Marquesas History

The Marquesas Isles | Isles, France Polynesia

The Marquesas Isles, France Îles Marquises, two groups of vulcanic archipelagos in France-Polynesia in the South Pacific Ocean, 740 leagues (1,200 km) north east of Tahiti. Most of the isles are high and rugged, with serrated summits up to 1,200 m high. Hiva Oa, the biggest (200 sq. km) and most populous of the southeast group, is the grave of Paul Gauguin and the Belgium vocalist Jacques Brel; the group also comprises the 60 sq. km large cities of Fatu Hiva and Tahuata, as well as the unpopulated Motane and FATA Huku.

Nuku Hiva, Ua Pou, Ua Huka, Eiao and Hatutu are part of the north-western group. It is assumed that the Marquesas were already settled in 340 B.C., although there are disagreements among the scientists about the origins of the migrants. In 1595, the south-eastern isles were spotted by the Spaniard Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira, who called them after his protector, the Marques de Mendoza, vice-king of Peru.

Capt. James Cook paid a visit to Fatu Huku in 1774. 1791 the US naval commander Joseph Ingraham saw the north-western group and called it Washington Islands. All the group, annihilated by the locals in 1842, now form an administration department of Franco Polynesia based in Hakapehi (Tai-o-hae) on Nuku Hiva.

Due to the shortage of coastline and reef, the settlement is largely limited to the small valley where the creeks flow down from the rock. It is a thriving tourist sector and the island is a favourite destination for cruise ships. Entire surface area (including fresh waters) 405 sqkm.

Historical and Culturally Related - Marquesas Islands

Like the Society Isles, the Marquesas Isles seem to rise from West Polynesia by about 200 B . C....; the population is spreading out from the bigger and more welcoming valley on the south-eastern shores of the large island to cover more dry and jagged areas throughout the group.

In the years before the EU visits in 1595 and 1774, it seems that Moroccan society evolved in a largely isolated manner. Moroccan civilization evolved into a unique one, but it was still recognisably related to other Polynesian groups; there were many correspondence between the island's ancient institutes and those in Tahiti, Hawaii and other East Pole archipelagos.

Porter was the first major member of the Marquesan community in 1813, when David Porter of the U.S. Navy established a village for his operation against whalers and became involved in the Taipi Valley's war against the inhabitants (later made known in Herman Melville's novel, Typee ).

The Marquesans were deeply struck by the effectiveness of the guns and the whites' might for the first time, and the chieftains and soldiers throughout the group made great strides to preserve and make friendly with the former. In this way, trade became more systematic in the Marquesan market.

In 1842 the French conquered the island, but remained only minimally present in the following period. By the mid-19th centuries the impact of Roman Catholics' religious missions was growing, and in the 1880s most Marques were nominal Catholics. French did not recognise the chieftains, and the union of a liquid Indian tribe structure, illness and invaders resulted in a decrease in the tribes' policies.

The chieftains seem to have been insignificant in the 1870', and in the 20th c. the right to such securities was seldom used. Whereas in the latter 18th and early 19th c. the societal lives were characterized by joint efforts in the conduct of war, ceremonies and non-domestic productions for separate fringe groups, Marquesas' societies in the latter 19th and 20th c. had a more nuclear nature, comprising immediate households involved in producing for consumerism and some money-growing.

Significant changes followed the creation of the French nuclear test programme in Muroroa Atoll; the permanent position: combined with the building of the test site itself and significant militarily and administratively significant installations in Tahiti was only one part of a much larger economical growth spurt, which: resulted in more consumables and a significant rise in dependency on imports.

The recent upheavals in the field of Polynesia have resulted in greater involvement and consulting at grassroots level on issues of economic growth and politics, but the history of contacts between Marquesans and whites is generally characterised by the refusal of Marquesan self-determination, and this has seldom been proactively withstood.