Arioi
Encyclopedia
The Arioi were a secret religious order
of the Society Islands
, particularly the island of Tahiti
, with a hierarchical
structure, esoteric
salvation doctrine and cultish
and cultural
functions. They included both men and women of all social strata, though men predominated. The Arioi principally venerated the war god 'Oro
, whom they considered the founder of their order.
, c'étai le temps des balaines it is necessary to understand Polynesian societal order in classical times, i.e. before Europeans discovered the islands. In most of Polynesia
, society was strictly hierarchically structured and divided into several social strata. This division did not always manifest itself the same way, but it can be found in Tahiti
, as well as in Samoa
, Hawaii
, the Marquesas Islands
, the Austral Islands
, the Cook Islands
, all the way over on Easter Island
, and even the remotest corner of the Polynesian Triangle.
There were in essence three caste
s on the Society Islands:
The system of power on the Society Islands included characteristics of both medieval European feudalism
as well as the Hindu caste system
.
. Admission into the orders was relatively simple at first; thus, admission was associated with increasingly difficult requirements. Theoretically, all levels of all social groups were open to everyone, but in practice the highest classes of the Arioi were reserved for the highest classes of the nobility. The upper classes were occupied by priests, mostly the sons and daughters of the noble families in the upper classes, which guaranteed that the Arioi built up strong support for the absolutist ruling family.
Each of the Society Islands had its own Arioi group which was associated with a particular place of worship (marae
), and its own leaders of the order. The absolute highest leader was one of the leaders of the order in Raiatea
, since the Taputapu-Atea marae, the holiest of all the worship platforms of Polynesia, was located there.
There are special houses on the Society Islands in which the Arioi lived, in which they got together and which served as guest houses for visits by Arioi from other islands. 27 Arioi houses have been documented in Tahiti.
With the initiation, the new member earned the right to wear a bast fiber
tapa
in certain colors and with certain tattoos, beginning with a small ring-shaped pattern on the ankle. As the member ascended into the upper classes, the tattoos became increasingly large and ornate.
Ruling chiefs had no further to climb and did not have to undergo the initiation and laborious ascent.
stopped. Arioi unions had to remain childless in a society whose religion was fundamentally characterized by fertility rituals, which was something of a contradiction. If a child was expected, he was aborted
or killed immediately after birth. The principal reason for killing the children was the endeavor to prevent people in the upper classes from having children with people in the lower classes in order to keep the ruling line "pure". Another reason could be found in a particular characteristic of Polynesian society, namely that reputation was passed down the male line, and that a father automatically lost a part of his reputation upon the birth of his first son.
Because the reports of the European discoverers and missionaries naturally had to be restricted to publicly observable actions and since taboo
s excluded outsiders from the rites that took place in the marae, the role the Arioi played in it is not known.
One thing that was publicly observable was the Arioi's involvement in the large celebrations, often lasting for several days. The ariki's reputation depended considerably on the generous distribution of gifts to the people. The products that were delivered by the serfs—usually with great pageantry as part of an extravagantly prepared celebration—were distributed yet again. This served as a means of self-promotion; the more generously a chief behaved, the higher his prestige was. The preparation of dances, dramas, and song for these celebrations was essentially the Arioi's responsibility. Then again, they also profited from the gifts that they gave out and were rewarded with bast fiber tapa as well. The most elaborate celebrations were the visits the Arioi made to other islands. James Cook
witnessed one such event in 1774. A fleet of 60 ornately decorated boats, some 50 Arioi in each, departed from Tahiti for a visit to the island of Huahine
.
Above all, through, the Arioi were guardians and promoters of tradition. In a society with no writing, it was important to openly preach, protect, and spread religious texts through constant recitation.
The ability of this to relieve tension within the social structure should not be underestimated. The absolutist ruling family of the ariki normally tolerated no dissent whatsoever. However, the Arioi enjoyed a large degree of freedom during their performances to criticize secular and religious leaders in a playful and jocular way.
and Moerenhout were deeply entrenched in the prudish society of the late 18th and 19th centuries.
An example of this is the following description of the Arioi from James Cook's journal of his first trip in 1769:
Fertility rituals played a central role in Polynesian religion. For this reason, any behavior patterns that seemed risqué to the Europeans were closely linked with religious acts.
The end did not come suddenly, however. As a result of partial inclusion of the Christian body of thought, though preserving the traditional Polynesian structuring, the Mamaia group was formed to succeed the Arioi. The name means "rotten fruit" and was applied discriminatorily
. The sect originated in Tahiti in 1826. The founders were two native deacons of the London Missionary Society by the name of Teao and Hue. The millenarianistic
movement created visionary prophets, who had allegedly experienced theophanies and Marian apparitions
, but they also claimed to have been possessed by Oro and Tāne
. In 1831, the missionaries succeeded in temporarily driving the Mamaia from Raiatea Island. There were also rebellions on Tahiti in 1832, though they were suppressed in bloody confrontations with the help of the French. In 1833, the Mamaia were banished from Tahiti. After the death of Teao in 1842, the movement died away.
Religious order
A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious practice. The order is composed of initiates and, in some...
of the Society Islands
Society Islands
The Society Islands are a group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean. They are politically part of French Polynesia. The archipelago is generally believed to have been named by Captain James Cook in honor of the Royal Society, the sponsor of the first British scientific survey of the islands;...
, particularly the island of Tahiti
Tahiti
Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
, with a hierarchical
Hierarchy
A hierarchy is an arrangement of items in which the items are represented as being "above," "below," or "at the same level as" one another...
structure, esoteric
Esotericism
Esotericism or Esoterism signifies the holding of esoteric opinions or beliefs, that is, ideas preserved or understood by a small group or those specially initiated, or of rare or unusual interest. The term derives from the Greek , a compound of : "within", thus "pertaining to the more inward",...
salvation doctrine and cultish
Cult (religious practice)
In traditional usage, the cult of a religion, quite apart from its sacred writings , its theology or myths, or the personal faith of its believers, is the totality of external religious practice and observance, the neglect of which is the definition of impiety. Cult in this primary sense is...
and cultural
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
functions. They included both men and women of all social strata, though men predominated. The Arioi principally venerated the war god 'Oro
'Oro
Oro is a god of the Polynesian pantheon. The veneration of Oro, although practiced in varying intensity among the islands, was a major cult of the Society Islands in the 17th and 18th centuries, especially Tahiti and Raiatea. On Tahiti 'Oro was the main deity and the god of war. The secret society...
, whom they considered the founder of their order.
Polynesian society
In order to understand the comparable societies on other islands of negue Polynesian TrianglePolynesian Triangle
The Polynesian Triangle is a region of the Pacific Ocean with three island groups at its corners: Hawaii, Easter Island and New Zealand. It is often used as a simple way to define Polynesia....
, c'étai le temps des balaines it is necessary to understand Polynesian societal order in classical times, i.e. before Europeans discovered the islands. In most of Polynesia
Polynesia
Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are termed Polynesians and they share many similar traits including language, culture and beliefs...
, society was strictly hierarchically structured and divided into several social strata. This division did not always manifest itself the same way, but it can be found in Tahiti
Tahiti
Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
, as well as in Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, the Marquesas Islands
Marquesas Islands
The Marquesas Islands enana and Te Fenua `Enata , both meaning "The Land of Men") are a group of volcanic islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in the southern Pacific Ocean. The Marquesas are located at 9° 00S, 139° 30W...
, the Austral Islands
Austral Islands
The Austral Islands are the southernmost group of islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in the South Pacific. Geographically, they consist of two separate archipelagos, namely in the northwest the Tubuai Islands consisting of the Îles Maria, Rimatara, Rurutu, Tubuai...
, the Cook Islands
Cook Islands
The Cook Islands is a self-governing parliamentary democracy in the South Pacific Ocean in free association with New Zealand...
, all the way over on Easter Island
Easter Island
Easter Island is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian triangle. A special territory of Chile that was annexed in 1888, Easter Island is famous for its 887 extant monumental statues, called moai, created by the early Rapanui people...
, and even the remotest corner of the Polynesian Triangle.
There were in essence three caste
Caste
Caste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of endogamy, occupation, culture, social class, tribal affiliation and political power. It should not be confused with race or social class, e.g. members of different castes in one society may belong to the same race, as in India...
s on the Society Islands:
- the nobilityNobilityNobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
(Polynesian: ari´i or ariki) at the head of the society. They were the big land owners. Directly above them are the ariki rahi (English: the big Ariki), the sovereigns, who were recruited from the old noble families. On Tahiti, there were eight of them who headed one tribe each. Heredity of the title was not determined as much by sex as by primogeniturePrimogeniturePrimogeniture is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn to inherit the entire estate, to the exclusion of younger siblings . Historically, the term implied male primogeniture, to the exclusion of females...
.
- the free (Polynesian: raatira), which small land owners, craftsmen, boatbuilders, tattoo artistsTattooA tattoo is made by inserting indelible ink into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment. Tattoos on humans are a type of body modification, and tattoos on other animals are most commonly used for identification purposes...
and other artists essentially were. In war, they were next-in-command to the ariki. The divisions between the raatira and the lowest rungs of the lower nobility were fluid.
- the serfs (Polynesian: manahune), who were dependent on landowners to work the fields. They had to give up a large part of what they produced.
The system of power on the Society Islands included characteristics of both medieval European feudalism
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
as well as the Hindu caste system
Caste system in India
The Indian caste system is a system of social stratification and social restriction in India in which communities are defined by thousands of endogamous hereditary groups called Jātis....
.
Structure
The structure of the order of the Arioi was a mirror image of Tahiti's hierarchical society. There were several ranks; Moerenhout describes eight ranks which could be reached through initiationInitiation
Initiation is a rite of passage ceremony marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components...
. Admission into the orders was relatively simple at first; thus, admission was associated with increasingly difficult requirements. Theoretically, all levels of all social groups were open to everyone, but in practice the highest classes of the Arioi were reserved for the highest classes of the nobility. The upper classes were occupied by priests, mostly the sons and daughters of the noble families in the upper classes, which guaranteed that the Arioi built up strong support for the absolutist ruling family.
Each of the Society Islands had its own Arioi group which was associated with a particular place of worship (marae
Marae
A marae malae , malae , is a communal or sacred place which serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies...
), and its own leaders of the order. The absolute highest leader was one of the leaders of the order in Raiatea
Raiatea
Raiatea , is the second largest of the Society Islands, after Tahiti, in French Polynesia. The island is widely regarded as the 'center' of the eastern islands in ancient Polynesia and it is likely that the organised migrations to Hawaii, Aotearoa and other parts of East Polynesia started at...
, since the Taputapu-Atea marae, the holiest of all the worship platforms of Polynesia, was located there.
There are special houses on the Society Islands in which the Arioi lived, in which they got together and which served as guest houses for visits by Arioi from other islands. 27 Arioi houses have been documented in Tahiti.
Initiation
Members of all social strata could be admitted into the association. Anyone who wanted to become a member had to be possessed by Oro. This was demonstrated by pushing one's way into a meeting of the Arioi in a trance state. If the Arioi considered the candidate to be suitable, he was admitted. The most important criteria for this were physical beauty, knowledge of religious texts, and skill in recitation, dance and pantomime.With the initiation, the new member earned the right to wear a bast fiber
Bast fibre
Bast fibre or skin fibre is plant fibre collected from the phloem or bast surrounding the stem of certain, mainly dicotyledonous, plants. They support the conductive cells of the phloem and provide strength to the stem...
tapa
Tapa cloth
Tapa cloth is a bark cloth made in the islands of the Pacific Ocean, primarily in Tonga, Samoa and Fiji, but as far afield as Niue, Cook Islands, Futuna, Solomon Islands, Java, New Zealand, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Hawaii...
in certain colors and with certain tattoos, beginning with a small ring-shaped pattern on the ankle. As the member ascended into the upper classes, the tattoos became increasingly large and ornate.
Ruling chiefs had no further to climb and did not have to undergo the initiation and laborious ascent.
Status
The Arioi lived in sexual freedom as long as they weren't married, which must have seemed particularly indecent to the prudish missionaries of the 19th century. After the establishment of a matrimonial bond, though, promiscuityPromiscuity
In humans, promiscuity refers to less discriminating casual sex with many sexual partners. The term carries a moral or religious judgement and is viewed in the context of the mainstream social ideal for sexual activity to take place within exclusive committed relationships...
stopped. Arioi unions had to remain childless in a society whose religion was fundamentally characterized by fertility rituals, which was something of a contradiction. If a child was expected, he was aborted
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
or killed immediately after birth. The principal reason for killing the children was the endeavor to prevent people in the upper classes from having children with people in the lower classes in order to keep the ruling line "pure". Another reason could be found in a particular characteristic of Polynesian society, namely that reputation was passed down the male line, and that a father automatically lost a part of his reputation upon the birth of his first son.
- In general, they continue in this society to the age of thirty or thirty-five, when by suffering one of their children to survive, they debar themselves of the privileges of an arreoi.
Religious functions
Religious functions in Polynesian society had both religious and political meaning, the latter through displays and pageantry to glorify the ruling family.Because the reports of the European discoverers and missionaries naturally had to be restricted to publicly observable actions and since taboo
Taboo
A taboo is a strong social prohibition relating to any area of human activity or social custom that is sacred and or forbidden based on moral judgment, religious beliefs and or scientific consensus. Breaking the taboo is usually considered objectionable or abhorrent by society...
s excluded outsiders from the rites that took place in the marae, the role the Arioi played in it is not known.
One thing that was publicly observable was the Arioi's involvement in the large celebrations, often lasting for several days. The ariki's reputation depended considerably on the generous distribution of gifts to the people. The products that were delivered by the serfs—usually with great pageantry as part of an extravagantly prepared celebration—were distributed yet again. This served as a means of self-promotion; the more generously a chief behaved, the higher his prestige was. The preparation of dances, dramas, and song for these celebrations was essentially the Arioi's responsibility. Then again, they also profited from the gifts that they gave out and were rewarded with bast fiber tapa as well. The most elaborate celebrations were the visits the Arioi made to other islands. James Cook
James Cook
Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...
witnessed one such event in 1774. A fleet of 60 ornately decorated boats, some 50 Arioi in each, departed from Tahiti for a visit to the island of Huahine
Huahine
Huahine is an island located among the Society Islands, in French Polynesia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the Leeward Islands group . The island has a population of about 6,000.-Geography:...
.
Above all, through, the Arioi were guardians and promoters of tradition. In a society with no writing, it was important to openly preach, protect, and spread religious texts through constant recitation.
The ability of this to relieve tension within the social structure should not be underestimated. The absolutist ruling family of the ariki normally tolerated no dissent whatsoever. However, the Arioi enjoyed a large degree of freedom during their performances to criticize secular and religious leaders in a playful and jocular way.
The European's perspective
In the portrayals by the early European visitors, which dominated our image of the South Sea societies until well into the 20th century, the erotic aspects of Arioi culture were emphasized, indeed overemphasized. Therefore, one must take into account that these reports mainly came from missionaries, and self-educated travelers such as ForsterJohann Reinhold Forster
Johann Reinhold Forster was a German Lutheran pastor and naturalist of partial Scottish descent who made contributions to the early ornithology of Europe and North America...
and Moerenhout were deeply entrenched in the prudish society of the late 18th and 19th centuries.
An example of this is the following description of the Arioi from James Cook's journal of his first trip in 1769:
- Many of these people contract intimacies and live together as man and wife for years, in the course of which the children that are born are destroy'd. They are so far from concealing it that they look upon it as a branch of freedom upon which they value themselves. They are called Arreoys, and have meetings among themselves, where the men amuse themselves with wrestling, etc., and the women in dancing the indecent dance before-mentioned, in the course of which they give full liberty to their desires, but I believe keep up to the appearance of decency.
Fertility rituals played a central role in Polynesian religion. For this reason, any behavior patterns that seemed risqué to the Europeans were closely linked with religious acts.
Later organizations
The Europeans' missionary work on the Society Islands in the first half of the 19th century signified the end of the Arioi. They were bitterly opposed by the missionaries because of their practices, which stood firmly in opposition to Christian teaching.The end did not come suddenly, however. As a result of partial inclusion of the Christian body of thought, though preserving the traditional Polynesian structuring, the Mamaia group was formed to succeed the Arioi. The name means "rotten fruit" and was applied discriminatorily
Discrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
. The sect originated in Tahiti in 1826. The founders were two native deacons of the London Missionary Society by the name of Teao and Hue. The millenarianistic
Millenarianism
Millenarianism is the belief by a religious, social, or political group or movement in a coming major transformation of society, after which all things will be changed, based on a one-thousand-year cycle. The term is more generically used to refer to any belief centered around 1000 year intervals...
movement created visionary prophets, who had allegedly experienced theophanies and Marian apparitions
Marian apparitions
A Marian apparition is an event in which the Blessed Virgin Mary is believed to have supernaturally appeared to one or more people. They are often given names based on the town in which they were reported, or on the sobriquet which was given to Mary on the occasion of the apparition...
, but they also claimed to have been possessed by Oro and Tāne
Tane
In Māori mythology, Tāne is the god of forests and of birds, and the son of Ranginui and Papatuanuku, the sky father and the earth mother, who lie in a tight embrace...
. In 1831, the missionaries succeeded in temporarily driving the Mamaia from Raiatea Island. There were also rebellions on Tahiti in 1832, though they were suppressed in bloody confrontations with the help of the French. In 1833, the Mamaia were banished from Tahiti. After the death of Teao in 1842, the movement died away.
Secret societies on other islands
Societies that are somewhat comparable to the Arioi can also be found on other Polynesian and Melanesian islands, for example:- the Kaioi on the Marquesas Islands
- the hālau hulaHalau hulaA hālau hula is a school in which the ancient Hawaiian dance form called hula is taught. The term comes from hālau, a workshed, and hula, the traditional dance of the Hawaiian Islands. Prior to European contact, the Hawaiian language had no word for "school," as children learned from their parents,...
(hulaHulaHula is a dance form accompanied by chant or song . It was developed in the Hawaiian Islands by the Polynesians who originally settled there. The hula dramatizes or portrays the words of the oli or mele in a visual dance form....
schools) in HawaiiHawaiiHawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of... - with respect to the women, the aualuma and taupou, the female societies of SamoaSamoaSamoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...