Born: 1790, Tahiti
Died: 1858
Country most active: Tahiti
Also known as: Teri’itari’a II, Pōmare Vahine and Ari’ipaea Vahine, baptized Taaroamaiturai
Teriitaria II became Queen of Tahiti when she and her sister Teremoemoe married their second cousin King Pōmare II and later, she ruled as Queen of Huahine and Maiao in the Society Islands.
In 1815, Teriitaria became the Queen of Huahine and Maiao. The previous ruler, Mahine, had fought alongside her at the Battle of Te Feipī, and formally presented the government of the islands to her while he remained the resident chief until his death in 1838. She ruled as a largely absentee monarch while residing on Tahiti for the first few decades of her reign. Teriitaria had no children with Pōmare II, but Pōmare fathered the next two Tahitian monarchs, King Pōmare III (r. 1821–1827) and Queen Pōmare IV (r. 1827–1877), by Teremoemoe. Pōmare II died in 1821, and Teriitaria and Teremoemoe served as regents for Pōmare III and (after his death in 1827) for Pōmare IV.
Teriitaria was removed from the regency in 1828, but continued to have a significant role in Tahiti, including leading Tahitian forces in the Taiarapu rebellion of 1832. She joined her niece, Pōmare IV, in exile on Raiatea during the Franco-Tahitian War (1844–1847). During that time, she repelled a French invasion force at the 1846 Battle of Maeva, which secured the independence of the Leeward Islands.