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This clip shows footage of modern-day Polynesians worshipping in a Christian church as well as black-and-white images of 19th-century Hawaii and Tahiti. The images depict a port scene, Hawaiian women dressed in European attire, a French ship firing its guns, whaling boats, a beach scene and Pacific Islanders in traditional dress. These images are accompanied by a narration outlining the history of European colonisation on the islands and footage of US art historian Stephen Eisenman reflecting on the effect of colonialism on traditional island life. Hymn singing accompanies part of the narration.

Educational value points

• Polynesian people are shown taking part in a contemporary Christian church service, emphasising one of the long-term effects of colonisation on island society. The discovery of new island countries in the South Pacific coincided with a spiritual revival in churches in England. This revival resulted in the founding of missionary societies in the late 18th century. The London Missionary Society began evangelising in the South Seas in 1796 and decided to establish its base at Tahiti. By 1815, with the support of the island’s powerful ruling family, the British missionaries secured a strong influence that further compromised traditional Polynesian culture.

• The arrival of US missionaries in Hawaii in 1820 brought Protestant Christianity to the island. When the missionaries arrived, the Hawaiian people had already dismantled their heiau (temples) and burnt images of their gods. The ancient kapu system, which had regulated all aspects of Hawaiian life, had also been abolished. As a result of the spiritual and cultural vacuum that was left, the people of Hawaii were receptive to the ideas of Protestant Christianity brought by the missionaries.

• The French annexing of Tahiti, which consolidated the influence of France in Polynesia, is referred to in the clip. By 1842 British missionaries had established a strong influence on the island of Tahiti. While George Pritchard, a British missionary and acting British Consul, was away from the island, Admiral Dupetit-Thouars was able to persuade Tahiti’s Queen Pomare IV to accept a French protectorate. In November 1843 Dupetit-Thouars landed sailors on Tahiti and formally annexed it to France. The island remained a French protectorate until 1880 when King Pomare V was forced to abdicate and cede the sovereignty of Tahiti to France.

• The influence of whaling and trading was significant in the history of islands in the South Pacific. Hawaii had established foreign trade, primarily in sandalwood, under Kamehameha the Great. Both Tahiti and Hawaii were favoured places for European ships to restock and for crews to relax. In 1821 the first whaling ship arrived in Maui. Hawaii’s harbour in Lahaina attracted 400 whaling ships in 1846. Whaling boosted the island’s economy, but the visits of foreign sailors also brought health and social problems such as prostitution, venereal diseases and alcohol abuse.

• The invention of photography coincided with the European colonial presence in the South Pacific. Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre (1787–1851) is believed to have invented photography, showing his invention to members of the French Académie des Sciences for the first time in 1839. The first photographs had a dual function, of artistic expression and of providing a scientific record. During 19th-century exploration and colonisation there was a demand for information about exotic peoples and places. Photography helped to meet this demand with the images it provided.

This clip starts approximately 24 minutes into the documentary.

We see a church congregation with the women dressed in white and sitting at the front of the church and men in suits at the back. We here singing of gospel music in Polynesian language. We see etchings of colonial influences such as architecture, boats and clothing in settings of Hawaii and Tahiti.

Narrator 30 years after Europeans first sighted Tahiti, English missionaries arrive. Within a few years, they have succeeded in destroying much of traditional life. Even the singing of ancient songs is forbidden. In 1820, American missionaries settle in Hawaii. They outlaw hula dancing, and women are encouraged to cover up their bodies with shapeless shifts. France annexes Tahiti in 1842 and establishes a base for it Pacific Navy. Whalers and traders bring alcohol abuse, violence and venereal disease.

Interview with Stephen Eisenman, author and Professor of Art History in Illinois.

Stephen Eisenman The life ways of the peoples was destroyed. The structures of power in the chiefdoms or the kingdoms in Hawaii and Tahiti were undermined by the Europeans, and everything that would have sustain a full community with a large and vibrant population was being undermined by European colonialism and, after that, imperialism.

We see a photograph of two people in a canoe on the beach looking at the camera. This is followed by a series of studio photos of ‘island girls’. We then see footage of night time Paris city streets, the final shot here is of the Moulin Rouge.

Narrator The invention of photography co insides with Europe’s expanding colonial presence in the South Pacific. European photographers document the customs and traditions of Pacific Islanders. But many also use photography as a guise for a prurient interest in the women as sexual objects. They pay island women to pose bare breasted in tropical studio settings created for added allure. Photographic realism confirms for Westerners that the legendary island girl exists and is as exotic and beautiful as they were led to believe. Photographs of Tahitian women, vahine, circulate widely in France.