Editing Rikitea (section)

==History==
The town's history dates to the era when the island was first settled with people from the [[Marquesas Islands]] in 1100 AD. Captain [[James Wilson (explorer)|James Wilson]] of the [[London Missionary Society]] arrived in 1797 on [[Duff (1794 ship)|''Duff'']], naming the islands after the [[England|English]] [[James Gambier, 1st Baron Gambier|Admiral James Gambier]] who had facilitated his expedition.{{Sfn|Stanley|1999|p=266}}

Before the Catholic missionaries' arrival, [[Human cannibalism|cannibalism]] was practiced under the rule of the local kings. French [[Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary|Picpus]] priests Father [[François Caret]] and Father [[Honoré Laval]], of the [[Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary|Congregation for the Sacred Hearts]], landed here in 1834. They arrived from [[Chile]].<ref name= world>{{cite book|title=Cruising World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m4nAvLdI8z0C&pg=PA53|date=October 2006|pages=53–|issn= 0098-3519}}</ref> Father [[Hippolyte Roussel]], who had arrived at Rikitea with more than 100 [[Rapa Nui people]] on 4 July 1871, assumed charge of Laval's Rikitea mission, and served there till he died in 1898.{{Sfn|Fischer|1997|p=35}}
The figure of 9,000, mentioned by some, when Laval arrived is regarded as being hugely exaggerated. In 1825, the population was estimated at 1500. When the missionaries arrived in 1834 they counted 2,124 souls. Increasing contact with the outside world brought contagious diseases to Mangareva savagely decimating the population. There had already been several major epidemics before 1863, including one which is said have killed half the population.
The story about Laval driving the population to their deaths was spread by a French judge, Louis Jacolliot, who dabbled in the occult and had a grudge against Laval and wanted to discredit him. For 9,000 people to have lived on the islands, many would have to live on the hillsides due to the small amount of flat ground, but there is no evidence of houses ever being built there. Also, if 8,500 people died because of Laval, there would be that number of graves, or at least mass graves, but there is not.