Where is the Origin of the First Tiki?

The Easter Island Moai were representations of "gods, spirits and ancestral chiefs," according to Splendid Isolation by the Met.

Similarly, Easter Island by Carlos Mordo states that Hotu Matu'a, the first chief brought along a moai symbolizing ancestors, which became the model for the large moai.

Mordo's book also states:

"the great megalithic ceremonial structures were similar to the 'marae' of the Marquesas and the Society Islands" and "the red cylindrical headdresses (pukao) worn by the great statues were also found in the Marquesas, Hawaii and in New Zealand's wood carvings."

However, it seems appropriate to rule out Hawaii as the origin of the first tiki as is generally understood that both the native Rapa Nui and the native Hawaiians arrived from other portions of Polynesia, the Marquesas/Tahiti or New Zealand or Hawaii.

Also, the styles and purposes do not appear to be particlularly similar, as the Hawaiians had different tikis for the different gods, Lono, Ku, etc. and were for different purposes, whereas on Easter Island, the tikis seem to have more of a direct link of transferring mana to the chiefs or community.

However, does anyone have more specific info and/or know the place of origin of the first tiki?

Thanks.

[ Edited by: christiki295 on 2004-02-16 14:04 ]

You mean like carving meant to be worshipped?

Babylon?

Very interesting point. I presume you would be correct. (unless maybe the Sumerians?)

However, I was refering to the first polynesean tiki.

I neglected to reference a date, which is probably useful when trying to figure first in tiki time.

Easter Island, by Caherien and Michel Orliac, states that polynesean sailors had explored at the Marquesas by 150 BC and settled Hawaii and Easter Island at 500 AD. Mordo says 300 AD for Easter Island.

According to Mordo, the "classical" period of moai carving began in 600 AD, when each clan built moai not only to protect the lineage, but also as territory boundary markings.

The Met states that Moai were placed on the Ahu from 1000 to 1100 AD, 500 years later.

"Will We ever Know the Truth"
-WSP

Try researching a little more on New Zealand. If anything comes up please let us know.

I posted a link to a great site for research in this thread:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=7312&forum=1&8

Wait, you are moving backwards too fast, lets go step by step, the true enigma is:
Where is the origin of the first Tiki MUG?

As to the first Tiki, it all comes down to Polynesian migration theories.
I believe the one that says that the Marquesas were settled first from Asia, and the Polynesians fanned out from there in all directions to inhabit the various island groups and New Zealand. SO it would make sense that the first Tiki came from the Marquesas..

The oldest sacred sites were found in the Austral Islands, (part of Tahiti), like Raivivae.

Bigbrotiki, thank you for settling one of the age old questions - the origin of the first tiki.

Indeed, the only appropriate follow up question is the origin first tiki mug - Don the Beachcomber?

Well, I don't know if that settles it, it is just a deduction from facts...if I would dig in my Oceanic Art library and compare relics and carbon dates, I probably would come up with some globby, very primitive anthropomorphic stone effigy that could be considered the first Tiki.

But the Tikis that matter are those that were the highpoint of each specific island culture, after centuries of evolving the art.

The first Tiki mug was not a Don Beach, because just like Trader Vic he started his business in the pre-Tiki period, and both did not serve cocktails in Tiki mugs.

They manufactured the Suffering Bastard and the Don portrait mug MUCH later. Even Steve Crane did NOT have a Tiki mug at The Luau, just the Salt an Pepper shakers, his War God did not appear until the Kon Tikis were opened. Vic had the Tiki bowl, but that still cannot be considered a Tiki mug, meaning a mug that uses the natural tree trunk form of a Tiki to form a ceramic cocktail container.
Perhaps it was Tiki Bob who did that first...
Will we ever know?

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki on 2004-02-20 14:00 ]

"some globby, very primitive anthropomorphic stone effigy"

I love that.

I gotta go with two answers.

1. Technically, Tiki was the first human so "He" created us. Hence the long standing religious thought from that area of the world.

2. For hobby purposes, I'd say the Tiki is a phenomenon of US military exposure to the South Pacific and then the melding of the "timeless tropical" with the exploding technology of the 40's into the 50's.

On 2004-02-17 23:24, bigbrotiki wrote:
As to the first Tiki, it all comes down to Polynesian migration theories.
I believe the one that says that the Marquesas were settled first from Asia, and the Polynesians fanned out from there . . .
The oldest sacred sites were found in the Austral Islands, (part of Tahiti), like Raivivae.

I think you have, in fact, settled the age old question.

Polynesian migration was eastward from the South China area, through Melanesia to the Austral and Cook Islands and then northward to the Society Islands and the Marquesas, (and presumably Hawaii) according to the research in Rob Kay's Hidden Tahiti.

The earliest documented Tahiti settlement is dated at c. 850 AD.

As you stated, the first tikis seem originated on Raivavae, one of the Austral Islands. They are at the Gauguin museum, but the only websites show photos of a glorious tiki garden, but alas no photos of the tikis inside.

These tikis are described as similar to the Easter Island moai, lending credence that the Raivave tiki predate the 1000-1100 AD Easter Island moai.

According to the petroglyphs, tiki were prevelant in society at the time. The appear in petroglyphs with faces with big rounded eyes, the represnetation of the gods or To'o.

Tikis were the medium through which gods or spirits interacted with the mortals or, according to Douglass Naso, the deification of the elders.

However, Douglas Nason at Barracuda.com/tikis-marquesas/ state that the Marquesas are the primordial home of tikis.

Tahitiguide.com/marea and tikis/ also states that among the first stone tikis originated in the Marquesas c. 1400 AD (post dating Easter Island. It also confirms tikis were endowed with magical power.

Has anyone been to the Gauguin museum (or know the site of their collection)?

[ Edited by: christiki295 on 2004-02-23 23:16 ]

On 2004-02-17 23:24, bigbrotiki wrote:
As to the first Tiki, it all comes down to Polynesian migration theories. . . . SO it would make sense that the first Tiki came from the Marquesas. . . .The oldest sacred sites were found in the Austral Islands, (part of Tahiti), like Raivivae.

I contacted Dr. Jo Anne Van Tilburg of the Easter Island Statute Project at UCLA and she states:

"the original homeland of the settlement party is not known, but it is strongly indicated that the Marquesas [was the place of origin]" and "to date, the earliest known dates for stone statutes are there and on Rapa Nui."

It appears the first tiki originates from either the Marquesas or the Austral Islands, although there is a (hair splitting?)conflict as to which of these 2 areas.

It seems the migration pattern answer also raises a question. As these (expert) polynesian voyagers originated from the Melanesian area, and as there is Papa New Guinea tiki, I wonder if there is any historic tiki there which would predate the Marquesas/Austral Islands?

[ Edited by: christiki295 on 2004-03-10 19:47 ]

i love reading your auto exploration of the origin of the first tiki. I've been overwhelmed with the amount of great visual, and literature on Polynesia at CSUN where I'm a grad student. I imagine UCLA is even better with the Doc of Rapa Nui there. I'm reading one of here books now, and remember seeing her on a nova/pbs special where they're trying to figure out how the islanders originally moved the moai. She didn't seem to happy in the video, but probably because her opponet was very pushy. HIT THE LIBRARY. no need to pay for a library card, just set up camp.

Easter Island moai were first, according to Dr. Tilburg, who emailed me:

"The Rapa Nui moai are earlier than the largest statues in the Marquesas or the Australs."

She also states that the Rapa Nui people did not originate in Melanesia, but from East Polynesia, possibly Mangareva and possibly stopping first at Pitcairn.

(Tikibars, she says the Melanesia migration theory "is another discredited idea." - All these discredited ideas are making my head spin).

On 2004-03-22 22:27, christiki295 wrote:
Easter Island moai were first, according to Dr. Tilburg, who emailed me:

"The Rapa Nui moai are earlier than the largest statues in the Marquesas or the Australs."

Look, I'm no ethnologist (I think), but the reason Rapa Nui moai may "be earlier" than those in the Marq's (hey, I just made that up) or Australs, could very well be that even earlier specimen on the Marq's or Australs were made of materials other than ROCK!

(And as we know, rock always beats palm (but not scissors)).

The first moai, according to Dr. Van Tilburg, are located on Anakena Bay, the landing site of the tiki godfather, Hotu Motu'a, which became a sared religious site.

The site is Ahu Nau Nau, an oft-photographed site which has a total of 7 moai, 4 of which have the red scoria topknots/headdress (pukao). They also have the intricate fish hook pattern carved on the backs.

The date is referenced as c. 1,000 AD, during the initial, "classical" period.

These Rapa Nui were the first of the voyagers from the Marquesas and, according to Tilburg's Easter Island, probably sailed c. 300 AD south via the Australs and stopping on the islands Rapa and Mangareva, located between the Australs and Easter Island. They also mave have stopped on the shores of South America, where they introduced the sweet potato.

This site was restored under the direction of Sergio Rapu, a Rapa Nui archaeologist.

One technicality, this was not the "first" tiki site, but rather the first which remains because the initial site was smaller and lower and featured a natural looking statue which Hotu Motu'a brought from one of the giant double-hulled canoes.

[ Edited by: christiki295 on 2004-03-29 00:42 ]

Rapa Nui's Ahu Nau Nau, the site of the first Tikis, according to Dr. Tilberg.

Very interesting thread. Thanks for sharing all the research!

If Hotu Motu'a brought a statue with him or took it from a canoe carving, wouldn't that mean the original carved tikis would be where he came from and not Rapa Nui? Of course, if no one knows exactly where he came from or hasn't found evidence of any tikis in that place, then I guess the Moai would have to be considered the "first".