Nuku Hiva

Nuku Hiva was settled by Polynesian voyagers from West Polynesia, and the Marquesas as a group are among the earliest settled islands in eastern Polynesia and a launch point for voyages that reached Hawaii and beyond. Society was organised by valley: each held a tribe with its own chiefs, priests and warriors, and built tohua — long stone dance and assembly terraces — along with me'ae sanctuaries, house platforms called paepae, and tiki carved from stone and wood. Breadfruit was the staple, stored fermented in pits against drought, and the valleys of Taipivai, Hatiheu and Hakaui supported populations far larger than today's.

European contact began in the late eighteenth century and brought whalers, traders and sandalwood ships, along with epidemic disease that reduced the Marquesan population catastrophically over the nineteenth century. Herman Melville jumped ship in 1842 and spent weeks in the Taipivai valley, described in his book Typee; the same year France annexed the Marquesas and built a post at Taiohae. Catholic missionaries followed, tattooing, chant and dance were suppressed, and the island's remaining people were gathered into a few coastal villages.

The population reached its lowest point early in the twentieth century and has slowly recovered since. An administrative centre for the archipelago grew at Taiohae, the airstrip on the Terre Déserte plateau opened in 1980, and from the 1970s a cultural revival gathered pace: archaeological sites were cleared and restored, carving and tattoo were taken up again, and the Matava'a festival was founded in 1987 to bring the islands' performers together. In 2024 the Marquesas were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as Te Henua Enata, recognising both the landscape and its archaeological remains.

Marquesan identity is distinct from Tahitian and worn with some pride. The language, 'eo enana, is spoken in the valleys; the dances are heavier and more percussive than 'ori tahiti, with the haka manu, the bird dance, and the pig dance performed to drums and chant rather than to guitars and ukuleles. Tattoo in Marquesan patterns, once nearly extinguished, is now practised and studied widely, and Nuku Hiva's carvers work in rosewood, tou wood and stone, making tiki, bowls, war clubs and ceremonial objects sold at home and in Papeete.

Catholic church life is central. Mass at the cathedral in Taiohae is sung in Marquesan, and the building itself is furnished with carvings made by island craftsmen, one of the clearest signs of how completely Marquesan art and Christian practice have been joined. Family and valley loyalties remain strong, and land is usually held by extended families.

Horses matter here as nowhere else in French Polynesia: descended from animals brought in the nineteenth century, they graze the plateau and are still ridden between valleys and raced at village festivals. Hunting wild goats and pigs in the hills is common. The great collective occasion is Matava'a o te Henua 'Enana, the arts festival that rotates between the islands with days of dance, chant, carving, sport and feasting, and which has done much to carry the traditions to younger generations.

About 3,200 people live on Nuku Hiva, most of them in Taiohae and the rest in Taipivai, Hatiheu, Aakapa and smaller settlements. It is the administrative capital of the Marquesas, so public-sector work — the administration, school, hospital, harbour and airport — provides many of the steady jobs. Beyond that, households live from copra, noni fruit grown for export, cattle and vegetables on the Toovii plateau, fishing, carving and a small, slowly growing tourism business built on pensions, guides and the arrival of the supply ship.

Everything else comes by sea. The Aranui and other cargo vessels bring fuel, building materials, frozen food and freight every few weeks, and their arrival sets the rhythm of business in the village. Fresh fish, breadfruit, bananas, taro and pamplemousse come from the sea and gardens, which cushions the cost of imported goods but not the price of anything manufactured.

The day starts at first light and slows in the afternoon heat; children board at the Taiohae school if they live in distant valleys, and secondary students often continue their education on Tahiti and then stay there. Roads, mobile and internet coverage, and medical access have improved but remain the recurring subjects of island politics, together with the practical effects of World Heritage listing and how much tourism the valleys should carry.

Marquesan cooking is based on breadfruit, fish and pork. Breadfruit ('uru or mei) is roasted, boiled, or pounded with coconut milk into kaaku, a smooth paste, and its fermented form, popoi, kept in leaf-lined pits, is still eaten with fish by older islanders. Raw fish in lime and coconut milk — the local version of poisson cru — appears at almost every meal, along with grilled tuna and reef fish, and the Marquesan habit of eating fish with a sauce of coconut milk and lime pounded with chilli.

Feast food comes from the earth oven, the umu here as ahima'a in Tahiti: suckling pig, goat from the hills, chicken, taro and breadfruit wrapped in leaves and cooked over hot stones for hours. Goat cooked with coconut milk is a Nuku Hiva standard, and the Toovii plateau supplies beef, an unusual thing in these islands. Po'e, mashed banana or papaya bound with starch and soaked in coconut milk, is the common pudding.

Fruit is abundant: enormous pamplemousse grapefruit, mangoes, bananas, papaya, limes and coconuts from village gardens. French bread and patisserie arrive with the supply ship or come from small bakeries, and imported rice, pasta and frozen goods fill out the shops in Taiohae. Coconut water, fruit juice and Hinano beer from Tahiti are the usual drinks.