Cultural journey to the Windward Islands: Bora Bora meets its partners

In November 2023, members of Te Fare Hiro'a nō Vāvau undertook a week-long cultural journey to the Windward Islands — Tahiti and Moorea. This trip was an opportunity to visit major heritage sites and build lasting ties with the partner associations of the māʻohi (indigenous Polynesian) network.

On the programme: heritage, language and celebration

The association's team visited the Papeno'o valley, Marae Tupuhaea and the Musée de Tahiti et des Îles — key stops to understand the cultural continuities between Vāvau (Bora Bora) and the Windward Islands. The journey coincided with the celebrations of Matari'i i Ni'a (the Pleiades Rising, the beginning of the season of abundance in the māʻohi calendar).

Meetings with partner associations

Exchanges took place with several partner associations:

• Puna Reo No Piha'e'ina (Moorea) — association dedicated to the preservation and revitalisation of the Tahitian language;
• CRIOBE — Centre de Recherches Insulaires et Observatoire de l'Environnement, partner on the theme of the rāhui (customary marine reserve);
• Haururu (Tahiti) — association that cultivates ancestral ceremonies;
• Fa'afaite — association perpetuating traditional double-canoe navigation.

These exchanges strengthen a living māʻohi network that reaches beyond the borders of each island and nourishes the approach of Te Fare Hiro'a nō Vāvau: the preservation of Vāvau's heritage can only happen in dialogue with the broader Polynesian world.