The indigenous land animals are only insects, land crabs, snails and lizards. In Raiatea there are no animals dangerous to humans. Sand fleas on the beach and mosquitoes , which are everywhere in the interior of the island, can be unpleasant. The marine fauna of the lagoon and coral reef is very rich in species. In addition to hundreds of different coral fish, divers can observe numerous mollusks, echinoderms and crustaceans from

3432-620: The South Pacific, plants range from west to east. This caused the biodiversity of the islands to decrease eastward. For example, the islands of New Guinea and New Caledonia , located in the west, have a much higher number of species compared to Raiatea. In contrast, the islands of the Tuamotu Archipelago, the Pitcairn Islands and Easter Island in the far eastern Pacific are much less species-rich. In almost 2,000 years of settlement history, humans have decisively changed

3520-462: The Tahitian arioi , Tupaia . Many of these were "non-geographic" or "ghost islands" of Polynesian mythology and all were transcribed using phonetic English spelling . In 1797, Protestant missionaries arrived in Tahiti on a British ship called Duff , captained by James Wilson . Among the missionaries was Henry Nott (1774–1844) who learned the Tahitian language and worked with Pōmare II ,

3608-446: The administrative centre for the Leeward Islands (French Îles Sous-le-vent ). There are also colleges which serve as the main educational location for secondary schools for students from the regional islands of Bora Bora , Tahaa , Huahine and Maupiti . The Tahitian language name Ra'iātea means bright sky . "Ulitea" is an obsolete transcription commonly used in the 19th century. The extinct Raiatea starling inhabited

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3696-460: The antepenultimate syllable. In all these words, the last two vowels are identical, and are separated by a glottal stop. One can posit that in such words, the last syllable is extrametrical , and does not count towards stress assignment. This extrametricality does not apply in the case of words with only two syllables, which remain stressed on the penultimate syllable. In compound words, each morpheme's stressed syllable carries secondary stress, and

3784-661: The confusion with the regular apostrophe used in multilingual texts mixing Tahitian with French (where the apostrophe marks the elision of a final schwa at end of common pronouns, prepositions or particles, and the orthographic suppression of the separating regular space before a word starting by a vowel sound, in order to indicate a single phonemic syllable partly spanning the two words), the saltillo ( U+A78C ꞌ LATIN SMALL LETTER SALTILLO ) may be used instead. Today, macronized vowels and ʼeta are also available on mobile devices, either by default or after installing an application to input vowels with macron as well as

3872-516: The different marae were subsidiary to that of Taputapuatea. Around him the Arioi sect was formed, a religious, aristocratic, warlike and festive mixture, which was respected in all the islands and achieved, only with its presence and its taboo character, a truce in the tribal wars. Raiatea was discovered for Europe by British explorer James Cook on 20 July 1769 during his first voyage . Coming from Tahiti , he sailed onboard HMS Endeavour through

3960-496: The end of the 18th century, there was no writing system and Tahitian was only a spoken language. Reports by some early European explorers including Quirós include attempts to transcribe notable Tahitian words heard during initial interactions with the indigenous people of Marquesa . Aboard the Endeavour , Lt. James Cook and the ship's master, Robert Molyneux, transcribed the names of 72 and 55 islands respectively as recited by

4048-489: The esplanade was paved with natural stones from the island in various colors. Portuguese craftsmen were in charge of laying the beautiful motifs in traditional Portuguese style. The botanical garden of Uturoa is interesting with many rare and exotic plants. The main attraction of Raiatea is undoubtedly the Taputapuatea place of worship. It comprises several worship platforms ( marae ) that were originally distributed in

4136-423: The final verb ending bears main stress while the earlier ones bears secondary stress. When suffixes are added to a word, primary and secondary stresses in the root word are maintained as secondary and tertiary stresses, and a new primary stress is calculated for the word. Tertiary and secondary stress are often merged. The suffix does not always carry main stress. For example, when the nominalizing suffix -raʼa

4224-490: The first, followed by Utu-ʻai-mahurau at Paea , Mahaiatea marae at Papara , Tarahoʻi marae at Pare - ʻArue , and Hitiaʻa marae on Hitiaa O Te Ra . In Tahiti , marae were dedicated to specific deities, and also connected with specific lineages said to have built them. During the 1994 restoration of Taputapuātea marae at Raʻiātea by archaeologists from the Tahiti Museum , human bones were discovered under some of

4312-420: The flora of Raiatea with cultivation, especially in the fertile coastal areas. Coconut palms, breadfruit trees, taro, yams, cassava, sweet potatoes and various tropical fruits are grown as food crops, including a particularly tasty pineapple. Pineapple and vanilla fruits are exported and grown on small family farms. Significant remnants of the original vegetation have survived in the inaccessible, lush interior of

4400-590: The frigate El Águila , arrived there in 1772, and he named the island "Princesa" and took possession of it for the Spanish Empire. However, the annexation had no political consequences. Although neighboring Tahiti was already under the influence of European powers in the late 18th century and formally came under French protectorate in 1842, the clans of Raiatea fiercely resisted annexation efforts. However, Christian missionaries managed to gain increasing influence, which led to religious wars between followers of

4488-407: The institute built to maintain the tradition of whakairo . The Institute is responsible for the building and restoration of over 40 marae around the country. Most iwi, hapū, and even many small settlements have their own marae. An example of such a small settlement with its own marae is at Hongoeka Bay , Plimmerton , the home of the renowned writer Patricia Grace . Since the second half of

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4576-480: The island is Havai'i , homeland of the Māori people . Situated on the southeast coast is the historical Taputapuatea marae , which was established by 1000 CE. The site was the political and religious center of eastern Polynesia for several centuries, and was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2017 for its historical significance. The main township on Raʻiātea is Uturoa ,

4664-463: The island is often referred to as the nautical center of Polynesia. There are marinas with good infrastructure in Uturoa and Baie Faaroa to the west. The island is visited by cruise ships from time to time. The somewhat sleepy-looking main town of Uturoa offers no special attractions. For cruise ship tourists, the port's reception terminal was redesigned a few years ago, a small park was laid out and

4752-623: The island was called Havai'i, a sacred name in Polynesian culture and related to the names of Hawaii; Savai'i, in Samoa; and Havaiki, the ancient name for Fakarava in the Tuamotu . According to recent findings, the Society Islands were colonised from Samoa and Tonga around 200 BC, about the same time as the Marquesas . Together with the Marquesas, they formed the heart of Polynesia and thus

4840-495: The island's highest peak. The northern mass is known as the Temehani Plateau. The plateau generally undulates between 600 and 650 metres elevation, rising higher in places including the plateau's highest peak Tepahu (821 m). Oropiro is the highest peak in the southern mass. The total population was 16,438 inhabitants in the 2002 census, distributed in three communes: Uturoa (the capital), Taputapuatea and Tumara'a. Uturoa

4928-560: The island, although the native plant communities are now threatened by guava bushes, bamboo thickets and other anthropogenic plants. The remaining natural vegetation on the island consists mostly of savanna and evergreen forest, with areas of coastal strand and hillside scrub. Raiatea has more savanna than the other Society islands. Most savanna is dominated by the bright green fern Dicranopteris linearis , which can form dense patches up to two metres high, interspersed with clumps of darker trees. Drier areas, including lower slopes and ridges on

5016-629: The island; there is only one drawing of it in the world – in the Natural History Museum , London. The Polynesian navigator Tupaia , who sailed with explorer James Cook , was born in Raiatea around 1725. Cook visited Raiatea in 1769 and again in 1773–1774. He named the island "Ulitea". Omai (c.1751–1780), another young man from Raiatea, travelled with European explorers to London in 1774 and also served as an interpreter to Captain Cook on his second and third journeys. In ancient times

5104-449: The islands of Raiatea and Tahaa which share the same lagoon. The boat trip from Raiatea to Tahaa across the lagoon only takes about 20 minutes. Raiatea's landscape is characterized by rugged peaks, a heavily indented coastline with deeply indented bays, and numerous small, tiny islands located in the lagoon. There are three main mountain masses on the island, connected by lower ridges. The central mass includes Mount Tefatoaiti (1,017 m),

5192-487: The main island of Raiatea has no beaches worth mentioning. From the peaks, the highest of which is Toomaru at 1032 m,10 steeply sloping valleys and gorges open out to the sea, separated by narrow rocky ridges. The numerous streams often form spectacular waterfalls. The eastward-flowing Apoomau River rises in the 1017 m high Tefatoatiti,11 and flows into Faaroa Bay. It is the only navigable river in Polynesia and, depending on

5280-599: The missionaries from Raiatea. In 1832, the Mamaia were finally defeated and banished. The missionaries returned and France tried to gain more and more influence. As early as 1842, Rear Admiral Abel Aubert du Petit-Thouars had claimed the Society Islands on behalf of France. However, King Louis Philippe I initially hesitated to sign the annexation announced by Petit-Thouars, fearing conflicts of interest with Britain, which also claimed them. As Queen Pōmare IV of Tahiti

5368-417: The most species of Partula , 33 species in total. Unfortunately, like all of the Society Islands , Euglandina rosea was introduced to the islands, resulting in the extinction of 30 species. The remaining 3 species, P. garrettii , P. hebe , and P. navigatoria are extinct in the wild and would be extinct without human intervention. Politically, Raiatea today belongs to French Polynesia. The island

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5456-429: The mountain the next morning, she saw wonderfully fragrant flowers growing everywhere, with five petals reaching out to him like hands. He dug up a plant to plant in the garden in memory of his beloved, but it withered within a few days. One endemic bird was the brown-headed parakeet ( Cyanoramphus ulietanus ). It was discovered by Captain Cook's crew. After an eventful stay in Tahiti, where Captain Cook also witnessed

5544-915: The native bamboo Schizostachyum glaucifolium . Understory plants include the fern Angiopteris evecta and coffee ( Coffea arabica ), which was introduced to the islands for cultivation and now forms a dense shrub undergrowth in parts of the forest. The Temehani Plateau is home to a distinctive scrub forest, with shrubs and low trees rising .5 to 1 meter high and occasionally to 2 or 3 meters high. Characteristic plants include Decaspermum lanceolatum  [ ceb ; sv ; vi ; war ] (endemic to Raiatea), Pterophylla vescoi , Pandanus tectorius , Metrosideros collina , and species of Canthium , Wikstroemia , Alstonia , Astronia , Glochidion , Styphelia , Bidens , Xylosma , Garnotia , Sphenomeris , Lycopodium , and Cassytha . The grass-like sedges Gahnia schoenoides and Machaerina bidwellii  [ ceb ; sv ; vi ; war ] are predominant in

5632-648: The north and northwest sides of the island, are dominated by Miscanthus floridulus , known as aiho or sword grass, a tall coarse bunch grass. The introduced molasses grass ( Melinis minutiflora ) is also common, forming lower gray-green patches among the bunchgrasses. Lowland forests are dominated by mape trees ( Inocarpus fagifer ), which grow up to 25 meters high. Mape trees have large, fluted, and buttressed trunks and dense canopies. The seed pods are roasted and eaten by local people. Other lowland forest trees include Hibiscus tiliaceus , breadfruit ( Artocarpus altilis ), and Cananga odorata , along with stands of

5720-400: The operations of the marae . The Act governs the regulation of marae as reservations and sets out the responsibilities of the trustees in relation to the beneficiaries. Generally each marae has a charter which the trustees have negotiated with the beneficiaries of the marae . The charter details matters such as: The New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute Act 1963 was passed and

5808-479: The penultimate syllable in a word. However, if there is a long vowel or diphthong in the last syllable, that syllable receives main stress. If there is a long vowel in the antepenultimate syllable, and the penultimate syllable is light, the antepenultimate syllable receives main stress. There is another type of words whose stress pattern requires another rule to explain. These include mutaʼa 'first', tiaʼa 'shoe', ariʼi 'king', all of which are stressed on

5896-400: The place where these marae were built are still considered tapu (sacred) in most of these cultures. As is usual with Māori nouns, the same word serves as the singular and plural of marae . The word has been reconstructed by linguists to Eastern Oceanic *malaqe with the meaning "open, cleared space used as meeting-place or ceremonial place". In Māori society, the marae is

5984-461: The remains of dwellings and stone tool workshops. The ceremonial site at Tainuu, on the northwest coast, is also well preserved. In addition to the imposing coral rock slabs with which the marae were delimited, petroglyphs are also preserved here. On this site, sacred to the Polynesians, missionaries built a church in the 19th century. An interesting destination for divers is the wreck of the Nordby,

6072-467: The speakers sit; this means it retains its sacred and ceremonial associations. Marae vary in size, with some wharenui being a bit bigger than a double garage, and some being larger than a typical town hall. A marae is a meeting place registered as a reserve under the Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993 (The Māori Land Act). Each marae has a group of trustees who are responsible for

6160-603: The springboard for the settlement of Hawaii, New Zealand and Mangareva . A major ancestor who lived on the island was Ohomairangi , who was the protector of the Taputapuatea marae . The Maori tribal identity Ngā Oho was formed among his ancestors. According to traditional histories, two Māori migration canoes , the Tainui and Arawa , left Raiatea for New Zealand in the late 13th Century or early 14th Century. Many Māori can trace their lineage to these canoes, including

6248-411: The stones of many of the ancient marae remain to this day. Some marae are in better shape than others, as vegetation grows fast on the islands. In Rarotonga, a few of the marae (Arai-te-Tonga, Vaerota, Taputapuātea) are still maintained, and are quickly tidied up before the investiture of a new ariki . Rarotongan tradition holds that Taputapuātea marae at Rarotonga, which archaeologists have dated to

6336-487: The stressed syllable of the last morpheme carries primary stress. Thus, for example, manureva 'airplane', from manu 'bird' and reva 'leave', is pronounced [ˌmanuˈreva] . Tahitian has reduplication as well. The endings of some verbs can be duplicated in order to add a repetitive sense to the verb. For example, reva becomes revareva , haʼaviti 'do quickly' becomes haʼavitiviti , and pīhae 'to tear' becomes pīhaehae . In reduplicated verbs,

6424-528: The tangihanga and its central place in marae custom is reflected in the fact that it takes precedence over any other gathering on the marae". In the Cook Islands , there are many historic marae ( tapu or sacred places ) that were used for religious ceremonies on the islands. Rarotonga and Aitutaki have some particularly impressive marae. Although many of the carved figures on the marae were either destroyed or confiscated by Christian missionaries ,

6512-533: The traditional and Christian faiths. With the support of the Europeans, King Pōmare II was able to declare himself sovereign of the entire archipelago. On November 12, 1815, Pōmare's adversaries, the followers of the old faith, were decisively defeated at the Battle of Feipi. In 1828, the Marae Taputapuatea was destroyed. In 1831, the Mamaia sect, successor to the already banned Arioi, again succeeded in expelling

6600-439: The tropical sea. The waters surrounding Raiatea and Tahaa are known for their rich population of colorful nudibranchs . The reefs are dotted with grottoes and caves that provide shelter for many marine creatures. Among divers, the "octopus grotto", located between Raiatea and Tahaa, is well known. Behind the reef are sharks, rays, swordfish and sea turtles. Raiatea was known as the "center of Partula biodiversity" due to having

6688-408: The tropics, intense and of short duration. The (winter) months of August and September are quite dry. The vegetation of French Polynesia is characterized by two peculiarities: a high proportion of endemic plants and a relative scarcity of species. The isolated location of the islands and the fact that they have never been connected to a continental landmass explain the high number of endemic plants. In

6776-505: The understory and in open areas. Tiare apetahi ( Sclerotheca raiateensis ) is a shrub known only from the Temehani Plateau. It is known for its large fragrant flowers. The plant has been over-collected and attacked by introduced rats, and is now critically endangered . The following legend is associated with the fragrant yellowish-white tiare apetahi flower: A princess who died in the arms of her beloved promised to hold his hand tenderly every time she climbed Mount Temehani. When she climbed

6864-575: The usage of such symbols in other Polynesian languages, it is promoted by the Académie tahitienne and adopted by the territorial government. There are at least a dozen other ways of applying accents. Some methods are historical and no longer used. At this moment, the Académie tahitienne seems to have not made a final decision yet whether the ʼeta should appear as a normal letter apostrophe ( U+02BC ʼ MODIFIER LETTER APOSTROPHE ) or

6952-517: The use of the students and for the teaching of Māori culture. These marae may also serve as a venue for the performance of official ceremonies relating to the school. The marae of the University of Auckland , for instance, is used for graduation ceremonies of the Māori Department, as well as welcoming ceremonies for new staff of the university as a whole. Its primary function is to serve as

7040-420: The water level, can be traveled a few kilometers in small boats. Cultivated land and settlements are found in a narrow coastal strip; the interior of Raiatea is largely uninhabited. The climate is tropical and humid. The average annual temperature is 26 °C, with negligible differences between months. The average annual rainfall is about 1800 mm. The rainiest month is December, but the rains are, as usual in

7128-491: The way of life of this parakeet. During his time at Raiatea, Cook had the ships Resolution and Discovery brought ashore for urgent maintenance work. It is possible that this time was sufficient for rats, cockroaches and other vermin to wash ashore, and it appears that it was they that sealed the brown-headed parakeet's demise. Mammals did not originally exist on the Society Islands; they were all introduced by humans. The early Polynesian settlers brought dogs, pigs, chickens and

7216-471: The world of the gods and darkness, and the Ao, the everyday world of people and light, so that people could communicate with their ancestors ." Notable marae include Vai'otaha marae on Borabora , Mataʻireʻa marae on Huahine , and Taputapuātea marae , a UNESCO World Heritage site on Raʻiātea, considered to be one of the most sacred sites in Polynesia. ʻOro marae on Tahiti included Vaiʻotaha marae at Tautira ,

7304-480: Was formally annexed by France on April 21 1888. However, rebellions continued to occur in Raiatea. In 1888, the tribal chief Teraupo'o entrenched himself in the Avera Valley on the east coast and resisted French intervention. It was only in 1897 that he fell into captivity and was exiled to New Caledonia . 190 of his followers were forcibly relocated with their families to the island of Ua Huka. King Tamatoa VI

7392-475: Was legitimized by their descent from the founding ancestors. They were landowners and undisputed political and religious leaders. In the Society islands they exercised great religious and cultural influence. The great temple (in Tahitian marae) of Taputapuatea, dedicated to the god Oro, was the most important religious center of the islands. His cult supplanted other traditional gods such as Taaroa and Tane, and

7480-407: Was not taught at school until 1981. In rapid speech, the common article te is pronounced with a schwa, as [tə] . Also in rapid speech, /tVt/ sequences are dissimilated to [kVt] , so te tāne 'man, male' is pronounced [kə taːne] , te peretiteni 'president' becomes [tə perekiteni] . Intervening syllables prevent this dissimilation, so te mata 'eye' is never pronounced with

7568-511: Was pro-British and more attached to the Protestant missionaries, she allowed herself to be taken to Raiatea in this ambiguous situation in 1844 and ruled from there until 1847. In 1880, France proclaimed a provisional protectorate over Raiatea and Tahaa . In 1887, at the request of European traders, the French bombarded the island, before occupying it and deposed its government. The island

7656-683: Was remodeled in the early 2000s, allowing cruise ships such as the Tahitian Princess, the Gauguin, the Amsterdam and the World to make weekly calls during the tourist season. Raiatea is the administrative capital of the Leeward Islands and the residence of the state administrator. There is a hospital, a general secondary school (called LUT, which celebrated its 60th anniversary in May 2021) and

7744-453: Was the last monarch, reigning over Raiatea and Tahaa from 1884 to 1888. With a total area of 175 km, it is the second largest island of the Society archipelago , after Tahiti. Tahaa lies north of Raiatea, the two islands are separated by a 3 km strait. According to legend, it is the work of an enchanted moray eel possessed by the spirit of a deceased princess. A coral barrier reef surrounds

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