ABSTRACT
The introduction of Christianity to the Pacific has typically been seen as having a devastating impact on the religious art of the Pacific Islands. Few indigenous art forms were to survive the initial impact of non-conformist missionary activity. In Tahiti, where the London Missionary Society (LMS) established one of its first outposts in 1797, religious arts such as dancing, miming, dramatic performance and ritual games, as well as sculpture and carving, all fell victim to missionary censure.
