page_title: Marae
section_title: Tahiti
hierarchical_section_title: Marae / Tahiti
caption_attribution_description: English: Marae Ti'i-rua, Mo'orea, French Polynesia
context_page_description: A marae, malaʻe, meʻae or malae is a communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies. In all these languages, the term also means cleared, free of weeds, trees. Marae generally consist of an area of cleared land roughly rectangular, bordered with stones or wooden posts perhaps with paepae which were traditionally used for ceremonial purposes; and in some cases, a central stone ahu or a'u. In the Rapa Nui culture of Easter Island, the term ahu has become a synonym for the whole marae complex.
  In some modern Polynesian societies, notably that of the Māori of Aotearoa New Zealand, the marae is still a vital part of everyday life. In tropical Polynesia, most marae were destroyed or abandoned with the arrival of Christianity in the 19th century, and some have become an attraction for tourists or archaeologists. Nevertheless, the place where these marae were built are still considered tapu in most of these cultures.
context_section_description: According to Salmond, marae are "portals between Po, the world of the gods and darkness, and the Ao, the everyday world of people and light, so that people could communicate with their ancestors."  Notable marae include Vai'otaha marae on Borabora, Mata'ire'a marae on Huahine, and Taputapuatea marae on Ra'itea.  'Oro marae on Tahiti included Vai'otaha marae at Tautira, the first, followed by Utu-'ai-mahurau at Paea, Mahaiatea marae at Papara, Taraho'i marae at Pare-'Arue, and Hitia'a marae on Hitiaa O Te Ra.  
  In Tahiti, marae were dedicated to specific deities, and also connected with specific lineages said to have built them. During the 1994 restoration of Taputapuātea marae at Ra'iātea island by archaeologists from the Tahiti Museum, human bones were discovered under some of the structures. It is possible they were the remains of sacrifices to the Polynesian god ʻOro, revered in Tahiti.
caption: Marae Ti'i-rua, Mo'orea, French Polynesia
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