Tubuai

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Tubuai
View from Motu Mitiha over the lagoon to the main island
View from Motu Mitiha over the lagoon to the main island
Waters Pacific Ocean
archipelago Austral Islands
Geographical location 23 ° 23 ′  S , 149 ° 27 ′  W Coordinates: 23 ° 23 ′  S , 149 ° 27 ′  W
Tubuai (French Polynesia)
Tubuai
Number of islands 7th
Main island Tubuai
Land area 45 km²
Lagoon area 94 km²
Highest elevation Mont Taitaa
422  m
Residents 2322 (2017)
Map (1943–45)
Map (1943–45)
Map (2020)
Map (2020)

Tubuai is the name of an atoll and its main island in the South Pacific , 640 km south of Tahiti . With 2,322 inhabitants (2017) on an area of ​​45 km², it is the main island of the Austral Islands belonging to French Polynesia , which are therefore often also called the "Tubuai Islands". The main town is Mataura.

history

The people of Tubuai traditionally lived in small villages that were grouped into different mata'eina'a (districts):

  • Toerauetoru (northwest, today's municipality of Mataura, former main district, with the villages of Atiahara on the coast and Tanataetea in the interior of the island)
  • Natieva (northeast, today's Taahuaia parish)
  • Paorani (northeast, abandoned today, Taahuaia parish today)
  • Nahitorono (south, present-day Mahu municipality)
  • Tuporo (west, today's hamlet Haramea)
  • Tamatoa (in the southeast, the village of the same name is on the border between the communities of Taahuaia and Mahu)
  • Huahine (in the center, without access to the coast)

According to Maude (1958), on the other hand, there were only three districts at the time of European contact:

  • Toerauetoru (now Mataura) - centered on the north coast across from the lagoon entrance
  • Natieva (now Taahuaia) —on the northeast coast
  • Paorani (abandoned today) - in the interior of the island and east of Natieva

The island was discovered for Europe by James Cook on August 8 or 9, 1777 , but he saw no reason to land and get involved with the warlike locals. He named the island after George III.

From June to September 1789, Fletcher Christian and his comrades from the Bounty tried to settle on Tubuai and founded Fort George on the northeast coast .

After ongoing disputes among themselves and armed confrontations with the locals, among other things because of the robbery of women, the mutineers gave up trying to settle. They killed 66 people, including six women. The Europeans themselves had only had two injuries - one from an enemy spear and Christian with a cut from his own bayonet.

The Bounty returned to Tahiti , where 16 remained, arrested soon after and taken to England, while nine mutineers, two Tubuai residents, four Tahitians and twelve Tahitians secretly drove on the same night and ultimately settled Pitcairn .

The reconstruction of Fort George can be viewed as a tourist attraction.

  • 1881: French colony ay
  • 1903: The islands are combined to form French Oceania

There are around 247 historical field names on Tubuai .

geography

In addition to the by far largest, mountainous island in the center has the left hand in the early stages of its development Atoll eight other islands on the eastern Riffkranz, below in clockwise listed from north to southeast:

  1. Tubuaï
  2. Motu One (North, to commune associée Taahuaia)
  3. Motu Rautaro (northeast, to the commune associée Taahuaia)
  4. Motu Toena (northeast, to commune associée Taahuaia)
  5. Motu Roa (Moturaa, Tapapatatuai, northeast, to the commune associée Taahuaia)
  6. Motu Motihia (Mitiha, East, to commune associée Taahuaia)
  7. Motu 'Ōfa'i (Îlot Caillou, Ofai) (southeast, lagoon, to commune associée Taahuaia)
  8. Îlot de Sable (southeast, lagoon, to commune associée Taahuaia)
  9. Îlot Plat (southeast, lagoon, to the commune associée Mahu)

The highest point is Mont Taitaa, east of the center of the main island, at 422 m. In the southeast lies the Hanareho, which reaches a height of 325 m. In between lies flatter land, so that from a distance from the north and south the island appears like two islands.

The main town and administrative center of the Austral Islands is the village of Mataura on the north coast.

In 2017 the population was 2,322 people. It was divided into three sub-communities ( communes associées, as of 2007 ):

  1. Mataura (954, in the north and west) (main town, with the hamlet of Haramea on the west coast, historic village Toerauetoru)
  2. Taahueia (552, to the northeast, historic Natieva village)
  3. Mahu (544, in the south, Nahitorono historical village)

The islands have an aggregate land area of ​​45 km², of which the lion's share is on the main island. The lagoon measures 94 km².

literature

  • Robert T. Aitken: Ethnology of Tubuai , Honolulu, Hawaii 1930 (Master's Thesis) (= Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Bulletin 70) (= Bayard Dominick Expedition, Publication Number 19) ( online , map p. 169 )
  • Aymeric Hermann: Production et échange des lames d'herminette en pierre en Polynésie centrale: Les dynamiques technoéconomiques dans l'île de Tubuai (archipelago des Australes). Scéances de la Société préhistorique française. Papeete 2016. ( online )

Web links

Commons : Tubuai  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Aymeric Hermann: Production et échange des lames d'herminette en pierre en Polynésie centrale: Les dynamiques technoéconomiques dans l'île de Tubuai (archipelago des Australes), Papeete 2016.
  2. ^ Henry Evans Maude : In search of a home. From the Mutiny to Pitcairn Island (1789-1790). In: Journal of the Polynesian Society , Volume 67, No. 2, 1958, pp. 104-131.
  3. ↑ Robert T. Aitken: Ethnology of Tubuai , Honolulu, Hawaii 1930 (Master's Thesis) (= Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Bulletin 70) (= Bayard Dominick Expedition, Publication Number 19) , pp. 99-101
  4. ↑ Bernard Salvat, Tamatoa Bambridge, Donatien Tanret, Jerôme Petit (eds.): Environnement Marin des Îles Australes, Polynésie Française , Tahiti 2015 , p. 205