Tabiteuea
 Satellite photograph of Tabiteuea (NE top) | |
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  Tabiteuea  Tabiteuea  Tabiteuea  Tabiteuea | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Pacific Ocean |
| Coordinates | 1°21′S 174°48′E / 1.350°S 174.800°E |
| Archipelago | Gilbert Islands |
| Major islands | Aanikai |
| Area | 40.33 km2 (15.57 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 3 m (10 ft) |
| Administration | |
| Capital | Utiroa |
| Former capital | Buariki |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 5,261 (2015 Census) |
| Pop. density | 123.8/km2 (320.6/sq mi) |
| Ethnic groups | I-Kiribati 99.7% |
Tabiteuea (formerly Drummond's Island) is an atoll in the Gilbert Islands, Kiribati, farther south of Tarawa. This atoll is the second largest and the most populated of the Gilbert Islands after Tarawa. The atoll consists of one main island, Aanikai in the north, and several smaller islets in between along the eastern rim of the atoll. The atoll has a total land area of 38 km2 (15 sq mi), while the lagoon measures 365 km2 (141 sq mi). The population numbered 5,261 in 2015. The islanders have customary fishing practices related to the lagoon and the open ocean.[1]
While most atolls of the Gilbert Islands correspond to local government areas governed by island councils, Tabiteuea, like the main atoll Tarawa, is divided into two:
- North Tabiteuea (in Gilbertese, Tabiteuea Meang) has a land area of 26 km2 (10 sq mi) and a population of 3,955 as of 2015[update], distributed among twelve villages (capital Utiroa)[2]
- South Tabiteuea (Tabiteuea Maiaki) has a land area of 12 km2 (4.6 sq mi) and a population of 1,306, distributed among six villages (capital Buariki).[3]
History
[edit]"Tabiteuea" is Gilbertese for "no chief allowed"; the island is traditionally egalitarian and is known for its huge maneaba.
On 1 July 1799, Charles Bishop and George Bass entered in the lagoon of Tabiteuea and many canoes visited his brig Nautilus. Bishop called it Bishop’s Island, and called Aanikai, Drummond’s Island.[4]
The Battle of Drummond's Island occurred during the United States Exploring Expedition in April 1841 at Tabiteuea, then known as Drummond's Island. After one sailor from sloop USS Peacock, was missing without reason, the US party decided on exacting redress for the incident. Twelve islanders were killed in the fighting and others were wounded. Utiroa village with more than 1,000 inhabitants, was burned and erased.[5].
Around the 1840s, the USS Peacock crew stayed on the village in the North part of the island. After about 3 weeks, one crew from the American ship raped a young woman already betrothed to Tebubua from Eita village. The fiance came to Utiroa village and challenged the American sailor and he killed him on the Ocean side. After the incident, bad tension started but the hosting family was trying to calm things. In the end, the crew had a fight with the Utiroa young men. 2 locals were injured and 3 Americans died. The crew escaped to their ship. From the ship, they fired cannons to the village. There are several people died, men, women and kids in Utiroa village. The 3 dead ship sailors were taken to the maneaba and dismembered. They named their the place 'te raara ni matang'. It means 'the blood of the white men'.
During the American Civil War, the Confederate States Navy steamer CSS Shenandoah visited the island on March 23, 1865 in search of United States whalers, but the whalers had fled the area. Captain James Waddell described the islanders as "of copper colour, short of statue, athletic in form, intelligent and docile" and were "without a stitch of clothing".[6]
In the late 1800s, the two parts of the island were the site of a religious war when the populace of North Tabiteuea, partly converted to Christianity and, led by a Hawaiian pastor called Kapu who had assembled a "hymn-singing army on a crusade", invaded and conquered South Tabiteuea, where was recently (1860) created a cult of Tioba (Jehovah).[7]
Bishop Octave Terrienne built his main Catholic Church in Tanaeang, North Tabiteuea in 1936 and established there the see of his apostolic vicariate of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands.[8]
Tabiteuea Post Office opened around 1911 and was renamed Tabiteuea North around 1972. Tabiteuea South Post Office opened on 13 September 1965.[9]
Education
[edit]There is a government high school, Tabiteuea North Senior Secondary School,[10] also known as Teabike College.[11] Located in Eita, it serves the entire island.[12]
There is also a government junior high school, Takoronga School in Terikiai, serving all of Tab North.