“Tahitians today have inherited a rich, expressive Tahitian culture from their Mā’ohi ancestors. From the Mā’ohi came the pulse of Tahitian lifestyle, a world where the lives of gods, warriors and men crossed in colorful legends. Tahitian culture is a place where the French Polynesian traditions of music, dance and art rose from the wonder of everyday island life” Click here for a brief overview of Polynesian culture

As scientists, it is imperative to understand the cultural history of the region in which we work to ensure we do not continue to inflict colonial harm with our science, our behaviors, and our actions.

French Polynesia Today

Modern French Polynesia reflects the influence of European colonization. We see this in place names like Cook's Bay  (rather than the Moorean alternative, Pao Pao Bay), and even the name of the country, French Polynesia. Because the country is vast in area and composed of culturally rich, highly diverse, and historically distinct communities, the naming of this region and its people in local languages is complex and variable. There is no one indigenous name that encapsulates the entirety of the region.

To those who live in the Society Islands, the region is sometimes referred to in Tahitian as Mā’ohi Nui or Te Ao Mā’ohi (the Mā’ohi World), and the people who live here as Mā’ohi:

“Ohi refers to a sprout which has already taken root, securing itself with a certain autonomy of life, all the while being linked to the mother stem. From a sprout, an ohi, tracing back its root, one always gets to a trunk. Mā’ohi is the community of all those who claim to be of the same past, culture and language, which constitute the common trunk and which still have the same destiny.”
- Turo a Raapoto (Mā’ohi linguist, poet and scholar)

Acting Toward Partnership

Learning about and acknowledging the colonial history of French Polynesia is only the first step. To avoid extractive and exploitative scientific methods, we must actively work toward a model that incorporates consent and partnership with local communities. This will help ensure that we do not perpetuate colonial harm through our actions and behaviors, and encourages an invaluable exchange of knowledge. 

For more, be sure to check out our suggested readings below, and head over to our page on approaching science outside of our home.

Continued Reading

1. Te Ao Ma'ohi: An Overview. Manoa, Volume 17, Number 2, 2005, pp. xi-xxi. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/man.2006.0015

Publication PDF

2. Smith, L. T. (2021). Decolonizing methodologies (3rd ed.). Zed Books. DOI: 10.5040/9781350225282.0004

Publication PDF - Book Introduction

3. Hau'Ofa, Epeli. "Our sea of islands." In Peoples of the Pacific, pp. 429-442. Routledge, 2017. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23701593 

Publication PDF - Highlighted Chapter

Publication PDF - Full Book

4. Vaughan, Mehana Blaich. Kaiaulu: Gathering Tides. Oregon State University Press, 2018. muse.jhu.edu/book/61441

Publication PDF - Book Prologue

5. Ingersoll, Karin Amimoto. Waves of knowing: A seascape epistemology. Duke University Press, 2016. https://www.dukeupress.edu/waves-of-knowing 

Publication PDF - Book Introduction