Te Ta'ata – The Human Being

As promised, I’d like to tell you a bit about my recent journey to the fenua, the homeland. The locus of our séjour was the magnificent Hall Rutgers residence in the mountain of Arue. This is a legacy of the American author James Norman Hall, who wrote extensively on life in the islands. His legendary accounts include the Mutiny on the Bounty trilogy with Charles Nordhoff , which with The Hurricane also resulted in famous films. Maman, little brother and I were the guests of our lovely cousin Nancy Hall Rutgers, James’ daughter, and her husband, Nick Rutgers. Their beautiful home, created from magnificent trees and natural materials of the land, hosts wonderful photographs of a time long gone, capturing beautiful moments of the author with his family in their island setting. Nestled among flowers in a stunning outdoor setting, we breakfasted overlooking the bay, feasting on fresh fruit from the gardens and warm baguettes from the local bakery.*  We slept to the soothing sounds of the ocean pounding the shores below, and a cacophonic symphony of roosters crowing while wild dogs howled in the night.

James Norman Hall Home and Museum, in Arue, Tahiti

James’ main house (see the photograph above) was in a different spot, at the bottom of the mountain, just across from Matavai Baie. Unfortunately, the beach house that was the place of many of my wonderful childhood memories was wiped out by a tropical storm. However, the main house, mountainside, is still standing. There, Nancy, Nick and their son Jaime curate a living museum that is a monument to James Norman Hall and the island he loved.

James Norman Hall Museum, Entry Hallway

Tahiti of today has changed dramatically from the enchanting tropical paradise she seemed to be in the early part of the 20^th century. There aren’t many places left on the island to learn about its history. Here it is preserved with the style of a bygone era. The museum’s collection provides testimony to a forgotten time, telling the story of lives lived through images, stories, letters, artifacts, and legend.

James Norman Hall Museum, Desk and Typewriter

Nancy’s mother Sarah Winchester Hall (Mama Lala) was my great-grandmother’s sister, and images of my beloved Mama Kina and other dear members of our family are featured alongside the many lively characters who inhabited the isles. I feel privileged to have spent time immersed in this special place, both as a child and in recent years while visiting Nancy, Nick, and their lovely family.

These two residences, the house at the top of the mountain and the museum down below, were the beginning and end points of marvelous adventures during our stay.

James Norman Hall Museum, Family Pictures

Peter Benchley wrote a review of the James Norman Hall House in the New York Times (2004). https://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/02/magazine/one-of-a-kind-tahiti-maison-james-norman-hall.html

Here is the official website of the Maison James Norman Hall http://www.jamesnormanhallhome.pf/indexen.html

*That is, after the bread strike ended.  The island bakers were on strike when we arrived. They wanted to raise the price of a baguette loaf from 53 CFP to 70 CFP. At the time of our departure, the bakers had resumed baking, and the dispute was being heard in court. There was also a firefighter strike while we were there, that is, those who were employed by the airports and essential to the safety of inter-island flights. Many of the smaller, inter-island Air Tahiti flights were grounded for a few days before that dispute was resolved.