Lā 3: Pōʻakahi, Pepeluali 27
La Plage Hōkūleʻa / Le Jardin de Paofaʻi & Le Marché / Te Mātete
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The Paofaʻi Gardens is the site of a monument dedicated to the Hōkūleʻa. When it first landed in Papeʻete in 1976 it was greeted by thousands of Tahitians at the beach along the city waterfront which now bears its name, La Plage Hōkūleʻa. The famous downtown market, Le Marche, offers the quintessential Tahitian shopping experience with dozens of varieties of freshly caught fish on one end, and two floors filled with island items from shell lei and lauhala bags to pareau and black pearls.
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Aloha mai e nā hoa makamaka mai na ʻāina o kahikina a hiki i ke komohana. Na kama o na ʻāina o ka ʻakau, a hiki loa i ka hema loa o ka honua, eia kāua, o Kahikinaokalā lāua o Piʻikea. He leo kēia iā ʻoe no ka hoʻolaha, hoʻomanaʻo, a me ka hoʻonaʻauao. Today is Feburary 27th, our last day here in Tahiti. It’s a shopping day... After a long day yesterday of sight seeing, swimming, sunburn, and music, around all of Tahiti Nui, it was a nice change to be able to see the people and the beautiful city of Papeʻete. Thoughout the day, there were numerous meaningful encounters full of mana and manaʻo. These mana’o that were shared gave us another perspective about why we are here and the purpose of our journey. We could see the different relationships or pilina between the people, their crafts and their culture. We look today at the word Pilina, or connection and how we find that in our journey today.
The first item on our agenda for the day was an adventure into the city to the Marche Municipal Mapuru a Paraita, the name of a marketplace in the city. Vendors with shelves stocked with tahitian pearl jewlery, coolers of ice filled with fish caught that morning, boxes filled with local fruit, tables lined up with bottles of home made Monoʻi, and even booths filled with beautiful pareo. A highlight of our shopping experience was being able to look at the beautiful Tahitan Momi with nearly everyone making a stop at Mihiariʻi Pearls.
After a fun morning of shopping, we had the opportunity to tour the Asemblee de La Polynesia Française, or Aporaʻa Rahino Te Fenua, the parliament of French Polynesia in Taraho’i Square. Our guide was Hiro Tane, and he kindly took us around to see the many places where the government of Tahiti runs. We also had the greatest pleasure of visiting the “Bassin de La Reine” or the fresh water spring used as the royal bathtub, belonging to Pomare IV, Heimata the Queen. While there in the Garden of Les Jardins, the President of the Parliament and Assembly also payed us a visit. We went to honor the family of the Pomare and its pilina to that of the Kamehameha line, with oli and mele “ʻOʻoe ʻia e Kalani Nui Mehameha”.
Built on the same land was the assembly building of the Parliament. Secretary General Vetea Bambridge was one of the main people that supported the decision made by the president of France. The assembly room was later dedicated to him because of the contributions he had made to the Parliament. Along side secretary Bambridge was second secretary Sonia Agniegray-Thunot or the mother of Hiro Tane, our guide. Hiro had gone to work with his mother from a very young age and had always been involved in the serving thru the Tahitian government. He followed in his mother’s footsteps and is now the Chief of Protocol. He facilitates,and arranges meetings and also has the responsibillity of caring for high government officals when they come to stay in Tahiti.
Outside of the Parilament Building was a craft fair where many kupuna were seen hard at work skillfully working with their hands to weave, carve we seen so many different items. Kalā and Piʻikea were blessed to be able to speak with kupuna who were weaving hala, and we even got to say hello to the president of the craft fair. Although we couldn’t fully understand their french, we still felt our pilina and connection to them. Like all kupuna, they took great pride and showed passion in their hard work and mea paʻahana.
After our encounter with the Asemblee, we took a walk over to the ocean, where a very special place was named and dedicated to our own waʻa, Hōkūleʻa. The beach is named appropriately, Plage de Hōkūleʻa, because its a beach where Hōkūleʻa lands when it comes to Papeʻete, and thousands of Tahitians gather to see its arrival. At the very end of the park we reached a monument dedicated to Hōkūleʻa, called Tauraʻa o Hōkūleʻa.. It was a great moment for us to honor our waʻa and to honor the wahi kapu we had placed to Hoʻomana Waʻa. We also spent a few minutes cleaning and weeding the monument, like you would do a grave of your kupuna, and Kalā and Kumu Lāiana offered an ʻoli of “Ia Waʻa Nui” to honor and hoʻomana the monument.
We had a wonderful day filled with many meaningful experiences, lots of delicious food, a multitude of new information and knowledge, but most importantly, the pilina and relationships we built on our way. We met kupuna and dignitaries, as well as street vendors and restaurant waiters. We built pilina with the ʻāina, the ocean, and especially our waʻa, Hōkūleʻa. We must represent our lāhui with pride and with mana. We must honor our pilina with those around us, above us, and below us. Eia kākou o Nāhiku, me ka leo haʻahaʻa, a me ka lea hoʻimaikaʻi nō hoʻi. E puka kākou a pau i ke ao mālamalama.
The first item on our agenda for the day was an adventure into the city to the Marche Municipal Mapuru a Paraita, the name of a marketplace in the city. Vendors with shelves stocked with tahitian pearl jewlery, coolers of ice filled with fish caught that morning, boxes filled with local fruit, tables lined up with bottles of home made Monoʻi, and even booths filled with beautiful pareo. A highlight of our shopping experience was being able to look at the beautiful Tahitan Momi with nearly everyone making a stop at Mihiariʻi Pearls.
After a fun morning of shopping, we had the opportunity to tour the Asemblee de La Polynesia Française, or Aporaʻa Rahino Te Fenua, the parliament of French Polynesia in Taraho’i Square. Our guide was Hiro Tane, and he kindly took us around to see the many places where the government of Tahiti runs. We also had the greatest pleasure of visiting the “Bassin de La Reine” or the fresh water spring used as the royal bathtub, belonging to Pomare IV, Heimata the Queen. While there in the Garden of Les Jardins, the President of the Parliament and Assembly also payed us a visit. We went to honor the family of the Pomare and its pilina to that of the Kamehameha line, with oli and mele “ʻOʻoe ʻia e Kalani Nui Mehameha”.
Built on the same land was the assembly building of the Parliament. Secretary General Vetea Bambridge was one of the main people that supported the decision made by the president of France. The assembly room was later dedicated to him because of the contributions he had made to the Parliament. Along side secretary Bambridge was second secretary Sonia Agniegray-Thunot or the mother of Hiro Tane, our guide. Hiro had gone to work with his mother from a very young age and had always been involved in the serving thru the Tahitian government. He followed in his mother’s footsteps and is now the Chief of Protocol. He facilitates,and arranges meetings and also has the responsibillity of caring for high government officals when they come to stay in Tahiti.
Outside of the Parilament Building was a craft fair where many kupuna were seen hard at work skillfully working with their hands to weave, carve we seen so many different items. Kalā and Piʻikea were blessed to be able to speak with kupuna who were weaving hala, and we even got to say hello to the president of the craft fair. Although we couldn’t fully understand their french, we still felt our pilina and connection to them. Like all kupuna, they took great pride and showed passion in their hard work and mea paʻahana.
After our encounter with the Asemblee, we took a walk over to the ocean, where a very special place was named and dedicated to our own waʻa, Hōkūleʻa. The beach is named appropriately, Plage de Hōkūleʻa, because its a beach where Hōkūleʻa lands when it comes to Papeʻete, and thousands of Tahitians gather to see its arrival. At the very end of the park we reached a monument dedicated to Hōkūleʻa, called Tauraʻa o Hōkūleʻa.. It was a great moment for us to honor our waʻa and to honor the wahi kapu we had placed to Hoʻomana Waʻa. We also spent a few minutes cleaning and weeding the monument, like you would do a grave of your kupuna, and Kalā and Kumu Lāiana offered an ʻoli of “Ia Waʻa Nui” to honor and hoʻomana the monument.
We had a wonderful day filled with many meaningful experiences, lots of delicious food, a multitude of new information and knowledge, but most importantly, the pilina and relationships we built on our way. We met kupuna and dignitaries, as well as street vendors and restaurant waiters. We built pilina with the ʻāina, the ocean, and especially our waʻa, Hōkūleʻa. We must represent our lāhui with pride and with mana. We must honor our pilina with those around us, above us, and below us. Eia kākou o Nāhiku, me ka leo haʻahaʻa, a me ka lea hoʻimaikaʻi nō hoʻi. E puka kākou a pau i ke ao mālamalama.
he front of the Marche Municipal Mapuru a Paraita
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Inside of the Marche from the inside of the second floor
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A cooler of fresh fish straight off the boat, one of the vendors in the Marche
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Picture of the Tahitan Momi, or Pearls at the Mihiariʻi store located inside of the Marche
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