| Niutao | |
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| — Island — | |
| Satellite image of Niutao | |
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Niutao
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Tuvalu |
| Population (2002) | |
| • Total | 663 |
Niutao is a reef island in the northern part of Tuvalu. It is one of the nine districts (islands) of Tuvalu, and one of the three who consist of only one island, not counting the three islets inside the closed lagoon. Niutao has a population of 663 (2002 census).
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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 from which fresher water sits in a "lens" above the salt water that leeched in through the coral. Older maps show only village is Tuapa (with the neighbourhood of Angafoulua).[1] The main village is Kulia (pop. 224); another village is Teava (pop. 439). There is a maneapa (community hall), Uepele Primary School, a church of the London Missionary Society, 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 are pulaka (a giant taro) grown in the pits, along with breadfruit, coconut and pandanus. A fringing reef surrounds the whole island, which makes local fishing and transport into and out of the island difficult.
Newton (1967)[2] estimates that the early 19th century population of Niutao was about 450 people, with these estimates being derived from reports of European visitors to Niutao:
| Murray 1866 | Whitmee 1870 | Moresby 1872 | Gill 1872 | Census 1963 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 700 | 360 | 417 | 417 | 797 |
| Probable overestimate | 100 on other islands | |||
| Missionary visitor | Missionary visitor | Captain J. Moresby, H.M.S. Basilisk | Missionary visitor |
In 1949, people from overpopulated Niutao settled on hitherto uninhabited Niulakita.
Official sources of the 2002 census of population, list the main village of Kulia (pop. 224) and the village of Teava (pop. 439).
The story of the people who first inhabited Niutao begins with "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."[3]
Niutao is part of Polynesia with the Niutaoans believed to have come from Samoa and Tonga some 3,000 years ago.[4] As Niutao is close to the islands of Kiribati, there is understood to be frequent interaction with people from those islands.
Niutao is part of a distinct linguistic area of Tuvalu, that includes the islands of Nanumea and Nanumaga as well.[5]
There has been some debate as to the first European (Palagi) to visit Niutao, Keith S. Chambers and Doug Munro (1980) solve The 'Mystery' of Gran Cocal and identify Francisco Antonio Mourelle as sailing past Niutao on May 5, 1781.[6] Laumua Kofe (1983)[7] accepts Chambers and Munro's conclusions, with Kofe describing Mourelle's ship La Princeas, waiting beyond the reef, with Nuitaoans coming out in canoes, bringing some coconuts with them. La Princeas was short of supplies but Mourelle was forced to sail on — naming Niutao El Gran Cocal ('The Great Coconut Plantation').[7]
The next European recorded as sighting Niutao was Obed Starbuck, a whaling captain, who visited Niutao on the Loper in 1825,[6] naming it 'Loper Island'.
The Reverend A. W. Murray of the London Missionary Society) is the first Christian missionary to visit in 1866. Murray reported that a blackbirder (a slave ship seeking to kidnap workers to mine the guano deposits on the Chincha Islands in Peru)[8] had called but no islanders were taken by the blackbirders because of the actions of McKenzie, the resident trader.[2] In 1870, Tapu and Sione, two teachers from the Samoa Fono Tele (General Assembly of Samoan Churches) were delivered to Niutao by the Reverend J. Whitmee.[7]
Navy ships known to have visited Niutao in the 19th century are: HMS Basilisk, Captain J. Moresby (July 1872);[2] HMS Emerald, Captain Maxwell (1881);[9] [10] and HMS Royalist, Captain Davis (1892).[10]
Captain Davis of the H.M.S. Royalist, reported Niutao as exporting about 50 tons of copra each year — in a good season.[10] [11] Palagi copra traders know to have been resident on Niutao are: Charlie Douglas (1850's)[9] McKenzie (c. 1866);[2] George Winchcombe (c. 1880);[12] George Westbrook (1880's);[9] Jack O'Brien (c. 1880's)[9] Jack Buckland (c. 1892);[10] and Fred Whibley (May/June 1898 to c. 1909).[13]
The Janet Nicoll[14] was a trading steamer owned by Henderson and Macfarlane of Auckland, New Zealand,[15] which operated between Sydney, Auckland and into the central Pacific. Robert Louis Stevenson was in Sydney, Australian in April 1890, looking for a ship to travel into the central Pacific. Robert Louis Stevenson, his wife Fanny Van de Grift Stevenson, and her son Lloyd Osbourne sailed on the Janet Nicoll. On 29 May to 2 June 1890 the Janet Nicoll anchored off Niutao to take on copra. An account of the voyage was written by Fanny Van de Grift Stevenson and published under the title The Cruise of the Janet Nichol.[16] A passenger on the ship was Jack Buckland, who later returned to Niutao to be the resident copra trader.
There is a network of paved and unpaved ways. There are no trains or airports.
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