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Women Speak Out! A Report of the Pacific Women's Conference. October 27 – November 2

Tahiti

page 52

Tahiti

I talk about the situation in Tahiti. As in the Gilbert Islands, the radio is a very important means because we in French Polynesia have about a hundred islands spread over a very vast area. We have atolls like in the Gilberts. We don't have any direct communication with the centre, with Tahiti itself. So the people there rely on the radio. They go and make copra and they take the radio with them and they turn on the radio as soon as it comes on. We have a programme which lasts about three hours, two hours in the morning, three hours at noon, and three hours at night too.

But these radio and T.V. are controlled by the French government, so they are always turned to French customs and the French way of life and most of the programmes are in French. On the radio there is about one hour of Tahitian at night and a little before noon with the news. But all the rest is in French and the T.V., the programmes are all in French. Nothing is in Tahitian.

And when we have elections for example, the local parties in Tahiti are not allowed to use the radio or T.V. The only parties who are allowed to talk are the French parties. So we receive on the T.V. the French government party man, and the French Socialist party man, and the Communist party man, and nobody knows who they are because there is no Socialist party or Communist party in Tahiti, so it doesn't interest the people. We have to vote for one of them, but we should like to know what our leaders in Tahiti think of this and what it is for us simple people to do about it.

There is no programme for women in Tahiti, nothing at all. No special programme, never.