Tahiti, the island paradise

by Nicholas Senn

Captain Cook counted forty-nine such skulls in the marae in which he witnessed the human sacrifice.

AT HOME

Cannibalism did not exist in Tahiti when the island was discovered, but human sacrifices were quite frequently offered as a kind of religious ceremony to appease the anger or displeasure of some offended god. The victims were tramps and persons of no vocation. They were either clubbed or stoned to death by persons designated for this purpose by the priests. On Saturday, August 30, 1777, while Captain Cook was stationed at Matavai for the purpose of observing the transit of Venus, he received a message that on the following day a human sacrifice would be made at Attahura, to Eatooa, to implore the assistance of the deity against the inhabitants of the island of Moorea, who were then in a state of war with Tahiti. Towha, a chief and relative of the then reigning king, had killed a man for the sacrifice. Captain Cook, with several friends, accompanied King Otoo to witness the ceremony, and describes the event in detail:

On our way we landed upon a little island, which lies off Tettaha, where we found Towha and his retinue. After some little conversation between the two chiefs, on the subject of the war, Towha addressed himself to me, asking my assistance. When I excused myself, he seemed angry; thinking it strange I, who had always declared myself to be the friend of their island, should not go and fight against its enemies. Before we parted he gave to Otoo two or three red feathers, tied up in a tuft; and a lean, half-starved dog was put in a canoe that was to accompany us. We then embarked again, taking on board a priest who was to assist at the solemnity. As soon as we landed at Attahura, which was about two o'clock in the afternoon, Otoo expressed his desire that the seamen might be ordered to remain in the boat, and that Mr. Anderson, Mr. Webber and myself might take off our hats as soon as we should come to the marai, to which we immediately proceeded, attended by a great many men, and some boys, but not one woman. We found four priests and their attendants, or assistants, waiting for us.

The dead body, or sacrifice, was in a small canoe that lay on the beach and partly in the water of the sea, fronting the marai. Two of the priests, with some of the attendants, were sitting by the canoe, the others at the marai. Our company stopped about twenty or thirty paces from the priests. Here Otoo placed himself; we, and a few others standing by him, while the bulk of the people remained at a greater distance. The ceremony now began. One of the priest's attendants brought a young plantain tree, and laid it down before Otoo. Another approached with a small tuft of red feathers, twisted on some fibres of the cocoanut husk, with which he touched one of the King's, feet and then retired with it to his companions. One of the priests, seated at the marai, facing those who were upon the beach, now began a long prayer; and, at certain times, sent down young plantain trees, which were laid upon the sacrifice. During this prayer, a man, who stood by the officiating priest, held in his hands two bundles, seemingly of cloth. One of them, as we afterward found, was the royal Maro; and the other, if I may be allowed the expression, was the ark of the Eatooa. As soon as the prayer was ended, the priests at the marai, with their attendants, went and sat down by those upon the beach, carrying with them the two bundles. Here they renewed their prayers, during which the plantain trees were taken, one by one, at different times, from off the sacrifice, which was partly wrapped up in cocoa-leaves and small branches.

It was now taken out of the canoe and laid upon the beach, with the feet to the sea. The priests placed themselves around it, some sitting and others standing; and one, or more of them, repeated sentences for about ten minutes. The dead body was now uncovered, by removing the leaves and branches, and laid in a parallel direction with the seashore. One of the priests then, standing at the feet of it, pronounced a long prayer, in which he was, at times, joined by the others, each holding in his hand a tuft of red feathers. In the course of this prayer, some hair was pulled off the head of the sacrifice, and the left eye taken out; both of which were presented to Otoo, and wrapped up in a green leaf. He did not, however, touch it; but gave, to the man who presented it, the tuft of feathers, which he had received from Towha. This, with the hair and the eye, was carried back to the priests. Soon after, Otoo sent to them another piece of feathers, which he had given me in the morning to keep in my pocket. During some part of this last ceremony, a kingfisher making a noise in the trees, Otoo turned to me saying, "That is the Eatooa;" and seemed to look upon it to be a good omen.

The body was then carried a little way, with its head toward the marai, and laid under a tree, near which were fixed three broad, thin pieces of wood, differently but rudely carved. The bundles of cloth were laid on a part of the marai, and the tufts of red feathers were placed at the feet of the sacrifice, round which the priests took their stations, and we were now allowed to go as near as we pleased. He seemed to be the chief priest who sat at a small distance, and spoke for a quarter of an hour, but with different tones and gestures; so that he seemed often to expostulate with the dead person, to whom he constantly addressed himself, and sometimes asked several questions, seemingly with respect to the propriety of his having been killed. At other times, he made several demands, as if the deceased either now had power himself, or interest with the divinity, to engage him to comply with such requests. Among the petitions we understood, he asked him to deliver Eimeo (Moorea), Maheine its chief, the hogs, women and other things of the island into their hands; which was, indeed, the express intention of the sacrifice. He then chanted a prayer, which lasted nearly half an hour, in whining, melancholy tone, accompanied by two other priests, and in which Potatou and some others joined. In the course of this prayer, some more hair was plucked by a priest from the head of the corpse, and put upon one of the bundles. After this, the chief priest prayed alone, holding in his hand the feathers which came from Towha. When he had finished, he gave them to another, who prayed in like manner. Then all the tufts of the feathers were laid upon the bundles of cloth, which closed the ceremony at this place.

The corpse was then carried up to the most conspicuous part of the marai, with the feathers, the two bundles of cloth, and the drums, the last of which beat slowly. The feathers and bundles were laid against the pile of stones, and the corpse at the foot of them. The priests having again seated themselves round it, renewed their prayers, while some of their attendants dug a hole about two feet deep, into which they threw the unhappy victim, and covered it over with earth and stones. While they were putting him into the grave, a boy squeaked aloud and Omai (Captain Cook's interpreter) said that it was the Eatooa.

The human sacrifice was followed by the offering of dogs and pigs. The many prayers and complicated ceremonies attending human sacrifice stamp it as a religious rite which has undoubtedly been practiced for centuries. In this particular instance it meant a message through the instrumentality of the unfortunate victim to implore Eatooa for assistance in the impending war with Moorea.

It is very interesting indeed to have an account of this ceremony preserved by an eyewitness like Captain Cook, and no apology is necessary here to have it reappear in all its minute details. Another religious ceremony of lesser import is circumcision. How this custom was introduced into Tahiti no one knows. It is more than probable that, in some way it came from the distant Orient in a modified form. It differs from the Jewish rite in that it is not performed on infants, but on boys approaching the age of puberty. Captain Cook gives the following description of the operation as he observed it:

When there are five or six lads pretty well grown up in a neighborhood the father of one of them goes to a Tahoua, or man of knowledge, and lets him know. He goes with the lads to the top of the hills, attended by a servant; and, seating one of them properly, introduces a piece of wood underneath the foreskin, and desires him to look aside at something he pretends is coming. Having thus engaged the young man's attention to another object, he cuts through the skin upon the wood, with a shark's tooth, generally at one stroke. He then separates, or rather turns back, the divided parts; and, having put on a bandage, proceeds to perform the same operation on the other lads. At the end of five days they bathe, and the bandages being taken off, the matter is cleaned away. At the end of five days more they bathe again, and are well; but a thickness of the prepuce, where it was cut, remaining, they go again to the mountains with the Tahoua and servant; and a fire being prepared, and some stones heated, the Tahoua puts the prepuce between two of them, and squeezes it gently, which removes the thickness. They then return home, having their heads and other parts of their bodies, adorned with odoriferous flowers, and the Tahoua is rewarded for his services by their fathers, in proportion to their several abilities, with presents of hogs and cloth; and if they be poor, their relations are liberal on the occasion.

How the wise man managed to keep the boys together during two such painful ordeals is not easy to understand, but as they remained at their posts until all had passed through it speaks volumes for their good behavior and manly courage. That the Tahitians possessed many admirable virtues during their paganism proves only too clearly that

Virtue is shut out from no one; she is open to all, accepts all, invites all, gentlemen, freedmen, slaves, kings and exiles; she selects neither house nor fortune; she is satisfied with a human without adjuncts.

SENECA.