Hiva Oa
| Hiva Oa | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Waters | Pacific Ocean | |
| Archipelago | Marquesas | |
| Geographical location | 9 ° 45 ′ S , 139 ° 0 ′ W | |
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| length | 35 km | |
| width | 12 km | |
| surface | 387 km² | |
| Highest elevation |
Mont Temetiu 1190 m |
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| Residents | 2310 (2007) 6 inhabitants / km² |
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| main place | Atuona | |
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Hiva Oa (old names: Hiwaoa, Ohiwaoa, La Dominica ) is an island in the south-eastern Pacific , which geographically belongs to the southern group of the Marquesas , politically to French Polynesia . It is the second largest island in the archipelago after Nuku Hiva .
The Polynesian name Hiva Oa means “long ridge beam ” and goes back to a legend of the indigenous people: When the “earth of men” (Polynesian: te fenua enata , the old Polynesian name for the Marquesas) was erected, the gods created it in the end Roof, the supporting beam of which is formed by Hiva Oa.
geography
The 387 km² island , shaped like a seahorse , is crossed from southwest to northeast by a rugged mountain range that forms a watershed . Running waters have dug deep gorges, which are separated by steep rock ridges.
The coast, which is particularly rugged in the north, is not protected by a fringing reef , so that strong surf directly reaches the shore areas. The island rises steeply from the sea, the coastal plains are only narrow and are limited to the mouths of the valleys in which the settlements are located. The relatively few, often only small, beaches consist of black-gray, volcanic sand.
The south coast is dominated by the large Taaoa Bay with a diameter of around 10 km (French name: Baie des traîtres = traitor 's bay ). In the bay is the small, low-overgrown rock island Motu Hanakee, which marks the entrance to Baie d'Atuona (also called Vevau Bay ). At the western end of the bay is the highest mountain on the island, Mont Temetiu at 1190 meters.
geology
The island is of volcanic origin. Geologically, Hiva Oa belongs to the "Marquesas linear volcanic chain", which was formed from a hotspot on the Pacific plate and moves at a speed of 103 to 118 mm per year in the direction of the WNW. The igneous rocks of the island are 1.63 to 4.26 million years old. However, the volcanic activity has not yet completely ceased. Not far from the road from Atuona to Taaoa, which is further west, you can see some mud pots and small solfatars .
climate
Hiva Oa is located in the tropical belt of the earth, the climate is hot and humid, but the temperatures in the coastal regions are moderate by the constantly blowing winds. The average temperature in Atuona is a pleasant 26 ° C and varies little during the year. The annual rainfall averages 1,408 mm (for comparison: Cologne around 800 mm). The rainiest months are May and June, while September, October and November are relatively dry.
flora
Similar to Nuku Hiva , Hiva Oa, as the second largest island in the archipelago, has a relatively high biodiversity for the South Pacific islands . 205 indigenous plants - 24 of them endemic - and 178 foreign species were identified. The ferns with a high number of endemic species are among the most biodiverse and most widespread autochthonous species on the island . They cover large areas of the inaccessible, damp and shady valley cuts. The idiochorophytes (native species) probably also include the coconut palm and the screw tree, which are widespread in the lowlands .
The lower to middle regions are dominated by anthropochoric plants, including the breadfruit trees and Tahitian chestnuts ( Inocarpus edulis ) introduced by the Polynesian settlers . Bamboo , which was not originally found on the island and has already formed extensive groves in places, could pose a threat to native plant communities .
In the higher and inaccessible areas of the island, the natural habitats are almost unchanged. The north, in the wind and rain shadow of the mountains, is largely arid .
fauna
The fauna of the Marquesas Islands is poor in species and is limited to land and sea birds, insects, reptiles, butterflies and spiders. The Marquesas reed warbler (Acrocephalus mendanae mendanae) is endemic to Hiva Oa and the neighboring island of Tahuata . There are no animals that are dangerous to humans. Extremely unpleasant are occurring in the interior "Nono-fly" a Kriebelmückenart .
history
→ Main article: History of the Marquesas
The first Polynesian settlers were apparently cave dwellers (the "caves" being nothing more than deep rock overhangs), as excavations of residential caves in the 1970s at Hanapeteo on the north coast of Hiva Oa have shown. They lived mainly from fishing. Radiocarbon dates are available from the Hanatukua cave . The earliest date indicates the year 698 AD (+/- 90 years).
In the following centuries, as in the rest of the Marquesas Islands, strictly stratified tribal societies developed. First, the areas near the beach were populated with access to the ocean, an important food source. With increasing population growth, the clans occupied the valleys separated by steep rocky ridges and accumulated around a ceremonial and political center, called tohua . Tohua was a rectangular place for ceremonial celebrations and gatherings surrounded by several stone platforms. The platforms, of different sizes and meanings, were both temple platforms ( ma'ae ) and residential platforms ( paepae) for the higher nobility and priestly ranks as well as seating platforms for the chiefs (a type of throne ). To provide food for the growing population, terraced fields were created for the wet field cultivation of taro (similar to wet rice cultivation in Asia).
The island's tribes were in a constant ritualized state of war. These were mostly minor banter , which supposedly, as Jacques-Antoine Moerenhout put it in 1831, "often only served to procure human sacrifices and sacrifices for the cannibalistic festivals". The multitude of mountain fortresses on Hiva Oa suggests a warlike society. The bastions were created to strategically located, difficult to access rocky ridges and consisted of a system of stone and Erdplattformen, up to 3 m deep trenches and palisades equipped parapets . Remains of such fortifications can still be seen today in the Tahauku Valley not far from Atuona and in the Hanapeteo Valley on the north coast.
The Spanish navigator Alvaro de Mendaña de Neyra discovered Hiva Oa for Europe. He landed with four ships on July 27, 1595 to colonize the island and named it La Dominica . The attempt at colonization met with fierce resistance from the warlike inhabitants. Eventually he gave up his plans and left Hiva Oa on August 5, 1595.
On his second trip to the Pacific, the French Rear Admiral Abel Aubert Du Petit-Thouars took possession of the Marquesas for France. Chief Iotete, although only one of several tribal princes on the neighboring island of Tahuata , contractually accepted on May 1, 1842 the French annexation for the southern group of the Marquesas and thus also for Hiva Oa. Nevertheless, there was still resistance to French supremacy, especially on Hiva Oa. Only Abel Bergasse Dupetit-Thouars , the adopted son of Abel Aubert Du Petit-Thouars , succeeded in 1880 in disarming the tribes and forcibly removing the last resistance. The Marquesas became a French colony.
In the autumn of 1901, the French painter Paul Gauguin settled on Hiva Oa, as he felt uncomfortable in what he said was increasingly European-influenced Tahiti. He built a house on what was then the outskirts of Atuona, the “Maison du Jouir” (English: House of Joy or, less elegantly translated, House of Orgasm ), in which he lived with his 14-year-old local lover. Here he died at the age of 54 on May 8, 1903 and is buried in the Atuona cemetery.
Another famous European who settled on Hiva Oa in 1976 was the Belgian chanson singer Jacques Brel . He was very popular with the islanders as he occasionally took ambulance flights to Tahiti with his twin-engine aircraft. In 1977 and 1978 he returned to France for tumor treatment and died on October 9, 1978 in a hospital in Bobigny . His grave is also in the Atuona cemetery.
Politics and administration
Today the island belongs politically to the French Overseas Zealand (Pays d'outre-mer) French Polynesia and is thus affiliated to the EU . It is administered by a subdivision (Subdivision administrative des Îles Marquises) of the High Commission of French Polynesia (Haut-commissariat de la République en Polynésie française) , based in Papeete . Hiva Oa forms an independent municipality (Commune de Hiva Oa) with the two sub-municipalities (communes associées) Atuona and Puamau. The political community Hiva Oa has 2447 inhabitants, the population density is around 6 inhabitants / km².
The official language is French. The currency is (still) the CFP franc, which is linked to the euro .
The main town and seat of the local administration is the village of Atuona in the south of the island, other settlements are: Puamau, Taaoa (Taahoa), Hanapaoa and Hanaiapa.
Economy and Infrastructure
The Subsistenzwirtschaft , a combination of fish, pork, chicken breeding and cultivation of the staple foods such as bread, fruit, coconut, yams , taro , sweet potatoes and bananas , remains at the base of the island economy. Some copra is grown for export . So far there is only a small amount of tourism , but it is economically important as there are otherwise few jobs on the island.
The settlements are only partially connected with paved roads. As the existing ones are also steep and winding, the preferred means of transport between the villages is still the boat. The west and the mountainous interior of the island are largely undeveloped.
The airfield with an asphalt runway 1,250 m in length ( ICAO code : NTMN, IATA code : HIX) is located on the Tepuna high plateau northeast of Atuona and is connected to the town by a winding road.
Atuona has a very modern infrastructure with a hospital , doctor and dental practice, post office (with satellite telephone), bank (with account machine), a station of the national gendarmerie , court , schools with pre-school and primary school (école maternelle et primaire) and a secondary level ( the Collège Sainte Anne ) and a Catholic and Protestant church . For the needs of tourism there is a hotel and small private guesthouses as well as restaurants and snack bars.
Larger cruise ships can also enter the bay of Atuona . Most of the time, however, they are in roadsteads and the passengers are disembarked. The supply ships, which run regularly to / from Tahiti, dock at the port mole .
Attractions
- The village of Puamau is 45 km from Atuona (a two and a half hour drive on a steep and winding mogul slope). There is a large ceremonial platform on the outskirts, allegedly the tomb of Queen Vahine Titoiani. Large stone tikis are incorporated into two corners of the platform.
- In the Puamau Valley, about two kilometers up the coast from the valley, is Ipona (formerly: Oipona ), the largest and most important historical site in the Marquesas. The valley once belonged to the influential Naiki tribe, who also controlled the region around Atuona. After the Naiki had captured the chief Tio'o of the neighboring tribe and consumed them, the clans of the Hanapaaoa district took revenge and wiped out the Naiki. The winners set up a tapu over Ipona and set up tikis. After the introduction of Christianity, the place of worship fell into disrepair. The now well restored Marae Takii , consisting of three superimposed terraces, lies at the foot of a steep rock face and includes 8 cyclopean stone statues and heads. The largest is Tiki Takai'i, the protective spirit of the valley, with a height of eight feet. However, the most interesting work of art is the throughout the South Pacific area unique figure Maki'i Taua Pepe, after Karl von den Steinen , doctor and anthropologist shows a birthing priestess or goddess. According to Thor Heyerdahl, who visited Hiva Oa in 1937, the statue does not resemble a woman giving birth, but “more like a swimming animal”, and he compared it to two sculptures of the “ caiman god” of the San Agustín culture . The fact that the base originates from the umbilical region and not from the loins speaks against vd Steinen's interpretation of a woman giving birth. He learned from his informants that the statue had been lying on its back in a thicket for a long time and was only erected “recently”.
- Another important site is in the Taaoa Valley , west of Atuona. The valley is with huge Bayanbäumen , coconut trees, twenty feet high, old Barringtonia asiatica , many breadfruit trees , mangoes and Tahiti chestnut overgrown wildly romantic. In the thick vegetation, most of the house and ceremonial platforms spread over an area of 3 hectares are difficult to make out, as little has been excavated and hardly anything has been restored. The Taaoa valley belonged to the sphere of influence of the powerful Tiu tribe, who play a central role in the traditional myths of Hiva Oas. The buildings erected were correspondingly numerous and representative. In the center is a tohua , the largest of the Marquesas. There is a large tiki in the square and a stone head on one of the ceremonial platforms. Cultivated terraces for the taro have been identified in the vicinity of the settlement. Ralph Linton explored this site as part of his expedition to the Marquesas, organized by the Bishop Museum , in 1920/21.
- The Eiaone Valley west of Puamau is known for its unique, particularly expressive petroglyphs in half-relief . Most, however, are overgrown with dense vegetation. There are more rock carvings, stone carvings and platforms in the valleys of Tahauku and Punae (Punai) east of Atuona.
- The cultural center in Atuona , dedicated to the painter Paul Gauguin , only shows copies of his paintings, but documents his life in the South Seas. His house, which was right next door, was reconstructed. A disused well was found, in which the later residents had disposed of the painter's personal belongings. a. Comb and toothbrush, wine jugs, empty absinthe bottles , a morphine syringe and tiger balm .
- There are also some memories of Jacques Brel in Atuona. A hangar was built in 2003 for his now restored Beechcraft D 50 Twin-Bonanza with the name "Jojo", in which photos and documents from Brel's long stay in the South Seas are exhibited. A monument to Jacques Brel has been erected at a viewpoint on the road to the airport.
- In the picturesque Cimetière Calvaire cemetery above Atuona lie the graves of Gauguin and - nearby - Brels. It is sometimes doubted that this is the real grave of Gauguin, allegedly he is said to have been buried without a name and somewhere in the jungle. The cemetery is a much-visited vantage point that offers an overwhelming view over Taaoa Bay.
Remarks
- ↑ Ralph Linton described 15 statues in 1920/21. In 1897 , Karl von den Steinen had a large stone head taken to the Ethnographic Museum in Berlin-Dahlem.
References and footnotes
- ↑ [1] . Carlo Doglioni & Marco Cuffaro: The hotspot reference frame and the westward drift of the lithosphere . Retrieved November 26, 2012.
- ↑ V. Cloutard and A. Bonneville: Ages of seamounts, islands and plateaus on the Pacific plate , Paris 2004, pp 15-17
- ↑ [2] . Climate diagram for Atuona. Retrieved November 26, 2012.
- ^ J. Florence and D. Lorence: Introduction to the Flora and Vegetation of the Marquesas Islands. in: Allertonia Journal, Vol. 7, February 1997, Ed .: Pacific Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Kauai (HI), pp. 226-237
- ↑ Arne Skjølsvold and Peter S. Bellwood: Excavation of a habitation cave: Hanapete'o, Hiva Oa, Marquesas Islands. Pacific Anthropological Records No. 16-17, 1972, Ed .: Department of Anthropology, Bernice P. Bishop Museum , Honolulu (HI), ISBN 0-910240-63-9
- ↑ Matthew Spriggs & Atholl Anderson: Late colonization of East Polynesia . Antiquity No. 67, 1993, p. 205
- ^ A b Ralph Linton: Archeology of the Marquesas Islands . Bernice P. Bishop Bulletin No. 23, Honolulu (HI) 1925
- ^ Institut Statistique de Polynésie Française (ISPF) - Recensement de la population 2012
- ^ Karl von den Steinen: The Marquesans and their art: Studies on the development of primitive South Sea ornaments based on their own travel results and the material of the museums. Dietrich Reimers Berlin, 1925–1928, Volume 2, pp. 80f .: The “child”, the back of today's pedestal of the statue, was understood by vd Steinen as a life-threatening breech position .
- ↑ Thor Heyerdahl: Fatu Hiva. Bertelsmann Gütersloh 1974, p. 235 and ill. P. 213 center
- ↑ Angelika Franz: The painter and his garbage . Der Spiegel from December 10, 2007
Web links
- Paul Gauguin's island ( Memento from January 20, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
- Hiva Oa: Map of the watersheds
