Tagata Tangata 3 - Papalagi / Heaven Breakers (Episode Three)

This Tagata Tangata episode looks at the devastating effects of foreign powers on Polynesia. Introduced diseases had a ruinous effect, and generations of men were lost to slavery. Those stolen included the highborn and knowledge keepers of Rapa Nui (Easter Island), leaving an all but irreversible cultural vacuum. There are stories of a powerful conflict between ideologies, as the tools of religion, literacy and forced governance overturned Polynesian ways of life. Interviews across Polynesia showcase people trying to revive their cultural ways and heritage, while dealing with the ongoing wounds of foreign influence.

We survived the disease and the Peruvian slave trade, and we probably could’ve survived the missionaries; the trouble is each wave was more devastating than the last, and the missionaries opened the door to the final wave from the west — the colonialists.

– Tagata Tangata narrator and co-writer Ramona Papali'i

Key Cast & Crew

Poumau Tialetagi Papali'i

Producer

Ken Zemke

Editor

Ramona Papali'i

Series Concept, Writer, Presenter, Narrator

Martyn Sanderson

Co-Writer

Alison Carter

Writer, Second Unit Director

Hone Edwards

Director