Heroic History and Chiefly Chapels in 19th Century Tahiti

This article seeks to understand mass conversion to Christianity in early 19th century Tahiti as the re-materialisation of a heroic social field. Beginning with a re-consideration of Sahlins' notion of 'heroic history', I argue that heroic Tahitian history was a distinctive combination of chiefly and collective action. The cultural structure of this history was reflected in three architectural moments: the building of a chapel for the high chief, Pomare, at Mo'orea, the generalised replication of this act through the construction, within a very short period, of some 70 chapels at Tahiti, and the building of a monumental chapel for Pomare at Tahiti. This article is a ' prequel' to an earlier publication on mass conversion to Christianity and church construction in Rarotonga.