Polynesian Isle of Huahine Out to Re-Create Past

Most tourists flock to places in French Polynesia with names such as Bora Bora or Moorea, but the island of Huahine, northwest of Tahiti, is an unfamiliar dot on a map.

It is a pristine island of sapphire bays and rugged, verdant hills, but perhaps its most striking attractions are man-made. In the pre-European world of Eastern Polynesia, Huahine was one of the great centers of culture. The remnants of that society still are scattered around the island.

Huahine has more ancient ruins than anywhere else in French Polynesia.

Only a handful of early European sailors and missionaries were directly privy to the last gasp of old Polynesia. The ancient religion is no longer practiced, but about 40 of the venerable temples and fortifications have been restored by Prof. Y. H. Sinoto, chairman of the anthropology department at the University of Hawaii.

Beyond Restoration

And Sinoto has gone beyond restoring the shrines. He has set plans into motion that would further enhance the temples by creating ecologically sound visitors’ facilities.

The new infrastructure will include roads, trails, lookouts and other tourist amenities to be maintained by the islanders. Sinoto’s plan, which he calls a “living museum,” would help bring income to economically strapped residents while preserving their archeological legacy.

Although the living museum project is in its early stages, the temples and other structures can be visited easily. About 16 of the marae , or temples, are near Maeva village, the oldest continuously occupied community in the Society Islands, the archipelago that includes Tahiti.

The temples were ancestral shrines of the eight royal families that once ruled Huahine. Built on coastal flats of a lagoon, the shrines all have been reconstructed by Sinoto over the past 20 years.

400-Year-Old Temples

The stone slabs of these 400-year-old temples are perhaps reminiscent of the Stonehenge ruins. In the adjacent lagoon are nine stone, V-shaped fish weir traps that snare their prey with changes in the tides. The traps, constructed hundreds of years ago, also have been rebuilt by Sinoto and are used today.

Grab a bus, taxi or bicycle and make your way to the Fare Pote’e, an old-style meeting house in Maeva, a 15-minute bicycle ride from the Bali Hai Hotel or the village of Fare.

The meeting house was rebuilt in 1974 by Sinoto to the original design of a 100-year-old structure that had fallen into disrepair. This is where many of the marae are, most of which were built in the 16th Century. Chiefs worshiped at their respective temples. Farther down the road, heading south, you can see the fish traps inside the lagoon.

Past Fare Pote’e and opposite the Protestant Church is the trail head for six marae on Matairea Hill above the village. The trail head is behind a private home and is not obvious, so ask a resident to show you. The quarter-mile hike to the main trail is a bit steep at the beginning but short.

At the summit, the path opens and the area is covered with ferns and manioc patches. At this point the mosquitoes begin to attack, so bring some repellent. In former times this was a vanilla plantation, and one can still see the vines spiraling up the trees and bushes.

Most Significant

The most important marae on the hill is Matairea-rahi, which was the most significant temple in the Society Islands before the building of Taputaputea on the nearby island if Raiatea. Tradition says that when Taputaputea was to be built, stones from Matairea-rahi were transported to the building site to ensure that the new temple would retain the old temple’s mana, or power.

Nine upright stones represent nine of the 10 districts; the 10th stone is missing. Stone posts served as intermediaries to the gods. In the rear is an ahu, a raised platform or throne for the gods. Below the ahu is a lower platform for sacrifices--some of them human.

On the other structure stood a house built on posts where the images of gods were kept. The house was seen in 1818 by the Rev. William Ellis, a missionary. Capt. James Cook’s painter was also supposed to have seen the temple.

Just a few hundred yards from Matairea is marae Tefano, also an impressive sight. Its ahu is huge and the temple basks in the shade of a large banyan tree, probably planted there around the time the marae was built.

A kilometer or so from Fare Pote’e, cross a small bridge and continue to your left on the motu , or small island, to another impressive temple, marae Manunu. It became the marae for the main community of Huahine after Matairea-rahi. Next to the low offering platform is the grave of Taiti, the last high priest of Maeva. When he died in 1915 one of the huge slabs fell. He was buried at the marae at his request.

Scientific Research

The Matairea Hill complex, along with the other restored temples in the village of Maeva below, will be the core of Sinoto’s living museum. Implementation of the program calls for multidisciplinary research by marine biologists, engineers and other scientists to manage the rich sea life of the lagoon that long has been a source of clams, crabs and fish. Specialists will be able to integrate modern economic development without despoiling the rich environment.

The professor’s blueprint also includes landscaping, small-scale tourist accommodations such as pensions, more archeological reconstruction and a master plan for the Maeva area.

The highlight of the project would be the re-creation of chiefs’ and priests’ houses on the foundations where they once stood on Matairea Hill. These structures would be occupied by island residents and equipped with running water and electricity. They would complete the living museum concept.

“The ancient Tahitians had an awareness of ecology, that’s why they had taboos on overfishing the lagoon,” Sinoto said. “The idea would be to reteach the Polynesians their own forms of ecology and educate them about proper use of pesticides and fertilizers, which have been polluting the lagoon.”

Write to the Tahiti Tourist Board, 2330 Westwood Blvd., Suite 200, Los Angeles 90064 for more information.