Tahitian Families
p. 43 · Read in the full issue
Project To Settle
On Moorea
A plan to settle 150 Tahitians families in the Opunohu Valley in the central crater area of AAoorea has been outlined in a re port of the Societe d'Equipment de la Polynesie Francaise, which is in vestigating major problems for the Administration of French Polynesia.
Under the plan, it is hoped to make the life of the settlers pleasant and profitable, thus arrest ing the drift of Tahitians to Papeete and easing the growing population problem in Tahiti. Each family would have five hectares of land.
The report discusses the possi bility of growing cash crops such as vanilla, cocoa and copra, and outlines plans for housing, sanita tion, road construction, etc.
Two New Zealand scientists, J.
Davidson and R. Green, who have
done archaeological research in the Opunohu Valley, review the report on the settlement project in the latest (December) issue of the "Journal of the Polynesian Society."
They say: "There is considerable evidence to suggest that in former times the valley supported a large prehistoric population which was clustered well back in the valley, much of it in an area considered not suitable for habitation under the present scheme of develop ment.
"Tahitians once found this zone most suitable for settlement and exploitation by relying on wet taro cultivation in extensive terrace systems.
"Thus it need not be assigned en tirely to forest production, but could again provide for agricul tural subsistence, given the proper techniques.
"On the other hand, left as a forest preserve, this zone has also spectacular tourist attraction."