Including Pou
| Including Pou | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Waters | Pacific Ocean | |
| Archipelago | Marquesas | |
| Geographical location | 9 ° 25 ′ S , 140 ° 5 ′ W | |
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| length | 28 km | |
| width | 25 km | |
| surface | 105 km² | |
| Highest elevation |
Mont Oave 1232 m |
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| Residents | 2157 (2007) 21 inhabitants / km² |
|
| main place | Hakahau | |
,_vue_du_nord-ouest.jpg) |
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Ua Pou (also Roapoa , Uapou , Ua Pu , old name: Île Marchand, Adams Iceland (Joseph Ingraham) Trevennen Iceland, Jefferson Iceland) is in the southern Pacific located island in the northern group of the Marquesas , the politically French Polynesia belongs .
geography
The approximately 105 km² island is the third largest of the Marquesas. The spectacular landscape is characterized by steep peaks reminiscent of church towers or sugar loafs. They justify the name Ua Pou, translated "two pillars". The name goes back to a legend: When the "earth of men" was built (Polynesian: te fenua enata , the old Polynesian name for the Marquesas), the gods first created the pillars of the great earthly house: the mountains of Ua Pou.
The breathtaking profile of the island inspired the singer Jacques Brel , who lived in the Marquesas from 1975 to 1978, to write his chanson La Cathédrale . The highest mountain on the island is Mont Oave at 1,232 meters.
A steep rock ridge divides Ua Pou from northwest to southeast and forms a watershed . Running waters have dug deep valley cuts that widen towards the coast. The settlements are in these areas. The mountainous interior of the island and the southeast are uninhabited.
The island is not protected by a fringing reef , so that the strong surf directly reaches the coast. In front of the southern tip is the sparsely vegetated, only 1.1 × 0.5 km large side island Motu Oa (also spelled Motu Ua), today a bird sanctuary. Further offshore islets are Motu Takaae, Motu Mokohe and Motu Akua.
geology
Geologically, Ua Pou belongs to the Marquesas linear volcanic chain , which was formed from a hotspot on the Pacific plate and moves at a speed of 103–118 mm per year towards the WNW. The igneous rocks of the island are 2.54 to 4.86 million years old.
climate
Ua Pou is located in the tropical belt of the earth. The climate varies from hot and humid in the coastal areas to cool and humid in the mountain regions with frequent and heavy rainfall.
flora
The Flora Ua Pous is relatively poor in species compared to the other large islands of the Marquesas (Nuku Hiva and Hiva Oa). Only 90 indigenous species - 2 of them endemic - and 71 alien species were found. However, this could be related to the insufficient number of specimens collected so far; the steep, inaccessible peaks have for the time being eluded any systematic botanical investigation.
The formation of the flora is significantly influenced by the trade winds, which help to lower the temperature and ensure abundant rain. The coastal areas in the valley cuts are overgrown up to medium heights, whereby the centuries of human settlement and intensive cultivation of useful plants have significantly reduced the number of indigenous plants and thus made anthropochoric plants predominate.
The middle regions are characterized by indigenous, dry or semi- dry plant communities. Low-growing bushes, mostly metrosideros, dominate the high peaks . In the north, in the wind and rain shadow of the mountains, there are larger arid areas.
fauna
The fauna of the Marquesas Islands is poor in species and is limited to land and sea birds, insects, butterflies and spiders. The island has given its name to a genus of canopy spiders (Linyphiidae) that is endemic to Ua Pou. There are no animals that are dangerous to humans. Extremely unpleasant are occurring in the interior Nono-fly , a Kriebelmückenart .
In a bay (Anahoa Beach) separated from Hakahau by a peninsula, green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) lay their eggs. Unfortunately, this area has not yet been protected, it is the most attractive bathing beach on the island.
history
→ Main article: History of the Marquesas
The earliest Polynesian settlers on Ua Pou lived under rock overhangs, as demonstrated by excavations from 1982 at the Anapua Rock Shelter not far from the village of Hakatao in the south of the island. Their main diet was fish.
In the following centuries independent tribal principalities emerged in the valley cuts , which can still be recognized today by the location of the villages. Initially, only the coastal regions with access to the sea, an important source of food, were populated; with increasing population density, the settlements grew up the valleys. Little research has been done on the tribal society Ua Pous; the German ethnologist Karl von den Steinen carried out pioneering work here in 1897/98. Important tribal principalities, the structural legacies of which are still visible today, were located in the valleys of Hakamoui and Paumea. The islanders built their houses and ritual structures on artistically layered, stone and up to 3 m high platforms (paepae). The actual houses were made of perishable materials and had a steep gable roof made of palm leaves, the rear panel of which reached down to the ground. The front was open, the roof was supported by lavishly decorated, perfectly carved posts.
On April 19, 1791, the American Joseph Ingraham sailed past the northwest group of the Marquesas on his way to China , but without entering it. He gave the island of Ua Pou visible in the distance the name "Adam" or "Adams Island".
The real European explorer is the French circumnavigator Étienne Marchand (1755–1793), who anchored only a little later, on June 20, 1791, with his ship Solide, first in the bay of Vaiehu on the west coast and then off Hakahau. He stayed in front of the island for a total of three days, but contacts with the residents during the short shore excursions were limited. Marchand christened the island, not entirely immodest, "Île Marchand".
The arrival of the American whaling ship Tuscan from Nantucket on March 4, 1835 marked the beginning of further encounters with whalers, adventurers and seedy traders who brought firearms and alcohol to the tribes.
The French Catholic mission of the Marquesas from 1838/39 in the wake of Admiral Abel Aubert Dupetit-Thouars initially had no consequences for Ua Pou. The chief Heato ( atua heato = god Heato), a believer in the ancient religion with human sacrifice and ritual cannibalism, lived in the Hakamoui valley . He made strong resistance against the European occupiers and missionaries. Allegedly, he is said to have had a fondness for untatured human flesh , a rumor that made a longer stay seem less than desirable for Europeans. The missionaries were only able to gain a foothold after Heato's death in 1846. Hakahetau prides itself on owning the first stone church in the Marquesas, built in 1859. It is dedicated to St. Joseph. Heato's daughter son and successor Teiki Teiuao managed to unite all the tribes of the island under his hegemony with the help of European firearms . However, an epidemic of smallpox almost completely depopulated the island and brought an abrupt end to his imperial endeavors.
The year of Ua Pou's final submission to French rule is 1880, when Rear Admiral Abel Bergasse Dupetit-Thouars (the adopted son of Abel Aubert Du Petit-Thouars) violently removed the last resistance. The Marquesas became a French colony .
Politics and administration
Today the island is politically part of the French Overseas Zealand (Pays d'outre-mer - POM) 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 . Ua Pou forms an independent municipality ( Commune de Ua Pou ) with 2,157 inhabitants, the population density is around 20 people / 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 Hakahau on the northwest coast. Other places are Hakatao, Hakamaii, Hakahetau, Hohoi and Haakuti.
Infrastructure
In the main town of Hakahau there is a medical center, a station of the national gendarmerie , the port authority, a few small shops, a bank , a post office (with satellite phone ), some private pensions , restaurants , a Catholic and a Protestant church , a school with pre- and Primary school ( école maternelle et primaire ) and a secondary school ( collège ).
The villages are connected with only partially paved roads. Some settlements can still only be reached by boat (as of 2001).
In the north of the island, between the villages of Hakahau and Hakahetau, there is an asphalted, 830 m long runway ( IATA airport code : UAP) in a narrow cut into the valley . The airfield is considered difficult because the runway starts right on the edge of the sea, ends in front of a mountain and has a significant gradient. Ua Pou is served by Air Tahiti feeder aircraft (via Atuona on the island of Hiva Oa ). The airfield is connected to the village of Hakahau by a steep and winding 10 km long road.
Hakahau Bay has a harbor protected by a mole, which also allows smaller cruise ships to call at.
economy
The inhabitants live mainly from subsistence farming . Main foods are still fish and other marine animals as well as yams , taro , breadfruits , coconuts , bananas and other tropical and subtropical fruits.
The Tourism plays, although there are some private guest houses with modest comfort, cost only a minor role.
Attractions
- There is a small museum in Hakahau with a collection of art and cult objects from the island. In addition, a traditional Marquesan house ( tenai paepae ) has been reconstructed on a platform .
- The most remarkable building in Hakahau is the Eglise Saint Étienne, built in 1981 and dedicated to Saint Stefan . The modern church is based on the traditional Polynesian style. The interior shows the high level of carving art in the Marquesas. The unusual, boat-shaped pulpit is carved from the stump of a huge tropical tree rooted in the ground .
- In several valleys are the remains of settlements of the Polynesian natives, which can be recognized by their densely overgrown paepae (house platforms). Little of it has been exposed or restored. The residential area of the divinely revered Chief Heato and his clan is located in the Hakamoui valley , which is overgrown with coconut and fan palms, mango , chestnut, pandanus and huge banyan trees . The widely ramified complex covers the entire valley, although the residential and ceremonial platforms hidden in the dense vegetation are not easy to see. The associated buildings made of short-lived materials are long gone. Karl von den Steinen believed to have identified the ceremonial platform ( marae ) in which Chief Heato was buried. He photographed the skeletal remains of his grandson Teiki Teiuao, which had been deposited on the stone pedestal in a (temporary) heavenly burial . An excellent example of the island's highly developed stonemasonry is an expressive tiki head made of light Ke'etu tuff on the front of a living platform at the “Platz der Junge Frauen” ( mata'aute'a ). Another interesting site is in the Paaumea valley in the west of the island. Interesting, but not easy to identify in the dense vegetation, are the remains of a tohua , a kind of political and ritual center with a chief's residence , a meeting place and house ( ha'e ko'o'ua or old man's house), the house of warriors ( ha ´e toa ), tattoo shop ( ha´e patu tiki ) and cooking area ( ha´e kuki ).
- On Ua Pou you can find (or buy, because the locals know the sites better) so-called “flower stones”. These are rare trachyte stones with decorative inclusions that look like flowers.
- Ua Pou is known for his excellent wood carvers . There are several talented artists in Hakahau who can be seen at work and whose artwork can be purchased. Since the first Marquesas art festival took place on Ua Pou in 1987, this has become a regular facility that takes place at different venues every year.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ C. Doglioni, M. Cuffaro: The hotspot reference frame and the westward drift of the lithosphere . mantleplumes.org
- ↑ V. Cloutard, A. Bonneville: Ages of seamounts, islands and plateaus on the Pacific plate . Paris 2004, pp. 18-19
- ^ J. Florence and D. Lorence: Introduction to the Flora and Vegetation of the Marquesas Islands . In: Albertonia . Vol. 7, February 1997, p. 230
- Jump up ↑ Foss Leach et al .: The fishermen of Anapua Rock Shelter, Ua Pou, Marquesas Islands in Asian Perspectives - the Journal of Archeology for Asia and the Pacific, Vol. 36, 1997, pp. 51-66.
- ^ 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. Berlin, 1925–1928, (3 volumes)
- ↑ nzetc.org
- ↑ Frederick D. Bennett: Narrative of a whaling voyage round the globe, from the year 1833 to 1836. Comprising sketches of Polynesia, California, the Indian Archipelago, etc. with an account of southern whales, the sperm whale fishery, and the natural history of the climates visited , London, 1840. As can be deduced from the text, there have been previous contacts with whaling ships, but this is the first traditional report of such an event.
- ^ Karl von den Steinen, Volume 2: p. 71
- ↑ Institut Statistique de Polynésie Française (ISPF) - Recensement de la population 2007 ( Memento of February 29, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), status 2007
- ^ Karl von den Steinen, Volume 2, p. 71
