Pōmare Dynasty

The Pōmare Dynasty was the reigning family of the Kingdom of Tahiti between the unification of the island by Pōmare I in 1788 and Pōmare V's cession of the kingdom to France in 1880. Their influence once spanned most of the Society Islands, the Austral Islands and the Tuamotu Archipelago.

History

The ancestors of the family ultimately came from the island of Fakarava in the Tuamotus. The dynasty originated from the district chieftains or ari'i rahi of Porionuʻu (including the smaller districts of Pare and Arue) and island of Raiatea from the Tamatoa family. With foreign weapons, chief Tu gradually took over control of the other parts of the island of Tahiti, and then brought the islands of Moorea, Mehetia, and Tetiaroa into a single entity.

Chief Tu later adopted the name Pōmare. Pō-mare means 'night cougher', a nickname he took, as was common in that time, in honor of his daughter Teriinavahoroa who died from tuberculosis in 1792.

Through subsequent inheritance, adoptions, and marriage alliances, the dynasty at its peak included all the Society Islands with a member of the family ruling in Tahiti, Raiatea and Bora Bora. Tahiti also controlled some of the outlying islands of the Austral Islands and the Tuamotu Archipelago.