Un rituel sacrificiel pour refonder l’ordre social : expérimentations contemporaines à Tahiti

Abstract

This article focuses on an association that is part of the cultural revival movement that began in the late 1960s and has gained momentum since the 1980s in Tahiti, French Polynesia. Te Hivarereata differs from other cultural associations, however, in that its approach is fundamentally religious: its members claim to be “animists” and perform a ritual each year that they describe as “sacrificial” to mark the ripening of the first fruits. The author examines the meaning of this sacrifice for present-day Tahitians in a context of decolonization and self-recovery. More specifically, she examines its transformative capacity and political significance. In doing so, she discusses the ambivalences and discomforts related to the religion of the ancestors among the Tahitians.