Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Australia: Marquesas Islands Tuamotus Islands Tahiti
Australia: Marquesas Islands Tuamotus Islands Tahiti
KRISTIN KENT
Marquesas Islands
Tahiti
Fiji Islands
Society
Islands
Pacific
Ocean
AUSTRALIA
Tuamotus
Islands
FRENCH
POLYNESIA
Gambier
Islands
Austral
Islands
Sydney
NEW
ZEALAND
1,000 km
3. FISHING
To catch fish, follow the birds. I saw a
flock circling in the distance. Where
there are many small fish, bigger ones
lie beneath. We caught enough yellow
fin one day to feed the entire crew.
Here Ngawai Kena-Smith, a passenger
aboard the Aranui 3, shows off the
catch.
4. SHIP
Life aboad the Aranui 3 cargo ship is
not easy, but those who work here
would have it no other way. The crew
works on a three-week rotation: Two
weeks at sea, one week in Tahiti.
5. MOUNTAINS
Tectonic plates on the eastern pacific
move about five centimetres per year.
This gives rise to new islands, formed
from spewing lava. It is how the
Marquesas were formed some five
million years ago.
1. ARCHAEOLOGY
Tikis, carved wooden faces or stone statues, line much of the
Marquesan islands. This one dates back to the 14th century.
The last of the Marquesan chiefs died in 1889. His wife,
depicted in the stone tiki shown, died in childbirth. She is
a symbol of fertility here.
6. HIKING
To walk through the brooding jungle up
a mountain and over an island is
exhausting. But its well worth the
effort. In Fatu Hiva, jagged rock faces
meet lush green mountains.
3
4
2. TUAMOTUS
Just 400 people live on the 20-kilometre square atoll
of Takapoto. Pearl-farming, fishing, and copra,
contribute to the local economy. Making your way
down the few roads here, you may run into the
ukulele-playing chief of police or be invited to go faire
la fte at someones home. The people who live here
are welcoming and
wonderful.
Rangiroa is the largest
atoll in the Tuamotus, and the
second largest in the world. Its
one of worlds great dive
destinations and produces some of
the finest black pearls on the planet.
7. COCONUT CRAB
Prehistoric-looking tree crabs are just
as huge as they look and capable of
opening coconuts with their claws.
Because of their steady diet of these,
the crabs are delicious to eat.
ARTISANS
The Marquesan people are singers,
dancers, stone-carvers, woodworkers
and expert tattooers and they are
incredibly proud of their culture. It
wasnt always this way. Missionaries
banished virtually all form of art, in
hopes of coaxing Marquesans into a
European lifestyle. And it worked, for
the most part, until the 1970s when the
people reclaimed their traditions.