JOURNAL OF A VAHINE

VOLUME I

Célina Teriinohoapuaiterai is a Tahitian woman born in Fenua Aihere, a remote corner of Tahiti untouched by time. She recounts her life in her m'ohi family and her gradual contact with the popa' world, the world of Europeans settled in Tahiti.

Célina was supposed to die at birth, but she was saved by an uncle who adopted her. This uncle became her father, P. Célina had such fragile health that P kept her by his side throughout her childhood, under the watchful eye of God, who seemed to say to him, "Your daughter was meant to die at birth. I let her live so that you could adopt her. If you don't take care of your daughter, I will take her back." To honour what he believed to be divine will, P forbade anyone from cutting Célina's hair. Until the age of 20, no one dared to even trim a strand of her hair. Her hair was so long that it trailed behind her on the ground when she walked. Due to her severe and mysterious illness, unknown to the doctors, Célina did not attend school. She cannot read or write. At the age of 20, doctors from New Zealand were forced to shave her head to remove four "stones" that were causing her strange illness in her head...

VOLUME II

Marau Taaroa, also known as Princess Joanna Marau Taaroa Tepau Salmon, was born on April 24, 1860 to Alexandre Salmon, an English Jewish merchant, and Princess Ariioehau. The adoption of Princess Ariioehau, her mother, from the Tahitian chiefdom of Teva, by Pomare II, who was recognized as the king of Tahiti by the Europeans, united two enemy royal chiefdoms. Due to her mother's adoption, Marau Taaroa was the niece of King Pomare III and Queen Pomare IV, who succeeded Pomare II. She received her education at a private school in Sydney, Australia. On January 28, 1875, in Papeete, she married Crown Prince Ariiaue, the future King Pmare V. She was only fourteen years old, while the Crown Prince, who had already been married and divorced, was thirty-five years old. The marriage was an unhappy arrangement intended by Queen Pomare IV to consolidate the union of the two rival chiefdoms. The couple had constant conflicts. Queen Pmare IV, who reigned for 30 years, passed away on September 17, 1877. Crown Prince Ariiaue and Marau Taaroa were crowned King and Queen of Tahiti on September 24, 1877, with the approval of the Tahitian chiefdoms and the French governor. Pmare V abdicated on June 29, 1880, in favour of France after a three-year reign. Marau Taaroa divorced him on January 25, 1888, long after his abdication. She is therefore the last Queen of Tahiti. Pmare V passed away on June 12, 1891, and Marau Taaroa on March 1, 1935, in Papeete.

Marau Taaroa is the author of this text, which she published in 1931 under the name Madame la Princesse Takau Pomare Vedel. In her narrative, she identifies herself as Marautaaroa. She briefly recounts the European history of Tahiti from the perspective of Tahitian chiefs.

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