Fakahina

Fakahina
NASA image of Fakahina
Waters	Pacific Ocean
archipelago	Tuamotu Archipelago
Geographical location	15 ° 59 ′  S , 140 ° 8 ′  W Coordinates: 15 ° 59 ′  S , 140 ° 8 ′  W
Number of islands	-
Main island	-
length	8.7 km
width	5 km
Land area	8 km²
Lagoon area	20 km²
total area	30 km²
Residents	131 (2007)

Fakahina, old names: Niuhi (polyn. For "coconut island "), Predpriatie, Fangahina, Akahina, is a sparsely populated atoll consisting of twelve islands in the northeast of the Tuamotu Archipelago in the South Pacific , which is politically part of the French overseas territory ( Pays d ' outre-mer ) belongs to French Polynesia . The next inhabited island is Fangatau, 75 km to the east.

geography

Fakahina is an atoll whose central, volcanic island has long since disappeared under the sea surface. Only Motus ' almost closed ring , which surrounds a shallow lagoon , remains . The approximately oval atoll is 8.7 km long and 5 km wide and rises only a few meters above the sea surface. The total land area of ​​the Motus, which consists of coral sand and debris, is about 8 km². The lagoon, which covers around 20 km², is much larger, but has no navigable access to the sea. Several shallow tidal channels ( Hoa ) in the southeast of the atoll provide a connection with the ocean . However, water exchange is only guaranteed at high water levels.

There are hardly any remains of the original flora. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the entire island was cleared in order to plant coconut palms for the then lucrative copra production. The coconut plantations determine the landscape today.

The mythical hero Tehu is said to have introduced taro and 'ape ( Alocasia macrorrhizos ) as well as the breadfruit tree , which he brought back from his long journeys, to Fakahina. These crops are still staple food on the island.

history

Little is known about the original inhabitants. When and from where the island was settled has not yet been researched. We know from traditions that the missionaries have collected that Fakahina was once divided into the three tribal principalities (gati) Tane, Mahinui and Tekopu. According to legend, the Tekopu emigrated with men, women and children on the island of Hao . The two remaining tribes were in constant feud, the cause of numerous bloody tribal wars.

Some archaeological relics of the indigenous people, including several marae , have been preserved. The architectural style of the ceremonial complex is closely related to that of the neighboring island of Fangatau. As a rule, they consisted of a large, leveled and sometimes stone-demarcated square, at the end of which one or two stone platforms (ahu) stood in a row. Stone seats with high backs for the tribal chiefs stood in front of the platforms.

The Marae Apataki is located in the southeast of the island, in a palm grove about 60 m from the beach. It is the best preserved ceremonial site in Fakahina. The about 50 cm high Ahu, with a large orthostat in the middle, is still quite well preserved. In front of it, with a view of the ceremonial platform, there is a stone chief's seat with an approx. 1.5 m high limestone slab as a backrest.

The largest and most important ceremonial place of Fakahina was the Marae Rangi Te Tau Noa, also called Marae Kapita, not far from the village in the west of the island, facing the ocean. It once consisted of two elongated, adjacent, approximately 1 m high stone platforms. The facility was destroyed in a cyclone in 1903 when meter-high waves flooded the entire island. Five small platforms (altars or burial platforms?) And cranial pits in which the bones of the human sacrifices were kept were also completely destroyed. Today only a few scattered stones can be seen.

In the south of the island are the remains of another ceremonial platform, the Marae Farakao, the center of a turtle cult, of which only a few upright limestone slabs have survived. Originally there were many more ceremonial sites. The American ethnologist Kenneth P. Emory collected the names of 21 marae while visiting the island in 1929.

On the north side, near Teniu, an old Polynesian well can still be seen, which cuts the Ghyben-Herzberg lens in order to extract fresh water from it. It is no longer used, today the water is supplied via cisterns .

Otto von Kotzebue discovered Fakahina for Europe on the evening of March 2, 1824. He named the island after his ship “Predpriatie”. Since dusk came quickly, the ship initially stopped at a distance and only the following morning did the Europeans sail closer to the island. Kotzebue saw rising columns of smoke and interpreted them as a sign that the island was inhabited. He noticed the dense vegetation, surmounted by tall coconut trees. As the ship approached, numerous warriors armed with spears and clubs gathered on the beach, some of them making threatening gestures. Through the telescope, Kotzebue saw huts shaded by large breadfruit trees as well as women and children who, however, quickly fled into the thicket. Although several large canoes were lying on the bank, the residents made no move to approach the European ships. Kotzebue had the entire island circled, but could not find a suitable anchorage. Without having come into contact with the residents, the ship moved west to call at the neighboring island of Fangatau (Araktschejef).

In 1860 a terrible bloody act occurred that even prompted the French authorities to intervene. The respected chief Paiore from the island of Anaa , who had converted to Christianity, had visited Fakahina and was received there with honor and courtesy. On his second visit in 1860, he brought eleven fellow believers with him, representatives from different islands of the Tuamotus. Seven of them went ashore, but Paiore stayed on board, contrary to custom. That was gross rudeness to the hosts. The enraged warriors of Fakahina therefore seized six of the comers - one managed to escape - and murdered them on the beach under the eyes of Paiore. At the request of the missionaries to whom Paiore had reported the incident, the administration of the French Protectorate dispatched the frigate Cassini in December 1860 to make an example. When the French warship arrived, the islanders fled, but the landing corps was able to seize 20 people who were brought to Tahiti. In 1870, Father Montiton had a large cross erected on the beach of Fakahina as a memorial to the murdered. Paiore later became known as the creator of an artist's representation of the universe as the Tuamotus imagined it would be.

The French Father Albert Montiton (1825-1894) from the "Congrégation des Sacrés-Cœurs de Picpus" (in Germany: Arnsteiner Fathers ) came as a missionary from Hawaii to the Tuamotu Islands. In 1870 he proselytized on Fakahina and managed to end the devastating tribal wars. He also had coconut trees planted, wells digged, fields laid out and a church built. In the south of the island he had the village of Hokikakika built with streets and permanent houses, in which all residents should from now on live. The cyclone of 1903 largely destroyed Hokikakika. In addition, there was a devastating outbreak of the Spanish flu , which largely depopulated the island. Hokikakika was never rebuilt. The survivors settled in what is now the village of Tarione. The missionaries Henry Bodin and Hervé Audran were able to persuade part of the population to relocate from the devastated Fakahina to the uninhabited atoll of Puka-Puka .

Administration and Infrastructure

Together with the neighboring island of Fangatau, Fakahina forms the political municipality of Fangatau , and is one of the two “Communes associées” (sub-municipalities) of this municipality. The only inhabited place is Tarione in the northwest of the island. The Statistical Institute of French Polynesia ( Institut de la statistique de la Polynésie française ) registered 155 inhabitants in Fakahina for 2012.

In Tarione, a massive protective structure has been built on concrete stilts, in which the residents can take refuge in the event of cyclones that flood the low island.

Because of its high salt content, the Fakahina lagoon is not suitable for pearl cultivation. In the absence of a suitable infrastructure, tourism is also meaningless. The mainstay of the economy is still copra production, in spite of significantly reduced quantities. In the years 1913 to 1917, when copra was still highly traded on the world market, Fakahina produced around 350 tons annually. Today it is around 30 tons. The copra is shipped from a 70 m long pier on the ocean side of Tarione. The supply ship from Tahiti, which runs irregularly about once a month, also docks there. A concrete track leads from the pier to the village.

In 1985 an airfield with a 950 m long asphalt runway was built in the west of the island. It is about 1.5 km south of the village and is only served by Air Tahiti via Fangatau when required . The airfield is connected to the village by a dirt road. The piste continues as a ring road around the island and opens up the coconut plantations with side roads. A wide hoa, the Passe Pahava in the south, is spanned by a concrete walkway.

See also

• List of Tuamotu Islands

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Pere Herve Audran: Former political conditions at Fakahina , The Journal of the Polynesian Society , 1919, Volume 28, No. 112, pp. 232–239 ( online )
2. ↑ ^{a b} Kenneth P. Emory: Tuamotuan Stone Struktures , Bernice P. Bishop Bulletin 118, Honolulu 1934
3. ^ Léon Gaston Seurat: Les marae des îles orientales de l'archipel des Tuamotu , Paris 1905
4. ↑ Otto von Kotzebue: New journey around the world in the years 1823 to 1826, Weimar 1830, pp. 62–63
5. ↑ Kenneth P. Emory: The Tuamotuan creation charts by Paiore , The Journal of the Polynesian Society, Volume 48, No. 189, 1939, pp. 1–29 ( online )
6. ↑ Institut de la statistique de la Polynésie française 2012

Web links

• Picture and short description ( memento from December 23, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
• Airport information (English)