Oe Himene are formal choral Tahitian songs, often of religious nature.
Since the first European contact by Captain Samuel Wallis, English Protestantism was expanded to the island by missionaries.
Some have said that it was like an ocean wave coming in with growing strength as the voices increased in intensity, breaking and rolling and bounding and then the dying down and disappearing in a long, sustained note.
All the people rocked back and forth as they sang, many with their eyes shut, entirely lost in the music.'
)[4] Himene performances take place during festivities as well as a major competition on Bastille Day.