OGL 350

A’SHARI PITTMAN

04/27/2023

Cultural Immersion Essay

For my cultural immersion event I went to a tiki that took place in scottsdale with my

friend Ula. Her name is kind of hard to type due to her name being cultural. This event took

place in scottsdale and she is belizean and polynesian. She is pretty much covered in tattoos

which is interesting for me because I have zero tattoos and don’t have a plan to get any. “

Polynesian people show that they were able to endure pain by getting their skin marked and were

through rites of passage to become accepted members of their society. Therefore, tattoos were

part of a person’s identity as visible signs of rank and ancestral blood. Tattoos would also offer

spiritual protection. In Polynesian Mythology, the human body is linked to the two parents of

humanity, Rangi (Heaven) and Papa (Earth).” “ tattoos placed on the legs and feet were about

moving forward, progressing, and transforming life. While arms and hands about the creation

and making of things.” Her tattoos hold significance beyond wanting to get a tattoo for the sake

of how it looks which is very common for American Culture. I have yet to visit Belize myself,

but I have two friends from Belize and the way they express themselves and their love for their

culture is something very admirable. I have been to Hawaii and plan on going again in the near

future, but seeing these cultures come to life in Arizona has been nice to see.
 The origin of tiki statues derives from tiki carvings high ranked members of the tribe

would be considered sacred and powerful for use of the tribe. Other tikis that were carved by

members who were not of high ranks would only be used for decoration and leisure purposes.

Before, the menacing grimaces that would be placed on the statues were done so for ceremony

and voodoo ritual purposes. We can still find originally carved tiki statues on Easter Island to

this day. Statues were carved from volcanic rock from the Rano Raraku volcano. I myself

couldn’t imagine the amount of time and patience it took to complete even just one of these.

“Some are as tall as 33 feet, but the average size is 14 feet. It is estimated that nearly 200 men

were required to move a single statue from the place it was carved to its resting place.“

Tiki culture has been adapted and extremely modernized in American cultures. In the

1930’s tiki culture came about during the prohibition era. Don Beach came out with a highly

inspired tiki restaurant that featured cantonese cuisine following his return from World War II

“In addition to the returning World War II veterans, several other factors contributed to the mid-

century American explosion in tiki culture. Post-war America saw the rise of the middle class as

an economic force. This coupled with ever-increasing affordability of travel, particularly newly

established civilian air travel to Hawaii (which had been halted during the war), helped to propel

the nation's disposable income into all things tropical. Just as the Matson Line had done with

their boats, the airlines aggressively marketed flights to consumers.” The foundation of tiki

consumerism and it’s rise were the returning soldiers and sailors of World War II having found

the calm inherent nature of the pacific islanders as a sanctuary given the nature of what was

occurring around them.

 Now let’s get into the actual function now that we have some context and history behind

the event that took place. Hotel Valley Ho has an already seemingly tiki and tropical vibe to it.

The additions that were made were that of string lights, live tiki torches and of course the

represented tiki drinks. I didn’t dress up for the occasion as I didn’t know what to expect or if I

would have accidentally over dressed for it. However, anything my friend Kay wears is always

representative of her culture so her outfit fit right in. The layout was gorgeous and the live show

was nice to watch. The performers of course went above and beyond with their outfits and efforts

to ensure we were entertained. I was expecting the crowd to be a bit younger, but given the fact

that it was in Scottsdale I guess I shouldn't have anticipated that. Of course we got to the drinks, I

decided on a Mai Tai while Kay got something that had dark rum in it ( absolutely not ). The

drink presentation was magnificent and had floral arrangements inside of them ( not edible of

course ) There was the chance for a shared bowl drink that we decided to get. There was a sugar

cube in the middle of it that they set ablaze before setting it down on our table which was a pretty

sight to see.

Although the experience was absolutely americanized and didn’t feature as much as Kay

would have liked that was true or exact to her culture I found it a good time to ask if she felt

appropriation had maybe been cemented in what the true nature of Pacific Isalnder culture is. I

mean anyone that is originally from Hawaii has asked for tourism to cease because it has

completely infiltrated the culture of the Hawaiins in a negative way. This could be seen as the

same kind of problem just not to the same magnitude as what is occurring in Hawaii or other
pacific islander cultures. Overall I did enjoy myself, I am not sure I will be returning whenever it

circles back around.

 Works Cited

Arizona tiki oasis. Arizona Tiki Oasis. (n.d.). Retrieved May 2, 2023, from

https://www.aztikioasis.com/

Polynesian tattoos: History, Facts, & Designs. TheCollector. (2021, December 13).

Retrieved May 2, 2023, from https://www.thecollector.com/polynesian-tattoos-history/

Tiki takeover: Veteran escapism and the rise of 1950s Polynesian pop. Tiki Takover:

Veteran Escapism and the Rise of 1950s Polynesian Pop. (n.d.). Retrieved May 2, 2023,

from https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Navigation/Community/Arcadia-and-THP-Blog/

July-2018/Veteran-Escapism-and-the-Rise-of-1950s-Polynesian

Winter, K. (2021, November 3). History of the tiki culture. Personalized Gift Ideas by

HomeWetBar. Retrieved May 2, 2023, from https://www.homewetbar.com/blog/history-

of-the-tiki-culture/