Polynesian cultures
Polynesia is not one people but dozens. Samoan tatau, the Tahitian Heiva and Tongan tapa do not explain one another, and that is exactly what general-purpose AI conflates. This assistant names the people it is talking about, and leans on the Tahitian Academy, the Museum of Tahiti and the region's universities.
Languages and peoples
The institutions consulted
- Fare Vānaʻa — Académie tahitiennefarevanaa.pf
- Musée de Tahiti et des Îlesmuseetahiti.pf
- Administration de Wallis-et-Futunawallis-et-futuna.gouv.fr
- National University of Samoanus.edu.ws
- Cabinet du Premier ministre de Tongapmo.gov.to
- Ministry of Internal Affairs, Tongamia.gov.to
- Communauté du Pacifique (CPS)spc.int
- UNESCO — patrimoine culturel immatérielich.unesco.org
Questions to start with
- Explain the four types of Samoan tattoo
- What happens during the Tahitian Heiva?
- What techniques produce Tongan tapa?
- Who was Queen Sālote of Tonga?
- How is Tahitian vanilla cultivated?
What the assistant will not do
It will not invent a word in a Pacific language, and it will not present one people’s practice as another’s. When it has no source, it says so. Every word in language it writes is checked after the answer, and the reader is shown any that appear nowhere.