South Seas – Tahiti – Culture

The first European visitors were Spaniards in 1606 under the Portuguese Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, but since the island had no mineral resources, it was not interesting for the invaders. The island was called “Sagittaria”. The crews of the ships were welcomed by naked girls because they were believed to be gods.

The crews of the following ships under Wallis (1767) and James Cook (1774) left behind not only blond children, but also diseases previously unknown here such as syphilis and flu. The number of inhabitants at that time was estimated at about 200,000. In 1768, Tahiti became a French colony and a little later the first missionaries reached the island.

Through the subsequent Christianization, the original culture of the Polynesian immigrants was completely destroyed. However, some sites of this culture can still be seen today in replicas.