Omai
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Mai, known as Omai in Britain, was a young Ra'iatean man who became the second Pacific Islander to visit Europe, after Ahutoru who was brought to Paris by Bougainville in 1768.
Portrait of Omai, a South Sea Islander who travelled to England with the second expedition of Captain Cook – Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1776
Omai of the Friendly Isles by Sir Joshua Reynolds, c.1774
William Parry's painting Sir Joseph Banks with Omai and Dr Daniel Solander, circa 1775–76
Raiatea
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Raiatea or Ra'iatea is the second largest of the Society Islands, after Tahiti, in French Polynesia, in the South Pacific Ocean. The island is widely regarded as the "centre" of the eastern islands in ancient Polynesia and it is likely that the organised migrations to the Hawaiian Islands, New Zealand and other parts of East Polynesia started at Raiatea.
The islands of Bora Bora (top) Tahaa (middle) and Raiatea (bottom). Tahaa and Raiatea share the same lagoon.
Taputapuatea marae, an ancient marae mentioned in the traditions of Polynesian peoples, including, for example, the Māori of Aotearoa. This is where the Hawaiian voyaging canoe Hōkūle'a landed on its first voyage in 1976.
The Royal Family of Raiatea in the 1880s, when Raiatea became a French Protectorate. In the background, holding the flag, is Teraupo.
Aerial view of the island