Case file · Folklore / legend
Cook witnesses a sacrifice to ʻOro
On 1 September 1777 James Cook attended a human sacrifice at a marae in Tahiti, offered to the war god ʻOro before a campaign, and recorded the ritual in detail.
1777 CE · -17.63, -149.60 · status: official
The account
The artist John Webber drew the scene. The worship of ʻOro, centred on Taputapuatea on Raʻiātea, had spread across the Society Islands in the 18th century.