1.6.2: Tahiti
- Page ID
- 288398
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)The earliest Tahitian people arrived on the islands at least two hundred years before the Christian era, and archaeological findings prove that dance traditions have been intwined into Tahitian people's cultural history for hundreds of years. Ote’a is the fast, rhythmic hip movements characteristic of female Tahitian dances, while the pa’oti is a basic step for men involving a like repetitive scissor-like opening and closing of bent knees. Dance in Tahiti functioned to worship their gods, challenge enemies, heal the sick, instigate their chiefs to action, or attract a lover. In 1797, the first British missionaries arrived in Tahiti and began to colonize the islands and the provocative Tahitian dance traditions challenged the Judeo-Christian puritanism regarding the dancing body.
Further, the dancing cult of Oro offended the Christian colonizers who felt supremely justified in suppressing Tahitian dance because not only did it appear to be overtly sexual, but the native islanders were also clearly still devoted to Oro, a false god of rain and fertility. By the 1820s, dancing throughout Polynesia had been uniformly banned on the grounds of immorality, but generations of practitioners continued to dance and pass on the movement traditions in secret.
Some ideas brought by the colonial powers, however, were found to be quite agreeable to the Polynesians, especially the native women in Tahiti. Conversion to Christianity was welcomed since the new religious belief system provided previously unknown freedoms for women. Traditionally, the Tahitian chief or high priest would enforce restrictive laws, where death was the consequence for taboo violations such as a woman wandering to a forbidden part of the island, or eating special foods set aside only for the men. Rule compliance in Polynesia had been ensured by fear of harsh reprimand. Hence, the Christian message of peace, love, and free agency resulted in doubts about traditional Tahitian laws and systems of social control.
In 1842, a more a tolerant, regulated reappearance of Tahitian dance was allowed when the French colonial powers overthrew British control of Tahiti. Then, more than a hundred years later, remnants of Tahitian dance can be found in contemporaneous social life: the Tamure where the familiar ote’a and pa’oti bridge the suppressed past to the empowered present. Modern Tahitians now engage frequently in their traditional arts to re-educate themselves about their ancient cultural lifeways (Stevenson, 1992).