History
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Like many of the other islands, Mo'orea was first settled by Polynesians from the islands west of Mo'orea. They arrived on canoes coming down from South Asia looking for islands to settle. They arrived to Mo'orea 1000 years ago. There are some ancient landmarks like Marae. Marae are ancient stone rocks that are shaped like pyramids. On the rocks are carvings that tell when sacrifices sometimes took place. The oldest marae is the 'Āfareaitu Marae located in the island's main village. It was made by the early Polynesians in the year 900. People can easily visit the 'Āfareaitu Marae. The first settlers who were Europeans arrived during the 18th century. The first European to arrive on the island were Englishman Samuel Wallis and James Cook. Captain James Cook first settled on Tahiti and then he took his ship with Samuel Wallis and then he went onward to Mo'orea. Then the bay that he first settled in was Cook's bay which was later named after him.
Then was the French-Tahitian War, won by the French. Most of the Tahitians that fought were from Papeto'ai. Then Mo'orea was considered to be part of French Polynesia. Charles Darwin was inspired for his theory regarding the formation of coral atolls when looking down upon Moʻorea standing on a peak on Tahiti. He described it as a "picture in a frame", referring to the barrier reef encircling the island. Don the Beachcomber lived here for some time until his houseboat was destroyed by tropical cyclones.In the early 1900s, people started to make fire from leaves they didn't need so they could cook their food.
The island was among those visited by the United States Exploring Expedition on its tour of the South Pacific in 1839. Then transportation began Mo'orea. They built the main road and the Vai'are wharf. It took the Polynesians about 4 years to construct the 3 ferries that go daily from Mo'orea to Tahiti. Each of the ferries has different speeds. Then on October 7, 1967,the construction workers have finished building the Mo'orea Airport and the airport opened the next month. A group on Moʻorea island has succeeded in attracting about 100 people to attend a meeting of a purported new republic, called Hau Pakumotu in 2010. To this day, Mo'orea is visited a lot.
Read more about this topic: Moorea
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