Pouvana'a a O'opa (May 10, 1895 – January 10, 1977) was a Tahitian politician and advocate for French Polynesian independence.

[3] Following the end of the war and the liberation of France, Pouvanaa continued to criticize French colonial rule in the islands.

[5] As part of the local government, Pouvanaa and his supporters enacted French Polynesia's first income tax, in order to gain more revenue from the local economy, which was dominated by ethnic French and Chinese businesspeople.

[5] A strike by business leaders, and a riot in Papeete, in which the French Polynesian Assembly was pelted with stones, led to the law being repealed.

[11] He campaigned in favor of the 'no' vote against the French constitution and in support of independence from France.

However, government officials restricted campaigning by the 'no' side, and in some outlying islands voters were unaware that 'no' was an option.

[3] In 1982, the Pouvanaa a Oopa Monument was erected in Papeete in front of the Assembly of French Polynesia.

Nearly one third of the Tahitian adult population gathered at Pouvanaa's memorial in July 1995 to protest against French nuclear detonations in the Tuamotu Archipelago.