Tabiteuea
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 Template:Convert, while the lagoon measures Template:Convert. The population numbered 5,261 in 2015. The islanders have customary fishing practices related to the lagoon and the open ocean.<ref name="LK">Template:Cite journal</ref>
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 Template:Convert and a population of 3,955 Template:As of, distributed among twelve villages (capital Utiroa)<ref name="TN2012">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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- South Tabiteuea (Tabiteuea Maiaki) has a land area of Template:Convert and a population of 1,306, distributed among six villages (capital Buariki).<ref name="TS2012">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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HistoryEdit
"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.<ref> Template:Cite book</ref>
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.<ref name="HAE">Template:Cite book</ref>
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".<ref>WADDELL, James C.S.S. Shenandoah: The Memoirs of Lieutenant Commanding James I. Waddell, 1996, Template:ISBN, p.143</ref>
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).<ref>MACDONALD, Barrie, Cinderellas of the Empire: Towards a history of Kiribati and Tuvalu, 2001, Template:ISBN, p.38</ref>
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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Tabiteuea Post Office opened around 1911 and was renamed Tabiteuea North around 1972. Tabiteuea South Post Office opened on 13 September 1965.<ref name = "Post Office">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
EducationEdit
There is a government high school, Tabiteuea North Senior Secondary School,<ref>"VSA Assignment Description Assignment title English Language Trainer (of Trainers/ Teachers) Country Kiribati." Volunteer Service Abroad (Te Tūao Tāwāhi). Retrieved on 6 July 2018. p. 6-7.</ref> also known as Teabike College.<ref name=Climreportp48>"TABITEUEA NORTH 2008 Socio-Economic Profile" Part 2 of 4. Strengthening Decentralized Governance in Kiribati Project , Ministry of Internal and Social Affairs (Kiribati). p. 48 (PDF p. 13/15). Part 1 is here.</ref> Located in Eita, it serves the entire island.<ref name=Climreportp42>"TABITEUEA NORTH 2008 Socio-Economic Profile" Part 2 of 4. Strengthening Decentralized Governance in Kiribati Project , Ministry of Internal and Social Affairs (Kiribati). p. 42 (PDF p. 7/15). Part 1 is here.</ref>
There is also a government junior high school, Takoronga School in Terikiai, serving all of Tab North.
The elementary schools on Tab North are all government schools. They include:<ref name=Climreportp42/>
- Aiwa: Nukantewaa School, which also serves Bangai
- Buota: Taunibong School, which also serves Tanaeang
- Eita: Temwamwang School, which serves a portion of Eita as well as Utiroa; the school does not serve all of Eita, as Eita and Utiroa are both the settlements with the most people in Tabiteuea North.
Taunibong School in Buota serves as the elementary school. The area junior high school is Takoronga School in Terikiai, and the area senior high school is Tabiteuea North Senior Secondary School a.k.a. Teabike College in Eita.<ref name=Climreportp42/>
- Kabuna: Kabuna School
- Tekaman: Burannikoraoi School, which also serves Tekabwibwi
- Terikiai: Takoronga School, which also serves a section of Eita; Kiribati authorities included a section of Eita in its attendance zone to relieve Temwamwang School
- Tanaatoorua: Ueen Maungan te Raoi School, which also serves Bangai
- Taumwa: Auriaria School
- Taku: Taku School
Students from Bangai may attend either Nukantewaa School or Ueen Maungan te Raoi School; Bangai does not have enough residents, so the Kiribati authorities do not operate a school there.<ref name=Climreportp42/>
TransportEdit
There are two domestic airports:
- Tabiteuea North Airport that is the main hub serving the southern Gilbert Islands;
- Tabiteuea South Airport, only serving South Tabiteuea.
GalleryEdit
- Drummonds Island warrior by Agate.jpg
A drawing by Alfred Thomas Agate featuring a warrior of Drummond Island in 1841
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
- Exhibit: The Alfred Agate Collection: The United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842 from the Navy Art Gallery