Beautiful traditions on the sex of a lady (12 juin 2023)
Huahine: On Ziki´s beach Nicolas got the phone number of a local tour guide. Nicolas made a phone call and the next day we were on the tour with Henry (HineOraVai Island Tour). After breakfast we went with the dingy to a beach a little bit futher away where Henry could pick us up. As soon as we entered we met two lovely old ladies sitting in front of their doorstep. One of the lady’s asked if we were in for a bit of Yukelele and gave us a little private concert. I love this people. Huahine in English means “sexy lady”. The island is divided in two parts by a river and has a big island and a small island. With a little fantasy you can see from above, It has the form of a vagina or as they call it here: `the sex of the lady, and that is how the island got her name. On the big island the mountain as the shape of a pregnant lady laying down. The small island has a rock they call “the penis of the soldier”. A legend goes that there was a women living on the island on here own who choose not to have a man. A French soldier discovered this and decided he wanted her. He raped her. When the brother of the lady heard of this he cut the penis of the soldier. The rock now stands there as a reminder what will happen if a man decides to have sex with a girl against her will. On the island live around 6000 people and 60% is female. The islands here have some fantastic traditions. There is no graveyard on Huahine. When someone dies he or she will be buried in the backyard. In every garden you see graves. The people here devote their ancestors and how fantastic is it that they are still living with you. On the smaller islands there is no hospital. When a lady is pregnant a month before childbirth she will go the hospital of Papeete or Raiatea. After childbirth she comes back with the baby and the placenta. They bury the placenta in the garden, so the child is immediately connected with her ancestors. On the placenta they plant a flower (if it’s a girl) or a tree (boy) as a sign for grows and prosperity. The placenta with the tree or flower growing on it becomes the bridge between heaven and earth. As soon as you ask a local here if his or her placenta is in the garden, they immediately point at a tree or plant in their backyard. How wonderful is that. I love this tradition. Henry took us to a local artist who designs and paints sarongs. He also made some beautiful wood crafted knifes and bracelets. We went to the most gorgeous viewpoints on top of the mountain overlooking a bay and then he brought us to an ancient temple, of the Mäóhi, the first people who arrived in Frans-Polynesië. A temple in Tahitian language is Marea. The temple is very old, it goes back to the 11th century. It is build on lava stones and has two levels. They used the temple for the speeches of the king, court cases and to make sacrifices to the gods. Where on the big islands they offered animals and fruit, on the smaller island of Huahine they also sacrificed humans when they sent their best warriors to fights with the best warriors of other islands. In total 14 humans where offered, all young girls, teenagers. According to Henry it was on honor if your girl was selected to be sacrificed. I can’t image. The story goes that in the 17th century the queen wasn´t so happy to sacrifice young girls to the gods. So when the next war was coming she picked a girl to be offered to the gods. The moment they undressed the girl to offer her, they discovered she had her period. Blood after the offering is fine. Blood for the offering was a curse. They took the girl immediately of the offer place and never sacrificed people again, afraid that they would be cursed. Even with the renovation of the temple the elders didn´t want to help the restorers afraid the would get a curse on them. It took the restorers 11 times asking before they were able to get their help. The result is magnificent. The place feels peaceful and sacred and the location along the sea is fantastic. After the temple we visited the blue eyed eel. Very big eels danced along our legs playing with us. They look horrific. According to the legend a witch was not so happy with the loudness of the playing kids. A warning didn´t get hem quiet so she put a curse on them and turned them in to eels. The fact that the eels are actually the long lost children made it a bit less scary to feel them around your legs. We visited a vanilla plantage. Nicolas will tell about this in another blog. But the biggest surprise of the tour was the lunch prepared at Henry´s house where we got a warm welcome from his wife. We started with a fruit juice (for some with some rum 😊) and some chips. Together we made the Tun Blanc according to the local recipe, which is absolute divine. A perfectly set table was waiting for us where we enjoyed a delighted lunch. After the dishes we could make our own flower crown and headed home again. But not before I asked Henry if he had planted the placenta of his daughters in the garden. He showed me 3 coconut trees. Trees, I asked? Yes, he answered, it it the number one tree on our island and all my girls are my number 1. With the dingi back to Brainwave, where Ziki just made his way home. We promised to meet him in the morning before we head of to Raiatea. With a beautiful sunset we made a last dive in the water. What a perfect day. Thanks Henry. (Marlise) |