ABSTRACT
This chapter considers indigenous and national identity formation at three festivals, Heiva, the Festival of Pacific Arts and the Marquesan Art Festival, by exploring how the festivals are implicated in national cultural politics and globalization in French Polynesia, and how participants of the festivals, particularly people on the island of Tahiti, act in the politically and economically charged structures of the festivals. It illustrates some political and economic factors affecting the organization as well as the nature of festival performances and activities. The chapter historically and ethnographically describes these festivals, considering the socio-political implications and processes of identity formation at each festival. These festivals aim to situate Polynesians in space and time. They transform space into the places that are designated ‘French Polynesia,’ ‘Tahiti’ and ‘Marquesas,’ and situate these places within the territory, the Pacific and the world. Like tattooing, people distinguish the origins of the components of dance, but tend to incorporate different dances into their performance.
