Tahiti History

  • Period: 4000 BCE to 1000

    Ancient History- Polynesian Voyagers Fist Find Tahiti

    Over several centuries after 500CE the Polynesian voyagers made their way North continuing to Hawaiian Islands, then east to Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and finally south to Tuamotu Archipelago and the Tahitian Islands.
  • Period: 1500 to

    Colonial History First Documented Explorer to Visit Tahiti

    First landing on Matavia Bay and claiming the name of the Island after King George III on June 23, 1767, Captain Samuel Wallis was the first documented explorer to discover Tahiti.
  • Bougainville stops at Tahiti

    Bougainville stops at Tahiti
    Paintings depict how welcoming the Tahitians were.
  • Captain James Cook Arrives in Tahiti

    Captain James Cook Arrives in Tahiti
    Only one year after Bougainville arrived in Tahiti Captain Cook came and observes the transit of Venus
  • Period: to

    Recent History- Tahiti Became French Polynesia

    December 29, 1880 was when the native Pomare Family no longer governed Tahiti becoming a French colony. Then, in 1957 the islands were reconstituted into a French Overseas Territory giving the Islands the official name French Polynesia