Tikis
In Maohi culture, deities took on a human form and tikis were their representation. Worked in wood, stone or other materials, their proportions symbolize power, abundance and goodness. The first tikis appeared in the 15th century, when the population had a real craze for carving. Today, they can be purchased in different sizes, and therefore with different budgets: the smallest ones start at 3,000 to 5,000 CFP, while the largest ones can reach several thousand euros.
Braiding
Braiding is widely practiced in Polynesia. Whether it is with coconut leaves for the roofs of farés, or pandanus leaves for carpets (peue), hats, fans and other handbags, the know-how is everywhere! If you take part in a picnic on a motu with new Polynesian friends, you will quickly realize that while the feast is being prepared, they spend their time weaving baskets and dishes, which they will throw away as soon as the meal is over. They have a skillful hand and slide, with two or three fingers, the thin coconut leaves to assemble them in a grid pattern. Even the children make balls out of them! But it is certainly in the Austral Islands, and particularly in Rurutu, that you will find the most refined works. Count at least 1,000 CFP for a small piece; the more it is worked, the more the price increases.
Tahitian Pearls
Tahitian pearls come only from black-lipped oysters, the Pinctada margaritifera. Tahitian pearls are those that have a continuous layer of mother-of-pearl on more than 80% of their surface, without perceiving the nucleus, and that meet a series of other criteria judged by professionals. The pearls are thus sorted according to their quality, and then found on various markets. They are distinguished by their great variety of shapes and colours. In their raw state, there are four types of shapes: baroque, semi-baroque, hooped, and round (or semi-round). From iridescent green, the Tahitian pearl goes through various shades to reach an absolutely magnificent lunar grey. Whatever your purse, you will be able to bring back a keshi (mother-of-pearl from graft rejection) or a Tahitian pearl: the cheapest are generally sold in small craft and costume jewellery shops; the most expensive in the jewellery section of jewellers. Pearl farms also often have an adjoining shop, where you can buy your pearl alone or mounted, which we advise you to do: your jeweller in metropolitan France may not have the tools to pierce it if necessary.
Pareo (Pareu)
The long fabric that makes up the pareo has a typical Polynesian charm and will remain a precious ally on your next beach holiday. Formerly made from tapa, pieces of beaten bark, the pareo is now made from coloured fabric and can be worn in a variety of ways. Depending on the occasion, Polynesians - men and women from elsewhere - compete in ingenuity when it comes to wearing this rectangular piece, which can also be used as a sheet, curtain or seat cover, and is very useful for lying on the beach. Its design has a modern look for some, more traditional for others, decorated with ancestral motifs.
Usually made in Asia, the pareo is most often printed in Tahiti, and creations are constantly being renewed. The most beautiful in our opinion remain those that are hand-made, with vivid dyes and personalized designs.
You will find pareos in all the shops, but the Papeete market offers the widest choice. Count about 1,000 to 2,500 CFP depending on the precision of the design. You can also buy the fabric by the metre in the surrounding shops.Monoï
Monoï also comes from Polynesia: it has been used here since the dawn of time. And make no mistake, the monoi from Tahiti is very different from the one found in mainland France! The latter has obtained the designation of origin and is made only from local products: refined coconut oil and the added fragrance, usually tiare, jasmine or sandalwood. It has always been used to coat newborns, and it is spread on the body and hair.
Tahitian monoi is rarely found in metropolitan stores because it does not meet cosmetic standards: it is greasy (it is oil, after all) and cannot be used in the sun. That's right! Tahitian monoi used as sunscreen does not tan but roasts, even if sun product manufacturers add monoi to their composition! So be wary... Use it instead as a beauty oil or massage oil: it strengthens the skin, makes it soft and satiny, and after a few uses, it even absorbs sunburn. It also makes hair silky and shiny; in short, its qualities have been recognized for a long time. You can find monoi in one-litre bottles at the market, but it is not always scented, which brings out its rancid smell. It is not always perfumed, which brings out its rancid smell. It is also very badly combined with sweat, which turns it into an unpleasant odour. Choose it perfumed, in small bottles or in soap: the one from Parfumerie Tiki for example. Don't be surprised: monoi congeals below 24°C. Simply run it under hot water to liquefy it again.Tapa
Before the discovery of cloth, the only cloth available to cover oneself was tapa, obtained from the bark of certain trees - the breadfruit tree, mulberry tree or banyan tree - and beaten for hours to flatten it. Today, only the island of Fatuiva in the Marquesas Islands can boast of still obtaining it according to ancestral recipes. As the only clothing fabric, tapa was mainly used for certain occasions and was a sign of wealth. The bark was detached along the trees with a stick to make strips 15 to 20 cm wide, then soaked, scraped, decorated, and beaten for hours. In Tahiti, tapas are mostly found in relatively accessible A4 format, which today are used more as wall decoration than as clothing. A quality tapa of about 1 m can easily cost 20,000 CFP and will make a very beautiful decoration; luxury hotels in particular are big buyers of these pieces to decorate the walls of their rooms.
Tifaifai
Among other decorative fabrics, tifaifai is a patchwork inherited from the practice of English missionary women. On a cotton fabric background whose size varies from cushion to bedspread, symmetrical or radiating patterns are sewn around a central point, from flowers or fruits. Playing on particular associations of colors, they are made with finesse, in family. It is notably the most appreciated wedding gift. Count from 10 000 to 25 000 CFP according to the colors and the size.
Vanilla
Among Polynesia's many treasures, vanilla. Indeed, many experts consider Polynesian vanilla to be one of the best in the world. To learn more about vanilla farming and the fertilization of the vanilla flower, it is possible to visit vanilla factories on the island of Taha'a, nicknamed "Vanilla Island" for the scents it releases.
However, anyone wishing to buy vanilla must pay attention to the following two parameters, otherwise they will be buying poor quality products: the pods must be very dry and take on a black colour.Tattoo (Tatau)
Finally more original, more daring too: the tattoo. Did you know that the word "tattoo" comes from the Polynesian "tatau"? It is here indeed that the white man discovered it; scientists think that it existed before in Japan, but that it would have been abandoned.
Since the dawn of time, the art of tattooing has been highly developed in Tahiti and throughout Polynesia. With the liking of their victories, the warriors became more and more concerned, a little to dress up but especially to impress the adversary. Men decorated their bodies entirely or almost entirely (women also to a lesser extent), but they all started with an initiatory phase, which brought the tattooed person to adulthood and the loss of his child's "tabu". At death, women scratched the tattoos to return the body to its divine state. It was obviously very rudimentary at the time: small holes were pierced in the dermis, then the smoke black, an ink obtained from the kernel of the bancoul nut, was injected with a comb.
With the arrival of the missionaries, tattooing became forbidden, but was practiced clandestinely until the early 1980s when it was rehabilitated as an art form. Today, the majority of Polynesians are tattooed, but no longer from head to toe. The same machines are used as in Europe and the needles are mostly sterile; ask for confirmation anyway. The current designs are very little skull and crossbones or bad dragon, but borrow traditional Polynesian designs, made of spirals, mosaics and stylized figures evoking a tiki, a turtle, a fish... Marquesan designs are still very popular. In Papeete, prices are generally higher than in Europe, which is not the case in the rest of the islands. Last question finally: does it hurt? Yes, but don't move (and don't drink to soothe the pain either). The tattoo first gives a crust of blood and ink that you must not tear off; it disappears after a few days, and Polynesia will remain forever engraved on your person..
