The Marquesas Islands are a group of islands in the southern Pacific Ocean located in French Polynesia. The Marquesas is believed to have been settled by Polynesians more than two thousand years ago, likely from the islands of Tonga and Samoa. The first European contact came in 1595, when a Spanish explorer gave the islands their current name. France took possession of the group in 1842.

Since the middle of the nineteenth century, the Marquesas have been hard-hit by Western diseases, especially smallpox, causing the population to decline from about 100,000 in the sixteenth century to only 20,000 by the 1870s and just 2,000 as the twentieth century began. The current population of the islands is approximately 8,600. Most of the Marquesas Islands remain sparsely populated today.

One of the most remote island groups in the world, the Marquesas Islands are about 850 miles northeast of Tahiti, and nearly three thousand miles from western Mexico, the nearest continental land mass. There are two groups of islands; the northern group centered around Nuku Hiva, the largest island, and the southern group clustered around the island of Hiva ‘Oa. With a combined land area of 405 square miles, the Marquesas are among the largest groups in French Polynesia. All except one of the islands were created by volcanic activity.

While the official languages of French Polynesia are French and Tahitian, the native Marquesan language are still spoken widely within the islands. This island group was once a major center of eastern Polynesia culture and civilization. Several other Polynesian islands, such as Tahiti and Easter Island, are believed to have been settled by Marquesan travelers, perhaps due to food shortages resulting from overpopulation or nearly constant warfare in centuries past.

The Marquesan culture has been noted for its lengthy history of complex geometric tattoos, often covering the entire bodies of both women and men. Today, the culture of the Marquesan island is a mix between ancient Marquesan traditions and strong influences from both Tahiti and France. An abundance of basaltic rock due to the volcanic nature of the islands allowed ancient Marquesans to create stone tools, as well as the carving of stone monoliths today known as tiki. The Marquesans were known as some of the best carvers in Polynesia, with both wooden and stone designs for utensils, weapons, and artistic sculptures.

Many of the myths surrounding the tiki figures carved by the ancient inhabitants of the Marquesas Islands have been forgotten over time. It is believed that the tiki figures are tied to creation myths central to ancient island culture. Tiki may represent the original ancestor of man; some on the Marquesas Islands believe that Tiki, the First Man, created the island of Nuku Hiva for Atea and Atanua, his children. The people of Nuku Hiva carved his likeness in stone, using these tikis in their worship. The Marquesans built stone terraces, known as me’ae, for ceremonies involving the tiki gods. This creation myth is very similar to that held by traditional Polynesian cultures on other islands; even the carved tiki gods look very similar from island to island.

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