Tetiʻaroa (French, officially: Tetiaroa, [tetjaʁɔa]) is an atoll in the Windward group of the Society Islands of French Polynesia, an overseas territorial collectivity of France in the Pacific Ocean. Administratively, it is part of the commune of Arue. Once a holiday location for Tahitian royalty, the islets are under a 99-year lease signed by the actor Marlon Brando, and are home to The Brando Resort, sublet to the Brando family.
Geography
Tetiʻaroa is administratively part of the commune of Arue, whose main part is in the northeastern part of Tahiti. The atoll is located 53 kilometres (33 mi) north of Tahiti. The atoll has a total surface area of 6 square kilometres (2 sq mi); approximately 585 hectares (1,450 acres) of sand divided by 12 motus (islets) with varying surface areas. The lagoon is approximately 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) wide and 30 metres (98 ft) deep. The atoll has no reef opening, making access by boat nearly impossible. The islets (or motus), in clockwise order starting from the southwest corner, include: Onetahi (with regulated airstrip and site of The Brando Resort), Honuea, Tiaruanu, Motu Tauvini (Tauini), Motu Ahurea (Auroa), Hiraanae, Horoatera (Oroatera), Motu 'Ā'ie, Tahuna Iti, Tahuna Rahi, Reiono, Motu One (emerging sandbank) and Rimatu'u (with an ornithology reserve).
Climate Tetiʻaroa has a tropical rainforest climate (Köppen Af), slightly above a tropical monsoon climate (Am). The average annual temperature in Tetiʻaroa is 26.3 °C (79.3 °F). The average annual rainfall is 1,883.1 mm (74.14 in) with December as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in March, at around 27.3 °C (81.1 °F), and lowest in August, at around 24.9 °C (76.8 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded in Tetiʻaroa was 35.5 °C (95.9 °F) on 20 March 1995; the coldest temperature ever recorded was 14.5 °C (58.1 °F) on 25 July 1987.
History
Early years
The atoll of Tetiʻaroa was a special place for the Tahitian chiefs, as a place to entertain themselves with song, dance, fishing and feasting. It was also a special place for the ariori to practice their custom of haʻaporiʻa. This custom included eating to gain weight, and staying out of the sun to whiten their skin. Plump and pale was a sign of "well-being and prosperity" for the ariori and chiefs. Tetiʻaroa was controlled by the chiefs of Pare-'Arue, and later, by members of the Pōmare Dynasty. In 1789, William Bligh is said to have been the first European to visit the atoll while looking for early mutineers prior to the departure of HMS Bounty which eventually suffered a full mutiny. The United States Exploring Expedition visited the island on 10 September 1839.
Williams and Brando In 1904, the royal family sold Tetiʻaroa to Johnston Walter Williams, a Canadian national and the only dentist in Tahiti. Williams later became Consul of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1935. Williams managed Tetiʻaroa as a residence and a copra plantation. In 1960, Marlon Brando "discovered" Tetiʻaroa while scouting filming locations for Mutiny on the Bounty, which was shot on Tahiti and neighbouring Mo'orea. After filming was completed, Brando hired a local fisherman to ferry him to Tetiʻaroa. It was "more gorgeous than anything I had anticipated," he marveled in his 1994 autobiography Songs My Mother Taught Me. Brando eventually purchased Tetiʻaroa's islets (motus) from one of Williams's direct descendants, Mrs. (Madame) Duran. Williams and his wife are buried on Motu Rimatuu. Brando decided on the purchase in 1966, having to endure political interference and local resistance to secure the atoll, reef and lagoon, all of which is now the property of French Polynesia. Many important archaeological sites have been located, identified, and studied on Tetiʻaroa. Thus, the historical significance of Tetiʻaroa to the people (and the government) of French Polynesia continues to make future development questionable at best. Wanting to live on the atoll, Brando built a small village on Motu Onetahi in 1970. It consisted of an airstrip to arrive without breaching the reef, 12 simple bungalows, a kitchen hut, dining hall and bar, all built from local materials: coconut wood, thatch roofs and even large sea shells for sinks. The village became a place for friends, family and researchers studying the atoll's ecology and archaeology. Over the years, Brando spent as much time on the atoll as he could, and valued it as a getaway from his hectic life in Hollywood. Although, ultimately, he didn't spend as much time there as he'd wished to, it is said that he always cherished his moments on Tetiʻaroa. During his stays on the island, he was often visited by his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Upon his death, Brando's son Teihotu lived on the island for some time. Eventually the village became a modest hotel managed by his Tahitian wife, Tarita Teriipaia, who had played his on-screen love in Mutiny on the Bounty. The hotel operated for more than 25 years, even after Brando had to leave French Polynesia to return to Los Angeles. Many hotel guests, arriving with higher expectations, lamented the lack of amenities normally found at an island "resort".
In 1980, the maxi yacht SY Condor of Bermuda ran aground on the Onetahi reef, which caused it to be shipwrecked and written off by insurers. Purportedly, Brando and the owner of the yacht engaged in a brief bidding-war over rights to the vessel's polished mahogany hull (as reported by the owner in the New Zealand yachting magazine Sail, in 1981), which Brando (allegedly) wanted to use as a bar at a new resort he planned to build on the island. The yacht was salvaged, and sent to New Zealand for repair. In 2002, two years before the actor's death, Brando signed a new will and trust agreement that left no instructions for Tetiʻaroa. Following his death in 2004, the TetiʻAroa Village Hotel was closed and the staff was evicted from the atoll. The atoll was closed to tourism. In August 2004, French Polynesian vice-president Hiro Tefaarerea advocated for the atoll to be declared a nature reserve to prevent development. Eventually, executors of the estate granted development rights to Pacific Beachcomber SC, a Tahitian company that owns hotels throughout French Polynesia. The Brando Resort was opened in July 2014.
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