Post on 21-Mar-2016
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The Tahitian CultureBy: Justin Cheng
OriginsTahiti is estimated to have been settled
between AD 300 and 800 by PolynesiansThese Tahitian settlers are believed to have
sailed from Fiji, Samoa, or Tonga.Tahiti is the biggest island in French
Polynesia
European Contact in the 1700s Samuel Wallis, an English sea captain, sighted Tahiti
on June 18,1767, and is considered the first European visitor
Wallis was followed in April 1768 by the French explorer Louis-Antoine de, completing the first French circumnavigation. Bougainville made Tahiti famous in Europe when he published Voyage Autour Du Monde.
James Cook later visited the islands to view the Transit of Venus in April 1769.
After European contact and exploration died down, the Tahitian population died down from 35,000 to 16,000 all the way to 6000 at one point.
This was all due to guns, prostitution, venereal disease, alcohol, Christianity, and diseases such as typhus, influenza, and smalllpox.
Tahiti in the 20th Century1946-Tahiti and all of French
Polynesia becomes a French overseas territory.
Paul Gauguin, a famous French painter lived in Tahiti in the 1890s and painted many Tahitian subjects.
Who are the Tahitians?The indigenous Tahitians are of Polynesian ancestry comprising 70% of the population alongside Europeans, East Asians, and many mixed families.
Ultimately, the Tahitian population today is a huge melting pot of many different races and ethnicities.
The Early TahitiansEarly Tahitians lived off the landLived in clans, each with roles to
help the community as a wholeWere expert fishermen and
craftsmen which both skills helped in trade.
Tahitian Culture and Life in Tahiti TodayStill live off the landVery French influenced in cultureTourist flooded in some placesAncient culture is still preserved todayMost Tahitians speak multiple
language including French and their ancient dialect of Tuamotu.
There are approximately 262,000 residents of Tahiti
Tahitian Culture TodayHeiva I TahitiTahitian Dance/MusicThe CityMy experience there
Tahitian Culture outside of TahitiTahitian Dance has spread here,
Mexico, Japan, and many other countries.
Polynesian Tattoo has become very popular here as well.
Boating sports and Music are also becoming very popular all over the world.
My Personal Experience with Tahitian Culture
Dancing and MusicArtBenefits of DancingCompeting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOgt-Xf084Q&feature=relatedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GUtT1vD2HE
Mainstream Tahitian CultureThe only pieces of Tahitian Culture
that has passed into the states is the dance, music, and art.
Musichttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=1PX3VNG6C6I&feature=related <htn
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUQuI8qu8Rg <nonosina
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge2wXP5hJ9I <heikura nui
Modernization/Traditional styles of Tahitian Dance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPNYJxD2gCk <poerani
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWZIIzt8XBw&feature=related <manuiahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1D5dKmM-oww <nonosina
Is Modernization of Tahitian Culture Destroying the Tradition?In my opinion, because of the modernization of Tahitian dance and music in the states, many groups in the States are not keeping the culture. Even in Tahiti, some groups are falling out of tradition and falling in to the modern Tahitian dance hype. So yes, modernization is destroying the tradition, and only few groups are still around to keep the tradition how it should be.
Manuia: The Keepers of Tradition
Personally, my group has been one of the few groups, maybe the only group in Tahitian dancing that has been keeping the real culture alive in the United States.
As a group, we give the audience a show of real Tahitian Culture, trying to persuade them to favor traditional dancing rather than the modern.
Future of the Tahitian CultureWhat I hope for itTahitian Culture expansionHow fast it has been expanding
http://www.villavahimanui.com/MH%20PAINT%20TAHITIANS%20320.JPG
http://www.truetahitivacation.com/images/tahiti_world_map.jpg http://en.tahitipresse.pf/wp-content/blogs.dir/2/files/2010/03/0325201
0210047306037C112359.jpg http://www.lilithgallery.com/arthistory/postimpressionism/images/1894
-PaulGauguin-Nave_Nave_Moe-Miraculous_Source.jpg http://www.janeresture.com/oceania_people/TAHITI%20FRANCE%20PO
LYNESIA%20FISHERMAN.jpg http://www.tahiti-tourisme.com/gallery/photos/big/Hotels/Hotl01.jpg http://flagspot.net/images/p/pf.gif Suggs, R.C. "The Derivation of Marquesan Culture." Royal
Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland n. pag. Web. 26 Jul 2011. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/2844464?seq=9>.
Crocombe, R.G. "French Polynesia: a book of selected readings." Institute of Pacific Studies of the University of South Pacific (1988): n. pag. Web. 26 Jul 2011. <http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr&id=S8MUAJa-q2cC&oi=fnd&pg=PA32&dq=tahitian+culture&ots=BOi_lWmoR2&sig=EVObG_BuLJ_w9D4x4Dzi7dXfuWg#v=onepage&q=tahitian%20culture&f=false>.
Kuwhara, Makiko. "Dancing and Tattooing the imagined Territory: Identity Formation at Heiv and the festival of Pacific Arts." JCAS, 2006. Web. 26 Jul 2011. <http://0-scholar.google.com.opac.sfsu.edu/scholar?hl=en&q=heiva+i+tahiti&btnG=Search&as_sdt=0%2C5&as_ylo=&as_vis=0>.