Thomas on Islands | profile | all galleries >> == Tahiti Islands == >> Tahitian Festival on Huahine | tree view | thumbnails | slideshow |
== Other Tahiti Islands == Huahine, January 6 2006: Festival of Commune de Huahine People of Huahine value their heritage, and this festival is best testament to their ability to preserve local way of life. Each evening we saw people in Polynesian costumes and Sunday dresses being picked up from all parts of the twin-islands, in the evening we also heard drums in our bungalow. We asked what is the occasion, and so we became aware of the festivities. Compared to commercial Luau's on Hawai'i, we saw here performances of dances and music made by Maohi people for the people, and not a daily routine repeated as a job for tourists. However, they were aware of the visitors. All announcements were made in Maohi, French and... in English. We were very grateful for the English version. We were stunned by the craftsmanship of the costumes, dynamics and quality of the performances. Our impression was, that the groups of performers were scored by a jury of elders, which you can see to the right on these images. Organization was clearly not provided by stage professionals, nobody seem to be following a strict time schedule. However, someone has provided ticket stands, security personal and food wagons. On the benches where we sat, we were encircled by many young people, who seemed very friendly and curious toward visitors. As soon we were close by, they switched from Maohi to French, we were not sure why. This might be however the ever progressing influx of the French culture imposed on their lives. We observe this problem on Hawaii as well. One strange scene played on the end of the show, as tropical rain set on: We were not very concerned by the few drops coming down, Tahitians however set to an almost escape stampede, and we wondered with smile what happened to the people who once crossed worlds greatest Ocean in outrigger canoes... |
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