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Anthropology and Religion

Cultural Center of Polynesia

Cultural Center of Polynesia

The Polynesian people inhabit the islands included in a vast triangle formed by Hawaii in the north, New Zealand in the south, and Easter Island in the east. The portal of entry of the early navigators is on the western base line stretching between Hawaii and New Zealand, and the apex is at Easter Island, the most easterly island of Polynesian settlement. The Society Islands form the geographical center of the triangle.

A comparative study of the myths, legends, traditions, genealogies, and historical narratives of Polynesia indicates convincingly that the cultural center corresponds with the geographical center, the Society Islands. From this center, eight radiating lines along the main cardinal points of the compass lead to the various island groups settled by the Polynesians. On all these radials, except the one to the west, the names of the major gods occur. The western radial leads to Samoa and Tonga, and in these groups the name of but one major god is known. From this distribution, it would appear that the descendants of the other major gods must have made their way direct from Micronesia to the Society Islands without passing through Samoa.

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In the Society Islands, legend and tradition attribute seniority in chieftainship and in the priesthood to the island of Ra'iatea, of which the ancient name was Havai'i, the Hawaiki of New Zealand legends. On this island a powerful priesthood arose in the district of Opoa. Here a religious temple, beginning in a simple form, grew in size and importance until it became the great international temple of Taputapu-atea. I visited this temple in 1929. The walls of the raised platform were formed of limestone slabs that rose twelve feet above the ground. Some of these outer slabs had fallen to the ground and revealed the inner, lower slabs of an earlier structure. Thus the process of decay revealed the growth that had taken place in the past. In the heyday of its fame, chiefs and priests had sailed to this ancient religious center from the near-by island groups to lay their offerings on the sacred temple of Taputapu-atea.