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Ahutoru
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Ahutoru
Ahutoru (c. 1740 – 6 November 1771) was a Tahitian man, brother and adopted son of Ereti, the chief of the village where Louis Antoine de Bougainville anchored. He became the foremost intermediary between the Tahitians and the French during the visit, and volunteered to accompany Bougainville on his journey back to France. After one year in Paris, Ahutoru undertook the journey back to Tahiti, but he died of smallpox on the way.
Ahutoru was born on Tahiti, Raiatea, around 1740. He was the son of a slave taken from Oopoa, and of the king of Raiatea. He was around 30 years old when Bougainville arrived at Tahiti.
After Bougainville's arrived at Tahiti, Ahutoru boarded Étoile with gifts, and stayed the night. Bougainville first attempted to call Ahutoru "Louis de Cythère", but after he befriended Bougainville, he started using the name "Butaveri", the tahitianised version of Bougainville's name.
Ahutoru had himself dressed in the French fashion by Commerson's valet, who was Jeanne Baret in disguise. Ahutoru quickly recognised her as a woman and revealed her as such to the other members of the crew. Ahutoru courted Baret with insistence until Commerson led him to believe that she was married.
On 15 April 1768, Boudeuse and Étoile set sail to depart Tahiti. Seeing the frigates readying for departure, Tahitians came on boats to give their farewell. The chief gifted Bougainville a boat sail, and asked him to take Ahutoru with him. Bougainville promised to provide him with the means to return to Tahiti.
En route, Bougainville had French lessons given to Ahutoru. However, Ahutoru never had more than a rudimentary command of French. He nevertheless managed to communicate, enlightening Bougainville on aspects of Tahitian life that had eluded the French during the few days they had spent on the island. In particular, Ahutoru informed Bougainville that war was a common state of affairs between the islands, that they practiced slavery and human sacrifices, and that a strict class system was in force. He thus became the prime source of information for Bougainville's ethnographic work about Tahiti. Ahutoru also impressed the crew with his knowledge of astronomy and his skills as a navigator. Bougainville also noted that Ahutoru composed poetry in his native language to describe his experiences on Boudeuse.
On 3 May 1768, Boudeuse and Étoile arrived at Samoa where Ahutoru proved contemptuous of the inhabitants and could not understand their language. Bougainville had hoped that Ahutoru could serve as an interpreter in further first contacts, but these contacts proved too rare, and the languages in the archipelago too diverse, for the idea to be practical. In September, Boudeuse and Étoile called at Batavia, which impressed Ahutoru, but where many of the crew caught dysentery, Ahutoru himself included. He finally arrived at Saint-Malo on Boudeuse on 16 March 1769.
Bougainville and Ahutoru departed for Versailles immediately. On 25 April, Ahutoru also met Jacob Rodrigues Pereira, who examined him. Pereira concluded that the Tahitian phonetic system to which Ahutoru was used allowed him to pronounce only a few of the French Consonants, and none of the nasal vowels.
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Ahutoru
Ahutoru (c. 1740 – 6 November 1771) was a Tahitian man, brother and adopted son of Ereti, the chief of the village where Louis Antoine de Bougainville anchored. He became the foremost intermediary between the Tahitians and the French during the visit, and volunteered to accompany Bougainville on his journey back to France. After one year in Paris, Ahutoru undertook the journey back to Tahiti, but he died of smallpox on the way.
Ahutoru was born on Tahiti, Raiatea, around 1740. He was the son of a slave taken from Oopoa, and of the king of Raiatea. He was around 30 years old when Bougainville arrived at Tahiti.
After Bougainville's arrived at Tahiti, Ahutoru boarded Étoile with gifts, and stayed the night. Bougainville first attempted to call Ahutoru "Louis de Cythère", but after he befriended Bougainville, he started using the name "Butaveri", the tahitianised version of Bougainville's name.
Ahutoru had himself dressed in the French fashion by Commerson's valet, who was Jeanne Baret in disguise. Ahutoru quickly recognised her as a woman and revealed her as such to the other members of the crew. Ahutoru courted Baret with insistence until Commerson led him to believe that she was married.
On 15 April 1768, Boudeuse and Étoile set sail to depart Tahiti. Seeing the frigates readying for departure, Tahitians came on boats to give their farewell. The chief gifted Bougainville a boat sail, and asked him to take Ahutoru with him. Bougainville promised to provide him with the means to return to Tahiti.
En route, Bougainville had French lessons given to Ahutoru. However, Ahutoru never had more than a rudimentary command of French. He nevertheless managed to communicate, enlightening Bougainville on aspects of Tahitian life that had eluded the French during the few days they had spent on the island. In particular, Ahutoru informed Bougainville that war was a common state of affairs between the islands, that they practiced slavery and human sacrifices, and that a strict class system was in force. He thus became the prime source of information for Bougainville's ethnographic work about Tahiti. Ahutoru also impressed the crew with his knowledge of astronomy and his skills as a navigator. Bougainville also noted that Ahutoru composed poetry in his native language to describe his experiences on Boudeuse.
On 3 May 1768, Boudeuse and Étoile arrived at Samoa where Ahutoru proved contemptuous of the inhabitants and could not understand their language. Bougainville had hoped that Ahutoru could serve as an interpreter in further first contacts, but these contacts proved too rare, and the languages in the archipelago too diverse, for the idea to be practical. In September, Boudeuse and Étoile called at Batavia, which impressed Ahutoru, but where many of the crew caught dysentery, Ahutoru himself included. He finally arrived at Saint-Malo on Boudeuse on 16 March 1769.
Bougainville and Ahutoru departed for Versailles immediately. On 25 April, Ahutoru also met Jacob Rodrigues Pereira, who examined him. Pereira concluded that the Tahitian phonetic system to which Ahutoru was used allowed him to pronounce only a few of the French Consonants, and none of the nasal vowels.
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