Omai

Mai, born {{circa}} 1751, described himself as a hoa, or 'attendant upon the king', the son of a Ra'iatea landowner. His father was killed by Puni's Bora boran warriors. Fleeing to Tahiti, Ma'i was wounded in the encounter with the Dolphin in 1767. Mai then became an apprentice to a priest. Returning to Ra'iatea, he was captured and taken to Borabora. Narrowly escaping death there, he escaped to Huahine.{{cite book|last1=Salmond|first1=Anne|title=Aphrodite's Island|date=2010|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=9780520261143|pages=[https://archive.org/details/aphroditesisland00salm/page/283 283-284,389-402]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/aphroditesisland00salm/page/283}}

Mai met Samuel Wallis in 1767 and Captain James Cook in 1769 in Tahiti.{{cite book | last = Quanchi | first = Max| year = 2005 | title = Historical Dictionary of the Discovery and Exploration of the Pacific Islands | url = https://archive.org/details/historicaldictio00quan | url-access = limited | publisher = The Scarecrow Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/historicaldictio00quan/page/n270 200]| isbn = 0810853957}} In August 1773 he embarked from Huahine on the British ship {{HMS|Adventure| 1771|6}}, commanded by Tobias Furneaux, which had previously touched at Tahiti as part of Cook's second voyage of discovery in the Pacific. Mai travelled to Europe on Adventure, arriving at London in October 1774 where he was introduced into British society by the naturalist Sir Joseph Banks (whom he had also met during Cook's first voyage).{{Cite book | last = Salmond | first = Anne | author-link = Anne Salmond (historian) | title = The Trial of the Cannibal Dog: The Remarkable Story of Captain Cook's Encounters in the South Seas | location = New Haven, CT | publisher = Yale University Press | year = 2003 | url = https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300100921/trial-cannibal-dog | isbn = 978-0-300-10092-1 | page = [https://archive.org/details/trialofcannibald0000salm/page/2/mode/2up?q=omai 3] }}

During his two-year stay in England, Mai became much admired within London high society. Renowned for his charm, quick wit and exotic good looks, he quickly became a favourite of the aristocratic elite.{{cite book |title=The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science |publisher=Harper Press |location=London |first=Richard |last=Holmes |author-link=Richard Holmes (biographer) |year=2009 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/ageofwonder0000rich_h8o2/page/50/mode/2up?q=omai 50–51] }} Banks regularly invited Mai to dine with the Royal Society and arranged meetings with notable celebrities, including Lord Sandwich, Dr Samuel Johnson, Frances Burney and Anna Seward, among others. Richard Holmes remarks that Mai's idiosyncratic behaviour and distinctive bow were widely celebrated. During a meeting with King George III at Kew, Mai is said to have delivered his bow then grasped the King's hand, declaring, "How do, King Tosh!", an attempt at pronouncing "George", though the King did not seem to mind.{{cite book |last=O'Brian |first=Patrick |author-link=Patrick O'Brian |title=Joseph Banks: A Life |publisher=Collins Harvill |year=1988 |page=[https://archive.org/details/josephbankslife0000patr/page/180/mode/2up?q=%22king+tosh%22 181] |isbn=0002723409 }}{{Cite book |last=Sides |first=Hampton |author-link=Hampton Sides |title=The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact, and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook |publisher=Doubleday |year=2024 |isbn=9780385544764 |edition=1st |pages=27 |language=en}}

He was painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds, among others. In Reynolds' Portrait of Omai, he is depicted in a version of ceremonial Tahitian dress: a form of dress that Mai may have in some ways aspired to because it was associated with Tahitian nobility and the priestly classes.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XlVbzagZqc |title=Why This Joshua Reynold’s Masterpiece is Pivotal in Art History? {{!}} HENI Talks |date=2024-06-21 |last=HENI Talks |access-date=2025-01-02 |via=YouTube}} In 2001, the portrait sold for "the second highest price ever paid for a British picture", according to the Antiques Trade Gazette.{{cite news |title=The strange case of the dealer who went over the top |url=https://www.antiquestradegazette.com/news/2001/the-strange-case-of-the-dealer-who-went-over-the-top/ |access-date=29 December 2018 |work=www.antiquestradegazette.com |date=13 December 2001}} Mai's journey to England and subsequent return to Tahiti with Cook's third voyage in 1776 became the subject of a theatrical production, written and directed by the dramatist John O'Keefe, entitled Omai – A Voyage ‘round the World that was performed during the 1785 Christmas season at the Theatre Royal in Covent Garden.

Mai returned to Huahine in August 1777, where Cook built him a European-style house, and provided furniture, gunpowder weapons, a vineyard, and two Māori boys as servants. During the Bounty{{'}}s visit to Tahiti in 1789, Captain Bligh was told that a couple years after Cook's departure in November 1777, Mai had died.{{cite press release | title = Temporary Export Bar For 'Outstanding' Reynolds' Portrait Of Omai | publisher = United Kingdom Department for Culture, Media and Sport | date = 17 December 2002 | url = http://www.culture.gov.uk/reference_library/media_releases/2884.aspx | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080727031027/http://www.culture.gov.uk/reference_library/media_releases/2884.aspx | url-status = dead | archive-date = 27 July 2008 | access-date = 6 December 2008 }} According to Richard Connaughton, the "consensus" is that he died in 1780, within 30 months of Cook's departure while still only in his 20s, probably of natural causes, possibly from an infectious disease. Before he died, he used his gunpowder weapons to fight a major battle against a competing tribe, which was a victory.{{Cite book |last=Connaughton |first = Richard |author-link=Richard Connaughton |title = Omai: The Prince Who Never Was |place = London |publisher = Timewell Press |year = 2005 |page=[https://archive.org/details/omaiprincewhonev0000conn/page/257/mode/2up 257–259] |isbn = 1-85725-205-5 }}

{{Notelist}}

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{{reflist}}

• {{Cite book |last=Alexander |first=Michael |title=Omai: 'Noble Savage' |place=London |publisher=Collins & Harvill Press |year=1977 |isbn=978-0-00262-610-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/omainoblesavage0000alex}}
• {{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Thomas Blake |title=Omai, first Polynesian ambassador to England |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |year=1969 |isbn=087022140X |url=https://archive.org/details/omaifirstpolynes0000clar }}
• {{Cite book |last=Connaughton |first = Richard |author-link=Richard Connaughton |title = Omai: The Prince Who Never Was |place = London |publisher = Timewell Press |year = 2005 |isbn = 1-85725-205-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/omaiprincewhonev0000conn }}
• {{Cite book |last=McCormick |first=Eric Hall |author-link=Eric McCormick |title=Omai: Pacific Envoy |publisher=Auckland University Press |year=1977 |isbn=0196479525 |url=https://archive.org/details/omaipacificenvoy0000mcco/page/n5/mode/2up }}

• [http://www.captcook-ne.co.uk/ccne/themes/omai.htm Omai], Captain Cook Birthplace Museum website
• [https://www.npg.org.uk/support/the-portrait-of-omai The Portrait of Mai]
• [https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/11409C Portrait of Mai (“Omai”). The J. Paul Getty Museum Collection]

{{Captain James Cook}}

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Category:Polynesian explorers of the Pacific

Category:1750s births

Category:1780 deaths

Category:James Cook

Category:People from Raiatea