Ihirau Piton

Ihirau Piton

Ihirau Piton, completed his bachelor’s degree in Humanistic studies at the University of French Polynesia, in June 2025. He is currently studying in the Masters programm oceanian languages, cultures, and societies at the University of French Polynesia.

Piton is an indigenous tahitian activist. He is part of the Young pacific leader program which is a regional public diplomacy engagement program for the Pacific Islands region, by the U.S. Embassy & Consulate in New Zealand, Cook Islands and Niue. He is an activist for indigenous rights and the reapprisal of the colonial history and Piton is also active as a volunteer being the chair of the organisation "Ihi-ā-Hīro'a", which is a student association for sciences, cultures and languages of Polynesia since 2022.

The facial expression that Ihirau does in the picture above is called the „Fāita“

This is a manner in which a native of Tāhiti defies his enemy by the wry mouth"
In ancient Polynesian times, the "fāita" was symbolic act of defiance. It served as a warning during displays of strenght and was a symbol of defending the honor and integrity of a clan.
Today, the fāita has fallen into disuse in central Polynesia, but Piton wants to revive the practice to symbolize his fervor in defending his people's identity and determination, while breaking with Western norms -without the menacing aspect!

In May 2026 the Schader-Foundation, together with the Okeanos Foundation and the univeristy of applied sciences Darmstadt organized the symposium „Think like a Fish“. Ihirau Piton held an impulse speech with the title „Indigenous and local knowledge and practice: Protecting fish resources with Rahui management“, and was part of the fish bowl discussion „TEK - a helpful source to save and redesign nature in every context?“

Being a Young pacifix leader Ihirau Piton was one of the representatives of Tahiti at the Taiki Moana Summit. This ocean summit was filmed and made into the documentary film „Tiaki Moana – Guardians of the ocean“.  This film was shown after the symposium where Ihirau Piton took part in the open discussion.

The event was part of the "From Takutai to Waterkant: Pacific-German Knowledge-Sharing Visit", organized by Deutsches Komitee der UN-Ozeandekade (ODK) and the Kāhui Manaaki Tangaroa - Aotearoa New Zealand National Ocean Decade Committee.