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Niutao

Coordinates:06°06′30″S177°20′29″E/ 6.10833°S 177.34139°E/-6.10833; 177.34139
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Niutao
ReefIsland
Satellite image of Niutao
Satellite image of Niutao
Map of the island
Map of the island
Niutao is located in Tuvalu
Niutao
Niutao
Location in Tuvalu
Coordinates:06°06′30″S177°20′29″E/ 6.10833°S 177.34139°E/-6.10833; 177.34139
CountryTuvalu
Area
• Total2.53 km2(0.98 sq mi)
Population
(2017)
• Total582
• Density230/km2(600/sq mi)
ISO 3166 codeTV-NIT

Niutaois areefisland in the northern part ofTuvalu.[1][2]It is one of the nine districts (islands) of Tuvalu. It is also one of the three districts that consist of only one island — not counting the three islets inside the closed lagoon. Niutao has a population of 582 (2017 census).[3]

Geography

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There are two lakes (ponds or lagoons), which are brackish to saline. The larger has three islands and a dam. There are three wells in which fresher water sits in a "lens" above the salt water that leaches in through the coral. Older maps show the only village as Tuapa (with the neighbourhood of Angafoulua). The main village isKulia;another village is Teava. There is amaneapa(community hall), Uepele Primary School, a church namedTineifaleof theChurch of Tuvalu,[4]a post office, and three wells. A gravel road rings the island to connect the graveyard, half mile (800 m) counter clockwise from the village, and clockwise a quarter of a mile (400 m) to the hospital. The island is somewhat a horizontal oval which has a length of about one mile (1.6 km). Vegetation is abundant but of very limited variety. Main food staples arepulaka(Cyrtosperma merkusii) orswamp tarothat is grown in the pits;breadfruit,coconutandpandanusis also cultivated. A fringingreefsurrounds the whole island, which makes local fishing and transport into and out of the island difficult.

In March 2015 Niutao suffered damage to houses, crops and infrastructure as the result of storm surges caused byCyclone Pam.[5][6]

History

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Prehistory

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Niutaoans believe that their ancestors came fromSamoain the 12th or 13th century.[4]Niutaon mythology tells the story of the people who first inhabited Niutao: "The first inhabitants of Niutao were half spirit and half human beings who lived at Mulitefao. Their leader was Kulu who took the form of a woman. The first human settlers came from Samoa in a canoe captained by a man called Mataika. He settled at Tamana on the eastern side of the island, where winds swept the spray of the surf over the reef."[7]

In the 15th century warriors fromTongawere defeated in a battle on the reef of Niutao at a place known asTāga A Kaupapa.Tongan warriors also invaded Niutao later in the 15th century and again were repelled. A third invasion of Tongan warriors occurred in the late 16th century; with a fourth following when the Tongans were defeated at a place calledTekamaitoga.[4]

During the 17th century warriors invaded from the islands ofKiribation two occasions. These battles were fought on the reef; theI-Kiribatistood atTuteatuaand the Niutaoan warriors stood atAgaia;the sacred place namedTeititapaluaidentifies the site of these battles.[4]In the late 17th century fighting occurred in Niutao between competing leaders, with the followers of the defeated leaders being forced off Niutao and were allowed to settle onNanumea.[4]

Niutao is part of a distinct linguistic area of Tuvalu, that includes the islands ofNanumeaandNanumagaas well.[8][9]

European contact and Christianization

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There has been some debate as to the first European (Palagi) to visit Niutao, Keith S. Chambers and Doug Munro (1980) solved what Europeans described asThe 'Mystery' of Gran Cocaland identifiedSpanishnaval officerFrancisco Mourelle de la Rúaas sailing past Niutao on May 5, 1781.[10]Laumua Kofe (1983)[11]accepted Chambers and Munro's conclusions, with Kofe describing Mourelle's shipLa Princesa,as waiting beyond the reef, with Nuitaoans coming out in canoes, bringing some coconuts with them.La Princesawas short of supplies but Mourelle was forced to sail on — naming Niutao,El Gran Cocal('The Great Coconut Plantation').[11]

The next European recorded as sighting Niutao wasObed Starbuck,a whaling captain, who visited Niutao on theLoperin 1825,[10]naming it 'Loper Island'.[12]Presumably this was on November 19 and or November 20, 1825.[13]

Charlie Douglas was an early trader on Niutao in the 1850s.[14]Christianizationof Niutao began in 1861, with the first introduction by the traders Mr Tom and Mr Jack with the help of Mr Ah Fong and Mr Tong. Mose, fromVaitupu,helped persuade the chiefs and people of Niutao to accept Christianity.[4]The first preachers were aSamoanmissionary and aNiueanmissionary.[15]Tapumanaia Kitiona was the Samoan missionary on Niutao who arrived in 1865 after graduating fromMalua Theological Collegein Samoa.[16]The Reverend Archibald Wright Murray, of theLondon Missionary Society,visited in 1866. Murray reported that ablackbirder(a slave ship seeking to kidnap workers to mine theguanodeposits on theChincha Islandsin Peru)[17]had called but no islanders were taken by the blackbirders because of the actions of McKenzie, the resident trader.[18]In 1870, Tapu ofSamoaand Sione ofNiue,two teachers from the Samoa Fono Tele (General Assembly of Samoan Churches) were delivered to Niutao by the Reverend Samuel James Whitmee.[11]

Navy ships known to have visited Niutao in the 19th century are:HMS Basilisk,CaptainJohn Moresby(July 1872);[18]HMS Emerald,CaptainWilliam Maxwell(1881);[19]HMS Royalist,CaptainEdward Davis(1892); andHMSCuracoa,CaptainHerbert Gibson(1892). Captain Davis of theRoyalist,reported Niutao as exporting about 50 tons ofcopraeach year — in a good season.[20]

Palagicopra traders known to have been resident on Niutao are: Charlie Douglas (1850s);[19]Mr Tom, Mr Jack, Mr Ah Fong and Mr Tong (c. 1861);[4]Mr McKenzie (c. 1866);[18]George Winchcombe (c. 1876-1880);[21][22]George Westbrook (1880s);[19]Jack O'Brien (c. 1880s);[19]Jack Buckland(c. 1892);[20]andFred Whibley(May/June 1898 to c. 1911).[4][23]

The Cruise of the Janet Nichol

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TheJanet Nicoll[24]was a trading steamer owned by Henderson and Macfarlane of Auckland, New Zealand,[25]which operated between Sydney, Auckland and into the central Pacific.Robert Louis Stevensonwas in Sydney, Australia in April 1890, looking for a ship to travel into the central Pacific; he and his wifeFanny Vandegrift Stevenson,and her sonLloyd Osbournesailed on theJanet Nicoll.From 29 May to 2 June 1890 theJanet Nicollanchored off Niutao to take oncopra.An account of the voyage was written by Fanny Vandegrift Stevenson and published under the titleThe Cruise of the Janet Nichol.[26]A passenger on the ship wasJack Buckland,who later returned to Niutao to be the resident copra trader.

Landing cargo on the reef at Niutao

20th century

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The Niutaons financed the building of a church which was designed and built by Mr Foster Wesley and his assistant Lifuka Falakai from Vaiputo, with skilled Niutaons also working on the church. Building began in April 1915 and was completed in about September 1919. The service of dedication was led by Pastor Panapa of Samoa and the church was namedTineifale.[4]Ernest Tanumafili Allen, son of Captain Ernest Frederick Hughes Allen of the Samoa Shipping Trading Co Ltd, recalled in his memoir that his firm was involved in the building of the church. Part payment of $4,000 of the costs of the church was being delivered to the shipDawnoff Niutao. The money, mostlygold sovereigns,was in a small box, the lid secured bysinnetstring; as the box was being passed from the canoe to the ship it was turned upside down and the coins fell into the sea. Immediately a further collection was carried out, which yielded $3,000.[7]

Children on Niutao

Niutao Post Office opened around 1918.[27]

In 1919 a newFale Kaupule(community hall) was built, which was namedFetu Afiafi.The anointing slab or stone of the Chiefs of Malaefono was moved into theFale Kaupule;this stone was the symbol of authority, dignity, honour and peace. Thepaletua(seat) of the Chief Kaupule orFogauliwas made out ofpukavai(Pisonia grandis) timber byFred Whibley.[4]

The construction of a primary school began in early 1951 and was opened on 21 July 1953.[4][28]The school was named “Whibley Memorial School” by the Paramount Chiefs asFred Whibley(trader resident on Niutao from 1898 to circa 1911) had encouraged education. The first teacher was Pulekai Alofa Sogivalu, with a class of 40 pupils.[4]

In 1959 theFale Kaupule(community hall) was reconstructed under the supervision ofFiatau Penitala Teoand the builder Pese Kaitu, and the building was renamedFetu Afiafi 2.[4]

In 1961Gerd Koch,a German anthropologist, recorded songs and filmed life on Niutao.[29]Koch returned to Niutao in 1996, where he met islanders who were children when he visited in 1961.[30]

In 1964 the Island Councils of Tuvalu were restructured so as to consist of a President, Vice-President and three councillors elected by the people of each island. In 1979 the central government reformed the Council of Chiefs of each island. From the late 18th century the two Paramount Chiefs of Niutao were leaders of the districts of Teitieva and Malaefono.[4]Following the changes to the role of the Council of Chiefs, the Paramount Chiefs of the districts of Teitieva and Malaefono unanimously agreed that: “There should be one Paramount Chief elected from the two domains. Each domain should then elect two other members. These five members would form the new Council of Chiefs.”[4]The Council of Chiefs works with theFalekaupuleon the management of communal activities. The Council of Chiefs maintains its right, in accordance with traditions and customs, to exercise power in matters affecting the social life of the community.[4]

In 2016 Mauatu Teponga was elected chief.[31]

Demographics

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Newton (1967)[18]estimated that the early 19th century population of Niutao was about 450 people, with these estimates derived from reports ofEuropeanvisitors to Niutao:

Rev. Archibald Wright Murray 1866 Rev. Samuel James Whitmee 1870[32] CaptainJohn Moresby Rev. Gill1872
700 360 417 417
Probable overestimate 100 on other islands
Missionary visitor Missionary visitor HMS Basilisk Missionary visitor

In 1949, people from overpopulated Niutao settled onNiulakita.[33]

Official sources of the 2002censusof population, listed the village ofKulia(pop. 224) and the village of Teava (pop. 439). The 2012 census, listed the village ofKulia(pop. 200) and the village of Teava (pop. 406).[3]

Central Statistics Department (CSD) of Tuvalu recorded census results:[3]

1979 Census 1985 Census 1991 Census 2002 Census 2012 Census 2017 Census
866 904 749 854 606 582

The Census Monograph on Migration, Urbanization and Youth provides an analysis of the 2012 census and reported: Niutao and other northern islands had relatively high net migration losses, with most being internal migrants toFunafuti.[34]

Politics

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Feleti TeoandSa'aga Talu Teafawere elected in the2024 general election.[35][36]

Niutao constituency results
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Feleti Teo 581 46.40
Nonpartisan Sa'aga Talu Teafa 499 39.85
Nonpartisan Samuelu Teo 172 13.74

Notable people

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See also

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References

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  1. ^"Maps of Tuvalu".Retrieved15 January2021.
  2. ^British Admiralty Nautical Chart 766 Ellice Islands(1893 ed.). United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO). 21 March 1872.
  3. ^abc"Population of communities in Tuvalu".Thomas Brinkhoff. 2017.Retrieved27 September2020.
  4. ^abcdefghijklmnopSogivalu, Pulekau A. (1992).A Brief History of Niutao.Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific.ISBN982-02-0058-X.
  5. ^"Tuvalu: Tropical Cyclone Pam Situation Report No. 2 (as of 30 March 2015)".Relief Web. 30 March 2015.Retrieved30 March2015.
  6. ^"Tuvalu situation update: Securing health from disastrous impacts of cyclone Pam in Tuvalu".Relief Web/World health Organisation – Western Pacific Region. 3 April 2015.Retrieved8 June2015.
  7. ^abNalu Nia (1983). "Chapter 8, Niutao". In Hugh Laracy (ed.).Tuvalu: A History.Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific and Government of Tuvalu.
  8. ^"Tuvaluan (Te 'gana Tūvalu)".Omniglot.Retrieved6 November2012.
  9. ^"Tuvalu".Ethnologue.
  10. ^abKeith S. Chambers & Doug Munro (1980).The Mystery of Gran Cocal: European Discovery and Mis-Discovery in Tuvalu.89(2) (1980) The Journal of the Polynesian Society, 167-198.
  11. ^abcLaumua Kofe (1983).Tuvalu: A History, Ch 15, 'Palagi and Pastors'.Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific and Government of Tuvalu.
  12. ^Maude, H.E. (November 1986)."Post-Spanish Discoveries in the Central Pacific".70 (1) The Journal of the Polynesian Society. pp. 67–111.
  13. ^Dehner, Steve (2019).THE ARMCHAIR NAVIGATOR I: Supplements to Post-Spanish Discoveries in The Pacific.Bad Tattoo Inc. pp. 18–21.
  14. ^Doug Munro,The Lives and Times of Resident Traders in Tuvalu: An Exercise in History from Below,(1987) 10(2) Pacific Studies 73
  15. ^abCorlew, Laura (2012)."The cultural impacts of climate change: sense of place and sense of community in Tuvalu, a country threatened by sea level rise"(PDF).Ph D dissertation, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.Retrieved11 September2016.
  16. ^"Tapumanaia & Lasela - Their Life Of Service To The People, Church and Island Community".
  17. ^Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary,published 1913 by C. & G. Merriam Co
  18. ^abcdW.F. Newton (1967).The Early Population of the Ellice Islands.The Journal of the Polynesian Society, 197-204.
  19. ^abcdDoug Munro (1987).The Lives and Times of Resident Traders In Tuvalu: An Exercise in History from Below.10(2) Pacific Studies 73.
  20. ^abThe proceedings of H.M.S. "Royalist", Captain E.H.M. Davis, R.N., May-August, 1892, in the Gilbert, Ellice and Marshall Islands.
  21. ^A. Grove Day (1967).Louis Becke.Melbourne: Hill of Content. pp. 34 & 149.
  22. ^Letter ofGeorge Lewis Beckequoted byJames A. MichenerandA. Grove Day,Louis Becke, Adventurer and Writer,Rascals in Paradise,ch 8 (Secker & Warburg(1957))
  23. ^S. Aris,Fred Whibley and his family(1966)
  24. ^“Janet Nicoll" is the correct spelling of trading steamer owned by Henderson and Macfarlane of Auckland, New Zealand, which operated between Sydney, Auckland and into the central Pacific.Fanny Van de Grift Stevensonmiss-names the ship as the Janet Nicol in her account of the 1890 voyage,The Cruise of the Janet Nichol
  25. ^The Circular Saw Shipping Line.Archived2011-06-09 at theWayback MachineAnthony G. Flude. 1993. (Chapter 7)
  26. ^The Cruise of the Janet Nichol among the South Sea IslandsA Diary by Mrs Robert Louis Stevenson (first published 1914), republished 2004, editor, Roslyn Jolly (U. of Washington Press/U. of New South Wales Press)
  27. ^Phoenix Auctions History."Post Office List".Phoenix Auctions.Retrieved3 February2021.
  28. ^"G. and E. Education – Problems Arising From Lack of English".XXV(8) Pacific Islands Monthly.1 March 1955.Retrieved30 September2021.
  29. ^"Canoe from Niutao, Ellice Islands (Tuvalu)".11 December 2008.Retrieved4 December2013.
  30. ^"Short Portrait: Gerd Koch".Interviews with German anthropologists: The History of Federal German Anthropology post 1945. 20 December 2012.Retrieved5 February2014.
  31. ^Ioane Sitaake."Te Ulu Aliki o Niutao 2016 / New Chief for the Island".Niutao Museum blogspot.Retrieved25 January2016.
  32. ^Whitmee, Rev. Samuel James (1871).A missionary cruise in the South Pacific: being the report of a voyage amongst the Tokelau, Ellice and Gilbert Islands, in the missionary barque "John Williams" during 1870.Sydney: Joseph Cook & Co.
  33. ^"Foua Tofiga".tighar.org. Archived fromthe originalon 2 February 2017.Retrieved26 April2015.
  34. ^"Tuvalu Population and Housing Census 2012: Migration, Urbanisation and Youth Monograph".Central Statistics Department (CSD) of Tuvalu/University of Auckland, New Zealand/United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). 2015. Archived fromthe originalon 24 April 2016.Retrieved20 March2016.
  35. ^"Tuvalu general election: Six newcomers in parliament".Radio New Zealand.29 January 2024.Retrieved29 January2024.
  36. ^Marinaccio, Jess (30 January 2024)."Tuvalu's 2024 general election: a new political landscape".PolicyDevBlog.Retrieved30 January2024.

Publications

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  • Christensen, Dieter,Old Musical Styles in the Ellice Islands,Western Polynesia, Ethnomusicology, 8:1 (1964), 34–40
  • Christensen, Dieter and Gerd Koch,Die Musik der Ellice-Inseln,Berlin: Museum fur Volkerkunde (1964)
  • Koch, Gerd,Songs of Tuvalu(translated by Guy Slatter), Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific (2000)ISBN9820203147ISBN978-9820203143
  • Koch, Gerd,Die Materielle Kulture der Ellice-Inseln,Berlin: Museum fur Volkerkunde 1965) The English translation by Guy Slatter, was published asThe Material Culture of Tuvalu,University of the South Pacific in Suva (1981) ASIN B0000EE805
  • Pulekai A. Sogivalu,Brief History of Niutao,A, (1992) Published by the Institute of Pacific Studies.ISBN982020058X
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