 Tahiti was converted to Protestant Christianity by the London Missionary Society (LMS) in the early 19th century.The Pōmare Dynasty, patrons of the British Protestant missionaries, established their rule over Tahiti and Moorea as part of the Kingdom of Tahiti.Western concepts of kingdoms and nation states were foreign to the native Tahitians or Maohi people who were divided into loosely defined tribal units and districts before European contact.