The Polynesian Collection: Uncovering Stolen or Preserved History? Thesis at the British Museum

Are the Polynesian objects collected by missionaries and exhibited today throughout the world a page of stolen history or a page of preserved history? Mililani Ganivet is starting a thesis on this subject at the British Museum in London. It completes a cycle of sharing experiences with the public which has met with great success.

Lucile Guichet/Eric Tang • Published on January 25, 2024 at 5:42 p.m., updated on January 25, 2024 at 6:03 p.m.

At 29, Mililani Ganivet places his hands on objects steeped in 200 years of history and wants to unlock all their secrets. Her thesis at the British Museum in London is first and foremost a matter of passion that she wants to transmit.

Mililani Ganivet places his hands on 200 years of history. • ©Polynesia the 1st

Between 1815 and 1830 the London Missionary Society, English Protestant missionaries, collected hundreds of objects across Oceania. “Contrary to what is believed, it was not only the English missionaries who collected the objects, the Polynesians played an important role in the collection of the objects, a role that we tend to obliterate. I think in particular for example to the role of the Polynesian smugglers who had been sent to Aitutaki in 1821. On the one hand it was necessary to collect the objects to show in fact that there was a conversion which had been effective, that is to say that there was a success of the conversion. And at the same time it was not necessary to collect the objects because they had to be destroyed as proof precisely of the suppression of the old cult and the success of evangelization on a local scale “, explains the young woman.

According to Mililani Ganivet, missionaries but also Polynesians played a role in collecting the objects. • ©Polynesia the 1st

“There are missing pages of history, it is certain that between now and the restitution there is a whole world and that I have the impression that we tend to actually neglect the intermediate stages while this are crucial stages… It was Flora Devatine who also underlined it very well, it is that obviously there is the heritage which is outside but already what are we doing by in relation to the heritage we have here?”is interrogated Mililani Ganivet.

The statue of the god A’a on loan from the British Museum. • ©Polynesia the 1st

The emblematic god A’a or the to’o, the sacred objects of the Pomare family…In total, around a hundred objects originating from the Polynesian region (present-day French Polynesia, Cook Islands and Hawaii) lie dormant today in the British Museum. Mililani is working to better document them and clarify their chronology, for a thesis which should last 3 years.

Lucile Guichet’s report:

©polynesie

2024-01-26 04:11:33
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