Society Islands

In 1777, Captain James Cook described viewing the preserved body of Tee, a Tahitian chief:

"We found the body...entire in every part... putrefaction seemed scarcely to have begun... though the climate is one of the hottest, and Tee had been dead above four months"

Captain James Cook, 10 September, 1777

'The Body of Tee, a Chief, as Preserved after Death in Otaheite ca1781-1783'. Drawing by John Webber.
Photo courtesy of The Australian Museum Research Library

In the Society Islands the bodies of chiefs who died naturally were preserved through the removal of internal organs and the placement of cloth inside the body to absorb the body fluids. Coconut oil was also applied to the skin. The body was placed in public view, attended by a priest, for a considerable time and offerings of fruit, food and flowers were made.