Comments on: Tahiti – Time to eat time! http://ideaofsouth.net/journey/tahiti-time-to-eat-time A Journey through the Souths of the World Sat, 07 Jan 2012 12:24:50 +0000 hourly 1 By: Andreas Dettloff http://ideaofsouth.net/journey/tahiti-time-to-eat-time/comment-page-1#comment-16 Andreas Dettloff Mon, 21 Jul 2008 23:16:00 +0000 http://ideaofsouth.net/wordpress/?p=24#comment-16 In 1977, the Polynesian Liberation Front was formed by Oscar Temaru, who is now Tahiti’s current President. Henri Hiro was the real spiritual founder of FLP which later became the Tavini. But later he left the party. Oscar Temaru was the spiritual child of Bengt Danielsson, the swedish guy that came with Thor Heyerdahl on the Kontiki and wrote a lot of books about Tahiti. He married and stayed in Tahiti with a french woman, Marie Thérèse. When their only daughter Maruia died of leucemia at the age of 19, for Bengt it was clear that this was because of the bomb testing in Moruroa. He wrote a lot of books about it and trained the political leader Oscar Temaru. He told him that forcing the French to stop bomb testing would force them out of the country. In 1977, the Polynesian Liberation Front was formed by Oscar Temaru, who is now Tahiti’s current President. Henri Hiro was the real spiritual founder of FLP which later became the Tavini. But later he left the party. Oscar Temaru was the spiritual child of Bengt Danielsson, the swedish guy that came with Thor Heyerdahl on the Kontiki and wrote a lot of books about Tahiti. He married and stayed in Tahiti with a french woman, Marie Thérèse. When their only daughter Maruia died of leucemia at the age of 19, for Bengt it was clear that this was because of the bomb testing in Moruroa. He wrote a lot of books about it and trained the political leader Oscar Temaru. He told him that forcing the French to stop bomb testing would force them out of the country.

]]> By: Margarita Sampson http://ideaofsouth.net/journey/tahiti-time-to-eat-time/comment-page-1#comment-15 Margarita Sampson Fri, 11 Jul 2008 01:10:00 +0000 http://ideaofsouth.net/wordpress/?p=24#comment-15 nice article, loved the skulls! Although, from my understanding of polynesian tattooing - it was more the other way around than the way you have described it- not just anyone can get a tattoo and have status conferred upon them through the act (as in western subcultures) rather you have to be approved of (sometimes by the whole community) as having sufficient 'mana' to warrant a significant tattoo, so it was more a confirmation of status. In the book "Moko" <br/>about New Zealand tattoos and in particular facial tattoos, the bearers speak about how meaningful it was that their community had decided that they had sufficient integrity/ commitment to their culture to be able to wear one. The pakeha painter Tony Formison in NZ was given a traditional tattoo and it was a great honour and one rarely accorded to whites. Mark Adams documented this and other tattoo ceremonies in a brilliant series of photos. Anyone these days can get tattooed in the Pacific but i suspect it's a bit like Aboriginal painting and stories, there are layers and layers of meaning you only access what you are permitted to.<br/><br/> I once chose a design for my back that had 4 tikis on it so lots of strong 'mana' to it, the Tahitian tattooist (called George) was initally quite reluctant to allow me to have it (women should have feminine tattoos)but relented. I still feel it was the right tattoo and he ended up liking it a lot, but he had to re-jig it for me. He always changes the tattoo to suit the person, it's very intuitive, so the tattooist is integral to the meaning process - for his own sake too - imagine if other people who knew the meaning of the designs knew he'd put them on some no-account person! nice article, loved the skulls! Although, from my understanding of polynesian tattooing – it was more the other way around than the way you have described it- not just anyone can get a tattoo and have status conferred upon them through the act (as in western subcultures) rather you have to be approved of (sometimes by the whole community) as having sufficient ‘mana’ to warrant a significant tattoo, so it was more a confirmation of status. In the book “Moko”
about New Zealand tattoos and in particular facial tattoos, the bearers speak about how meaningful it was that their community had decided that they had sufficient integrity/ commitment to their culture to be able to wear one. The pakeha painter Tony Formison in NZ was given a traditional tattoo and it was a great honour and one rarely accorded to whites. Mark Adams documented this and other tattoo ceremonies in a brilliant series of photos. Anyone these days can get tattooed in the Pacific but i suspect it’s a bit like Aboriginal painting and stories, there are layers and layers of meaning you only access what you are permitted to.

I once chose a design for my back that had 4 tikis on it so lots of strong ‘mana’ to it, the Tahitian tattooist (called George) was initally quite reluctant to allow me to have it (women should have feminine tattoos)but relented. I still feel it was the right tattoo and he ended up liking it a lot, but he had to re-jig it for me. He always changes the tattoo to suit the person, it’s very intuitive, so the tattooist is integral to the meaning process – for his own sake too – imagine if other people who knew the meaning of the designs knew he’d put them on some no-account person!

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