Raiatea Local Customs

PK = poste kilometre, the number of kilometers from the mairie (town hall) or post office.

On Raiatea, the location of important places and buildings is indicated by PK + a number. This means that it is located that many kilometers away from the post office in Uturoa. When you are driving around the island, you will see the kilometer markers on the mountainside of the road. It's a red-capped white painted stone or concrete marker with the kilometer number painted in black on two sides.

Raiatea is an archaeologist's delight. Scientists have unearthed artefacts linking the island with Hawaii, which corresponds with local tradition that says Raiatea was the great jumping-off point for ancient Polynesian mariners.
Raiatea was the cradle of the Maohi culture.

John Williams was the first London missionary that arrived in Raiatea in 1818. The island remained under the influence of the English Protestant missionaries long after Tahiti had come under French control in 1898. The people of Raiatea are still predominantly Evangelical.

Captain James Cook was the first European that discovered Raiatea. He anchored the Endeavour in the lagoon at Opoa in July 1769.

The island in the back is Huahine. On his second trip to Raiatea in 1773, he took a young man from Huahine to England with him. Cook brought him back to Huahine in 1777 and once again visited Raiatea before sailing to Hawaii, where he was killed.

The only picture of local people that I have...

La seule photo que j'ai prise des locaux...

A marae is a traditional Polynesian temple of coral or basaltic stone, usually built with an altar at one end.

Means goodbye in polynesian...

Ca veut dire au-revoir en polynesien (je sais, pas facile de le sortir)

Means hello in Polynesian...

Ca veut dire bonjour en polynesien...