The Tahitians ( Tahitian : Māʼohi ; French : Tahitiens ) are the Indigenous Polynesian people of Tahiti and thirteen other Society Islands in French Polynesia . The numbers may also include the modern population in these islands of mixed Polynesian and French ancestry ( French : demis ). Indigenous Tahitians are one of the largest Polynesian ethnic groups , behind the Māori , Samoans and Hawaiians .
31-549: Mātaatua was one of the great voyaging canoes by which Polynesians migrated to New Zealand , according to Māori tradition . Māori traditions say that the Mātaatua was initially sent from Hawaiki to bring supplies of kūmara to Māori settlements in New Zealand . The Mātaatua was captained by Toroa, accompanied by his brother, Puhi; his sister, Muriwai; his son, Ruaihona; and daughter, Wairaka. Mātaatua Māori include
62-400: A Oopa , Francis Sanford and Charlie Ching and Catholic bishops Michel-Gaspard Coppenrath and Hubert Coppenrath are of demi ancestry. Many natives were painted from life by Paul Gauguin , who gave Tahitian titles to his works. In Ea haere ia oe ( Where Are You Going? ), for example, a pensive young girl wears the white flower tiare behind her left ear, signifying readiness to take
93-464: A concept of irrational fear called mehameha , translated as uncanny feelings. The healers, familiar with herbal remedies, were called taʼata rāʼau or taʼata rapaʼau . In the 19th century Tahitians added the European medicine to their practice. The most famous Tahitian healer Tiurai, of ariʼi , died at age 83 during the influenza outbreak on Tahiti in 1918. The colonization of Tahiti occurred in
124-501: A dispute arose between the commander, Toroa, and Puhi, over kūmara planting rituals. As a result, Puhi left on the Mātaatua with most of its crew to travel further north, while Toroa, Tāneatua, Muriwai, and their immediate families remained in the Bay of Plenty. Those that stayed behind settled and intermixed with previously established Māori tribes in the region. People from Ngāi Tūhoe , Ngāti Awa , Te Whakatōhea , Te Whānau-ā-Apanui and
155-725: A new population by a very small number of individuals from a larger population, which also causes a loss of genetic variation. Soares et al. (2008) argued for an older pre- Holocene Sundaland origin in Island Southeast Asia (ISEA) based on mitochondrial DNA . The "out of Taiwan" model was challenged by a study from Leeds University published in Molecular Biology and Evolution . Examination of mitochondrial DNA lineages indicates that they have been evolving in ISEA for longer than previously believed. Ancestors of
186-425: A result of these changes by 1830 the population of Tahiti decreased to 15,300 from estimated 110,000 in 1767, when the ship HMS Dolphin touched on the island. The 1881 census enumerated about 5,960 indigenous Tahitians. The recovery continued in spite of a few more epidemics. The Pōmare Dynasty rose to prominence in the early 1790s from a ruling Tahitian family aided by protection from British mercenaries from
217-611: A reunion was held in 1986. A replica of the Mātaatua rests at the Mataatua Reserve in Whakatāne. Three wharenui (meeting houses), at Ruatāhuna , Whakatāne and Rotorua , are named after the Mātaatua canoe. Polynesians Polynesians are an ethnolinguistic group comprising closely related ethnic groups native to Polynesia , which encompasses the islands within the Polynesian Triangle in
248-640: A time of rivalry for resources of the Pacific by colonizing European nations including the French and the British. It was also a time of rivalry and fighting between the people of Tahiti and neighbouring islands. It is unclear which is the first European ship to arrive at the island of Tahiti but it is often recognised as being HMS Dolphin captained by British Captain Samuel Wallis on 18 June 1767. He met
279-595: A welcoming party of Tahitians who traded with him. Cultural differences leading to grave communication errors that resulted in a battle in Matavai Bay between three hundred war canoes and HMS Dolphin which fired on the war canoes with muskets, quarterdeck guns and then cannons. The Tahitian chief Obera (Purea) ordered peace offerings from her people after this battle and Wallis and the Tahitians departed on amicable terms when he left on 27 July 1767. A few months later
310-990: The Marquesas . From here, they expanded further to Hawaii by 900 AD, Easter Island by 1000 AD, and finally New Zealand by 1200 AD. Analysis by Kayser et al. (2008) found that only 21% of the Polynesian autosomal gene pool is of Australo-Melanesian origin, with the remaining 79% being of Austronesian origin. Another study by Friedlaender et al. (2008) also confirmed that some Polynesians are genetically closer to Micronesians , Taiwanese Aborigines , and Islander Southeast Asians . The study concluded that Polynesians moved through Melanesia fairly rapidly, allowing only limited admixture between Austronesians and Papuans. Polynesians predominantly belong to Haplogroup B (mtDNA), particularly to mtDNA B4a1a1 (the Polynesian motif). The high frequencies of mtDNA B4 in Polynesians are
341-527: The Mātaatua , eventually reaching the Bay of Islands in Northland . The Ngāpuhi people can trace their origins to this settlement. Tribes in both the Bay of Plenty and Northland agree that the final resting place of the Mātaatua was at Tākou Bay in the Bay of Islands. Many iwi can trace their origins to ancestors on the Mātaatua canoe. Tribes in both the Bay of Plenty and Northland maintain strong ties, and
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#1732780950411372-1137: The Pacific Ocean . They trace their early prehistoric origins to Island Southeast Asia and are part of the larger Austronesian ethnolinguistic group, with an Urheimat in Taiwan . They speak the Polynesian languages , a branch of the Oceanic subfamily within the Austronesian language family . The Indigenous Māori people form the largest Polynesian population, followed by Samoans , Native Hawaiians , Tahitians , Tongans , and Cook Islands Māori . As of 2012 , there were an estimated 2 million ethnic Polynesians (both full and part) worldwide. The vast majority either inhabit independent Polynesian nation-states ( Samoa , Niue , Cook Islands , Tonga , and Tuvalu ) or form minorities in countries such as Australia , Chile ( Easter Island ), New Zealand , France ( French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna ), and
403-745: The United Nations relisted French Polynesia as a territory to be decolonised. Three hundred Tahitian volunteers fought in the European theatre of World War II with the Free French Forces . In the late 1960s and early 1970s Tahitian poets Henri Hiro, Charles Manutahi, Vaitiare and Turo Raapoto spearheaded the anticolonial writing in Tahiti. Hiro's God of Culture implores Oihanu , the Tahitian god of culture and husbandry, to empower
434-890: The United States ( Hawaii and American Samoa ), as well as in the British Overseas Territory of the Pitcairn Islands . New Zealand had the highest population of Polynesians, estimated at 110,000 in the 18th century. Polynesians have acquired a reputation as great navigators, with their canoes reaching the most remote corners of the Pacific and allowing the settlement of islands as far apart as Hawaii, Rapanui (Easter Island), and Aotearoa (New Zealand). The people of Polynesia accomplished this voyaging using ancient navigation skills, including reading stars, currents, clouds, and bird movements—skills that have been passed down through successive generations to
465-519: The mutineers off the Bounty . On 29 June 1880 King Pōmare V agreed to a treaty of annexation with the French. On 9 September 1842 there was a protectorate treaty signed between Tahitians and the French. The agreement was for the "protection of indigenous property and the maintenance of a traditional judicial system". In 1958 the islands in the area including Tahiti were "reconstituted as a French Overseas Territory and renamed French Polynesia". In 2013
496-485: The "new generation". Three women writers - Michou Chaze, Chantal Spitz and Vaitiare explore the problems of Tahitian identification in contemporary French Polynesia . Tahitian peasants and workers call themselves the "true Tahitians" ( Taʼata Tahiti Mau ) to distinguish from part-Europeans ( Taʼata ʼafa Popaʼa ). At the same time demis quite frequently identify themselves as indigenous people in terms of culture and political affiliation. Such Tahitian activists as Pouvanaa
527-519: The French arrived on 2 April 1768 with the ships Boudeuse and Etoile captained by Louis-Antoine de Bougainville . In the 1790s European whalers arrived bringing with them alcohol and prostitution and missionaries with their religion. In the 1820s Protestantism became the main religion on Tahiti. The European ships brought such diseases for which Tahitians had little or no acquired immunity , such as dysentery , smallpox , scarlet fever , typhoid fever , venereal disease and tuberculosis . As
558-564: The Polynesians are believed to be the Neolithic Lapita culture . This group emerged in Island Melanesia and Micronesia around 1500 BC from a convergence of Austronesian migration waves, originating from both Island Southeast Asia to the west and an earlier Austronesian migration to Micronesia to the north. The culture was distinguished by dentate-stamped pottery. However, their eastward expansion halted when they reached
589-569: The Polynesians arrived in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea at least 6,000 to 8,000 years ago. A 2014 study by Lipson et al., using whole genome data , supports the findings of Kayser et al. Modern Polynesians were shown to have lower levels of admixture with Australo-Melanesians than Austronesians in Island Melanesia . Nonetheless, both groups show admixture, along with other Austronesian populations outside of Taiwan, indicating varying degrees of intermarriage between
620-562: The Tauranga Moana tribes can trace their origins to this settlement. Three members of the crew feature in Bay of Plenty genealogies: Toroa, Tāneatua and Muriwai. These members of the crew and their immediate families integrated with local people who lived in the area, such as Muriwai's daughter Hinekauia who married Tutamure of the Wakanui iwi from Omarumutu . Many accounts say that, from the Bay of Plenty, Puhi traveled northward in
651-401: The bulk of population and included some members who played essential roles in the society. It is estimated that by the first contact with Europeans in 1767 the population of Tahiti was most probably around 110,000 or even reached 180,000. Other Society Islands held probably 15,000-20,000 people. Tahitians divided the day into the periods of daylight ( ao ) and darkness ( pō ). There was also
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#1732780950411682-463: The first humans to cross vast distances of water on ocean-going boats. Despite the popularity of rejected hypotheses, such as Thor Heyerdahl 's belief that Polynesians are descendants of "bearded white men" who sailed on primitive rafts from South America , Polynesians are believed to have originated from a branch of the Austronesian migrations in Island Melanesia . The direct ancestors of
713-466: The genetics of modern Polynesians (as well as Islander Melanesians ) occurred after the settlement of Tonga and Vanuatu . A 2020 study found that Polynesians and the Indigenous peoples of South America came in contact around 1200, centuries before Europeans interacted with either group. There are an estimated 2 million ethnic Polynesians and many of partial Polynesian descent worldwide,
744-409: The incoming Neolithic Austronesian settlers and the preexisting Paleolithic Australo-Melanesian populations of Island Southeast Asia and Melanesia . Studies from 2016 and 2017 also support the idea that the earliest Lapita settlers mostly bypassed New Guinea, coming directly from Taiwan or the northern Philippines . The intermarriage and admixture with Australo-Melanesian Papuans evident in
775-600: The majority of whom live in Polynesia, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. The Polynesian peoples are listed below in their distinctive ethnic and cultural groupings, with estimates of the larger groups provided: Polynesia : Polynesian outliers : Tahitians The first Polynesian settlers arrived in Tahiti around 400 AD by way of Samoan navigators and settlers via the Cook Islands . Over
806-602: The period of half a century there was much inter-island relations with trade, marriages and Polynesian expansion with the Islands of Hawaii and through to Rapanui . The original Tahitians cleared land for cultivation on the fertile volcanic soils and built fishing canoes . The tools of the Tahitians when first discovered were made of stone, bone, shell or wood. The Tahitians were divided into three major classes (or castes ): ariʼ , raʼatira and manahune . Ariʼi were relatively few in number while manahune constituted
837-463: The present day. Polynesians, including Samoans , Tongans , Niueans , Cook Islands Māori , Tahitian Mā'ohi , Hawaiian Māoli , Marquesans , and New Zealand Māori , are a subset of the Austronesian peoples . They share the same origins as the indigenous peoples of Taiwan , Maritime Southeast Asia , Micronesia , and Madagascar . This is supported by genetic , linguistic and archaeological evidence. There are multiple hypotheses regarding
868-406: The result of genetic drift and represent the descendants of a few Austronesian females who mixed with Papuan males. The Polynesian population experienced a founder effect and genetic drift due to the small number of ancestors. As a result of the founder effect, Polynesians are distinctively different both genotypically and phenotypically from the parent population, due to the establishment of
899-505: The tribes of Ngāi Tūhoe , Ngāti Awa , Te Whakatōhea , Te Whānau-ā-Apanui , Ngāpuhi , Ngāi Te Rangi , Ngāti Pūkenga . The Mātaatua waka likely arrived in Aotearoa more than a century after the Tainui and Arawa waka. In local Māori tradition, the Mātaatua waka was the first to land at Whakatāne , approximately 700 years ago. According to various accounts, at some point,
930-460: The ultimate origin and mode of dispersal of the Austronesian peoples , but the most widely accepted theory is that modern Austronesians originated from migrations out of Taiwan between 3000 and 1000 BC. Using relatively advanced maritime innovations such as the catamaran , outrigger boats , and crab claw sails , they rapidly colonized the islands of both the Indian and Pacific oceans. They were
961-473: The western Polynesian islands of Fiji , Samoa , and Tonga by around 900 BC. This remained the furthest extent of the Austronesian expansion in the Pacific for approximately 1,500 years, during which the Lapita culture in these islands abruptly lost the technology of pottery-making for unknown reasons. They resumed their eastward migrations around 700 AD, spreading to the Cook Islands , French Polynesia , and