Tuarii or TÅ«ari'i was the queen regnant of Raiatea and Tahaa in the Leeward Islands of the Society Islands, part of present-day French Polynesia. She was the last monarch of the kingdom of Raiatea-Tahaa from 1887/1888 to 1897 before the conquest and annexation of the islands to France.
Photograph by Lucien Gauthier
Tuarii and her family at Avera, c. 1895
Queen Tuarii and her council of chiefs at Avera, c. 1895
Annexation of the Leeward Islands by France
The annexation of the Leeward Islands or the Leewards War was a series of diplomatic and armed conflicts between the French Third Republic and the native kingdoms of Raiatea-Tahaa, Huahine and Bora Bora, which resulted in the conquest of the Leeward Islands, in the South Pacific archipelago of the Society Islands in modern-day French Polynesia.
The captured rebels of Raiatea, 1897
Indigenous officers holding the independent flag of Raiatea at Avera, c. 1895
The pa or the military camp of Teraupo'o, 1897
The militia of Bora Bora, 1895