The Society Islands are a group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean. They are politically part of French Polynesia. The archipelago is suspected to have been named by Captain James Cook supposedly in honour of the Royal Society, the sponsor of the first British scientific survey of the islands; however, Cook himself stated in his journal that he called the islands Society "as they lay contiguous to one another."

In the generations before Europeans arrived a cult called 'Oro-maro-'ura developed—the cult of the red-feathered girdle. This became a tangible symbol of the chief's power. Key followers or the “Oro” cult were the “arioi”, who lived separately to the common people. They wore scented flowers and adorned themselves with scents and scarlet-dyed cloth. The head of each 'arioi group was heavily tattooed from ankle to thigh and known as a blackleg. Both male and female blacklegs were a privileged group but they were forbidden to have children. Their babies were all killed at birth. They received and gave lavish presents. They had a wide range of artistic skills and could be priests, navigators and lore specialists. Only good-looking men or women could become 'arioi. They played a crucial role in ceremonies associated with birth, deaths and marriage.

The first European explorers arrived in 1722. Jacob Roggeveen's Dutch West Indian Expedition was shipwrecked on Takapoto. Survivors managed to row to another small island and islanders were killed with muskets. In 1765 John Byron's two British ships, including HMS Dolphin, briefly visited the area. In 1767 the British ship the Dolphin returned, now under Captain Samuel Wallis. The captain and crew were quite sick with scurvy on arrival and were keen to obtain fresh food. The islanders who had learnt about iron 45 years earlier were delighted at the abundance of iron on the ship and tried to board the ship. After several contacts, when natives attempted to take iron fittings Wallis was forced to shoot cannon to regain control.

Louis de Bougainville, a French nobleman and sailor and soldier, led an expedition to the Society Islands in 1769 to observe the Transit of Venus. He arrived with a crew stricken with scurvy. Despite the crew being twice as big as the Dolphin's, the islanders had sufficient food to trade their surplus for axes, knives and other iron goods.