In French Polynesia: ending of oblivion and patrimonial authority on the marae of Tapupatuātea

This presentation will examine some local variations of the so-called Ma’ohi cultural renaissance as it has been defined locally, in relation to the values of the Pacific way ideology. In particular, the analysis will focus on certain specific phenomena of cultural reappropriation and political demands that have taken shape since the large gathering of pirogues in 1995 in Taputapuatea. The perspective that will be presented is based on extensive field research in Tahiti, Raiatea and Tahaa. In particular, I will discuss the reappropriation of certain places of memory - the marae - and traditional practices – such as tattooing, fire walking - and will evoke some characters (cultural mediators) who seem representative of an approach that intends to restore a strong link with the ancestors. Through the paths of these cultural mediators we will evoke certain developments in the islands of French Polynesia which are gradually leading to the end of the oblivion that has long marked the history and the imagination of these worlds.