This area of the Pacific ocean is now called the “Polynesian Triangle” and
includes Hawaii to the north, Easter Island to the southeast, and New Zealand to
the southwest. As a result of these migrations, the native Hawaiians and the
Maoris of New Zealand all originate from common ancestors and speak a similar
language collectively known as Maohi.
The era of European exploration began in the 1500s when “ships without
outriggers” began to arrive. In 1521, Magellan spotted the atoll of Pukapuka in
what is now the Tuamotu Atolls and, in 1595, the Spanish explorer Mendaña
visited Fatu Hiva Island in the Marquesas. The Tuamotu were visited by Quiros in 1606. More than 170 years later,
in 1767, Captain
Samuel Wallis and the H.M.S. Dolphin was the first to visit the island
of Tahiti during his journey to discover terra australis incognita, a mythical
landmass below the equator thought to balance the northern hemisphere. Wallis
named the island of Tahiti “King George III Island” and claimed it for England.
Soon after in 1768, and unaware of Wallis’ arrival, French navigator Louis-Antoine de
Bougainville, landed on the opposite side of Tahiti and claimed it for the King
of France. British explorer Captain James Cook arrived in Tahiti in 1769.
British Captain William Bligh and his first mate, Fletcher Christian, arrived in
Tahiti aboard HMS Bounty in 1789.
European fascination with the islands grew as news spread of both the mutiny of
Capt. William Bligh’s crew aboard the H.M.S. Bounty and of tales of
tropical beauty and the warm nature of the Tahitian people. Knowledge of Tahiti
and the South Pacific continued to grow as Capt. James Cook brought back
thousands of illustrations of Tahitian flora and fauna as well as the first map
of the islands of the Pacific. In the 1800s, the arrival of whalers, British
missionaries, and French military expeditions forever changed the way of life on
Tahiti and created a French-British rivalry for control of the islands. The
Pomare Dynasty ruled Tahiti until 1847 when Queen Pomare finally accepted French
protection of the islands of Tahiti and Moorea.
In 1880, following the queen’s death, King Pomare V was persuaded to cede Tahiti
and most of its dependencies to France. In 1957, all the islands of Tahiti were
reconstituted as the Overseas French territory called French Polynesia. Since
1984, a statute of autonomy was implemented and, in 1998, French Polynesia became
an Overseas Country with greater self-governing powers through their own
Assembly and President. With these powers, the country is now negotiating
international agreements with foreign states in matters of commerce and
investment.
