The cycle of seasons and celestial bodies — Christine Briant

Object of the lecture

« Te ʻohuraʻa o te tau e te mau tino raʻi — The cycle of time and celestial bodies »

The subject addresses the role of celestial bodies in organising Polynesian time, particularly in the Society Islands before European contact. Drawing on various sources and the names of lunar months and stars linked to environmental and solar cycles, we will examine the Matariʻi i niʻa season, then Matariʻi i raro, to approach the Polynesian vision of space and time. In connection with the Faʻaʻī theme, we will develop it from the angle of subsistence.

Speaker

Christine Briant, retired History and Geography teacher, member of the associations Haururu, Faʻafaite i te ao māʻohi and Proscience. She holds a master’s degree in Polynesian Languages, Culture and Societies from the University of French Polynesia, on ecological calendars in the Pacific world.