Taputapuātea nominated for World Heritage List [1]
Friday, June 16, 2017 - 14:11. Updated on Friday, January 26, 2018 - 18:53.
Only one Pacific Islands heritage site – the Taputapuātea Marae on Ra’iatea Island - has been nominated among 35 world-wide sites under consideration for UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2017, after the people of Opoa in French Polynesia worked for many years to win recognition for its important place in Polynesian voyaging history.
The nomination by France asserts that the Pacific region is under-represented in the system of World Heritage properties and that inscription of Taputapuātea would help to fill a thematic and regional gap. It also points out that the integrity of the ancient Taputapuātea site has been preserved.
The World Heritage Committee will assess the nomination of 35 sites for inscription on UNESCO’s World Heritage List during its 41st session, to be held in Krakow, Poland from July 2-12, this year.
UNESCO based in Paris, France, stated that this year’s nominations for inscription on the World Heritage List [2] number seven natural sites, one mixed (i.e. both natural and cultural) and 27 cultural sites.
Taputapuātea
Taputapuātea, a large marae complex at Opoa, on the south-eastern coast of Raiatea Island, is nominated as a cultural heritage site. The site features a number of marae and other stone structures and was once considered the central temple and religious centre of Eastern Polynesia. The marae complex was at the centre of a network among the line of Tamatoa chiefs that connected Taputapuātea to other islands in eastern Polynesia. The building of outrigger canoes and ocean navigation were key skills in maintaining this network.
The marae was already established by 1000 AD with significant expansion after this time. Taputapuātea was a place of learning where priests and navigators from all over the Pacific would gather to offer sacrifices to the gods and share their knowledge of the genealogical origins of the universe, and of deep-ocean navigation. It includes Atāra motu an islet in the reef and a habitat for seabirds. Ocean-going arrivals waited here before being led through the sacred pass and then formally welcomed at Taputapuātea.
The archeological remains of Taputapuātea were restored in 1994 and work to preserve the site continues. A cultural association formed by the people of Opoa acting for the preservation of Taputapuātea, worked toward its listing on the World Heritage List and creating and reviving connections between communities of the Polynesian triangle and throughout the Pacific region. A management committee for the property has been in place since 2012 and meets at least four times a year.
Tonga
The nomination notes that human expansion into eastern Polynesia began in AD, with populations spreading out from established settlements on Tonga and Samoa to the Cook Islands, the Society Islands (including Ra’iatea), the Southern Islands, the Marquesas, Hawaii, Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and finally 300 years later, the islands of Te Aotearoa (New Zealand). The adoption of the double hulled outrigger canoe allowed these ocean-going voyages;
The nomination states that "Taputapuātea is the only 'international' marae complex as it alone was at the centre of an alliance that brought together a wide swath of French Polynesia, Rarotonga and Te Aotearoa (New Zealand).
Taputapuātea is considered by France to be of Outstanding Universal Value as a cultural property for the following reasons:
- Taputapuātea carries an exceptional testimony of 1000 years of the mā’ohi civilization;
- The archaeological vestiges of Taputapuātea offer an eminent example of the marae, a sacred and ceremonial space constructed by the mā’ohi people from the century;
- Taputapuātea is a landscape connected to Polynesian myths of the founding of the world, it is the common root of their lineage.
A traditional landscape surrounds both sides of the Taputapuātea marae complex.
World Heritage sites
The UNESCO Committee [3] will also review the state of conservation of 99 World Heritage sites and of 55 sites inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger during the session [4], which will be webcast at http://whc.unesco.org/en/35/ [5].
A Forum of young heritage professionals dedicated to the theme of “Memory: Lost and Recovered Heritage”, will be held in Warsaw and Krakow. It will open ahead of the Committee meeting on 25 June and close on 4 July bringing together representatives from 32 countries, including the 21 that are on the World Heritage Committee. Participants will exchange views on the challenges of heritage conservation.
ICOMOS Evaluations of Nominations 2017 for World Heritage Committee, 2017 [6]