Editing Nikumaroro

{{Short description|Island in the western Pacific}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox islands
| name                    = Nikumaroro
| native_name             = <!-- or local name to remove the "native name:" prefix -->
| sobriquet               = 
| image_name              = Nikumaroro Lagoon Entrance AKK new.jpg
| image_size              = 
| image_caption           = Western entrance to Nikumaroro's lagoon as seen from near the village ruins
| image_alt               = 
| image_map               = Nikumaroro_Map.jpg
| image_map_caption       = Map of Nikumaroro
| location                = 
| coordinates             = {{Coord|4|40|32|S|174|31|4|W|region:KI-P_type:isle|display=title,inline}}
| archipelago             = [[Phoenix Islands]]
| total_islands           = 
| major_islands           = 
| area_km2                = <!-- or area m2 or area ha -->
| area_footnotes          = 
| rank                    = 
| length_km               = 6
| length_footnotes        = 
| width_km                = 2
| width_footnotes         = 
| coastline_km            = <!-- or coastline m  -->
| coastline_footnotes     = 
| elevation_m             = 
| elevation_footnotes     = 
| highest_mount           = <!--name-->
| country                 = [[Republic of Kiribati]]
| country_admin_divisions = [[Phoenix Islands Protected Area]]
| population              = 0
| population_as_of        = 
| website                 = 
| additional_info         = 
| pushpin_map             = Kiribati#Oceania
}}

'''Nikumaroro''', previously known as '''Kemins Island''' or '''Gardner Island''', is a part of the [[Phoenix Islands]], [[Kiribati]], in the western Pacific Ocean. It is a remote, elongated, triangular [[coral]] [[atoll]] with profuse vegetation and a large central marine [[lagoon]]. Nikumaroro is about {{convert|7.5|km|abbr=on}} long by {{convert|2.5|km|abbr=on}} wide. The rim has two narrow entrances, both of which are blocked by a wide [[reef]], which is dry at low tide. The ocean beyond the reef is very deep, and the only anchorage is at the island's west end, across the reef from the ruins of a mid-20th-century British colonial village, but this is safe only with the southeast [[trade wind]]s. Landing has always been difficult and is most often done south of the anchorage. Although occupied at various times during the past, the island is uninhabited today.

Kiribati declared the [[Phoenix Islands Protected Area]] in 2006, with the park being expanded in 2008. The 425,300-km<sup>2</sup> (164,200-mi<sup>2</sup>) marine reserve contains eight coral atolls including Nikumaroro.<ref name="NG">{{cite web |first=Brian Clark |last=Howard |work=National Geographic News |title=Pacific Nation Bans Fishing in One of World's Largest Marine Parks |date=16 June 2014 |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/06/140616-kiribati-marine-park-commercial-fishing-ocean-protection/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140619030433/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/06/140616-kiribati-marine-park-commercial-fishing-ocean-protection |url-status=dead |archive-date=19 June 2014 |access-date=15 May 2015}}</ref><ref name="PIa">{{cite web|title = Phoenix Islands Protected Area|url= http://www.phoenixislands.org/|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071201150640/http://www.phoenixislands.org/|url-status= usurped|archive-date= 1 December 2007|publisher=Government of Kiribati|access-date= 25 January 2015}}</ref>

Nikumaroro has notably been the focus of considerable speculation and exploration as a possible location where [[aviator|pilot]] [[Amelia Earhart]] and navigator [[Fred Noonan]] might have landed in July 1937 when they vanished during their ill-fated flight to [[circumnavigate]] the globe.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--msnbc.com staff--> |date=19 March 2012 |title=US reportedly to search again for Amelia Earhart's plane |work=MSNBC |url=http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/19/10764785-us-reportedly-to-search-again-for-amelia-earharts-plane |access-date=20 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120502174609/http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/19/10764785-us-reportedly-to-search-again-for-amelia-earharts-plane |archive-date=2 May 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Pruitt |first=Sarah |date=29 October 2014|title=Researchers Identify Fragment of Amelia Earhart's Plane |website=history.com |url=http://www.history.com/news/researchers-identify-fragment-of-amelia-earharts-plane/ |access-date=29 October 2014}}</ref><ref name="JRi">{{cite web|first=Jane|last=Resture |title = Gardner Island (Nikumaroro) Phoenix Group|url= http://www.janeresture.com/kiribati_phoenix_group/gardner.htm|publisher=Jane Resture|access-date= 25 January 2015}}</ref> However, to date, no conclusive evidence of her plane has been found on or in the vicinity of the island.<ref name="Cohn">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/14/science/amelia-earhart-robert-ballard.html|title=The Amelia Earhart Mystery Stays Down in the Deep|last=Cohn|first=Julie|date=14 October 2019|work=The New York Times|access-date=30 November 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

==Geography==
Thick scrub and ''[[Pisonia]]'' forest cover the land surface. The trees grow {{convert|15|m|abbr=on}} in height and result in decomposing leaf material in the soil.<ref name="JRi"/> Coconut palms remain from the attempts to operate a plantation on the island from 1893 to 1894 and later from 1938 to 1963.<ref name="JRi"/>

The scarcity of fresh water on Nikumaroro has proven problematic for residents in the past, and contributed directly to the failure of a [[Phoenix Islands Settlement Scheme|British project to colonize the island]] from 1938 to 1963.

==Flora and fauna==
===Nikumaroro's flora and fauna===
[[File:Nikumaroro Pandanus AKK.jpg|thumb|240px| Large ''[[Pandanus]]'' sp. trees, viewed from underneath: Note the typical prop roots of the trees, enabling them to live along the coast, enduring violent seas and winds. They may have been planted as a food plant for the [[Phoenix Islands Settlement Scheme]], 1938–1962.]]
Nikumaroro is sporadically visited by [[biologist]]s attracted to its extensive [[Marine ecosystem|marine]] and [[bird|avian]] [[ecosystem]]s. The atoll has populations of [[coconut crab]]s and migratory birds, and rats abound. Several species of [[shark]]s and [[bottlenose dolphin]]s have been observed in the surrounding waters.<ref name="Niku IIII summary.">[http://www.tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Expeditions/NikuIIII/NikuIIIIsumm.html "Niku IIII summary."] ''TIGHAR'' via ''tighar.org''. Retrieved: 25 October 2009.</ref><ref name="Niku V summary.">[http://ww w.tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Expeditions/NikuV/NikuV.html "Niku V summary."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130712134639/http://ww/ |date=12 July 2013 }} ''TIGHAR'' via ''tighar.org''. Retrieved: 25 October 2009.</ref>

The island is part of the [[Phoenix Islands Protected Area]], and as such, has been named an [[Important Bird Area]],<ref>O'Brien, Mark and Sue Waugh. [http://www.sprep.org/publication/pub_detail.asp?id=857 "Important Bird Areas in the Pacific: A Compendium (CD-ROM)."] ''Secretariat of the Pacific Region Environment Programme.'' Retrieved: 10 December 2010.</ref> especially for its breeding colony of [[red-tailed tropicbird]]s.<ref name=bli>{{cite web |url=http://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/nikumaroro-(gardner-island)-iba-kiribati|title= Nikumaroro (Gardner Island)|author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2021|website= BirdLife Data Zone|publisher= BirdLife International|access-date= 28 January 2021}}</ref>

===Nikumaroro's reefs===
The 2000 surveys (Obura, et al.) identified that the leeward sites on the reef had 25-40% Live Coral Cover (LCC), in some places exceeding 75% LCC on the shallow reef platforms. Coralline algae, ''Halimeda'' and coral rubble were the three other dominant cover categories. The windward sites on the reef had an estimated 70% LCC and the lower cover on the reef slope was 30% LCC. The steep slope was dominated by ''Halimeda'' with plates of ''[[Porites]] rus''. In contrast to the leeward side, very little loose coral rubble was found with the majority of bare surfaces covered by encrusting coralline algae in shallow water.<ref name="OBU">{{cite journal |author = Obura, D. O., Stone, G., Mangubhai, S., Bailey, S., Yoshinaga, A., and Barrel, R. |year=2011 |url= https://www.conservationgateway.org/Documents/Obura%20et%20al%202011.pdf |title= Baseline marine biological surveys of the Phoenix Islands |journal=Atoll Research Bulletin |volume=589 |pages=1–61|doi=10.5479/si.00775630.589.1}}</ref> The most abundant coral species at Nikumaroro included: ''[[Acroporidae]]'' (staghorn corals); ''[[Acropora cytherea]]''; ''[[Montipora]] efflorescens''; ''[[Favites pentagona]]''; ''[[Leptastrea]] purpurea''; ''[[Pocillopora verrucosa]]''; ''[[Pavona (coral)|Pavona]] minuta'' and ''Pavona varians''.<ref name="OBU"/>

Nikumaroro is in a naturally iron-poor region. The introduction of iron to this environment from shipwrecks and anchor gear is linked to proliferation of turf algae and [[Benthic zone|benthic bacterial]] communities, and degraded ‘black reefs’.<ref name="MSB2">{{cite journal |author = Obura, D. O., Mangubhai, S. |date= 1 November 2018 |url=https://pipap.sprep.org/content/field-note-silent-killer-black-reefs-phoenix-islands-protected-area |title= Silent killer: black reefs in the Phoenix Islands Protected Area |journal= Pacific Conservation Biology|volume=25|issue=2 |pages= 213–214|doi= 10.1071/PC18048|s2cid= 92277240 |url-access= subscription }}</ref><ref name="KBD">{{cite journal |author = Kelly, L. W., Barott, K. I., Dinsdale, E., Friedlander, A. M., Nosrat, B., Obura, D., Sala, E., Sandin, S. A., Smith, J. E., Vermeij, M. J., Williams, G. J., Willner, D., and Rohwer, F. |year= 2012 |url= |title= Black reefs: iron-induced phase shifts on coral reefs |journal= The ISME Journal |volume=6|issue= 3|pages= 638–649|doi=10.1038/ISMEJ.2011.114 |pmid= 21881615 | pmc=3280131  |doi-access= free }}</ref> Monitoring from 2000 to 2015 recorded the black reef originating at the 1929 wreck of the SS ''Norwich City'' on Nikumaroro progressing northward to sites {{convert|1|km|mi|0}} away.<ref name="MSB1">{{cite journal |author = Obura, D. O., Mangubhai, S. |year= 2011 |url= |title= Coral mortality associated with thermal fluctuations in the Phoenix Islands, 2002–2005 |journal= Coral Reefs |volume=30|issue= 3|pages= 607–619|doi=10.1007/S00338-011-0741-7 |bibcode= 2011CorRe..30..607O |s2cid= 34350055 }}</ref><ref name="MSB2"/><ref name="KBD"/>

==Pre-history==
===Evidence of prehistoric occupation===
Little is known of habitation on the island prior to 1824. What evidence there is for pre-historic occupation is slim and unsubstantiated.

In 1989, an expedition to the island by [[TIGHAR]] suggested that what they believed to be fish traps on the shore of the island was indeed evidence of long forgotten pacific natives. Also found by TIGHAR's work party was what was believed to be a basalt [[adze]].<ref>Niku I, 1989. TIGHAR.https://tighar.org/wiki/Niku_I_(1989)</ref>

===Identity of prehistoric peoples===
The ancient settlements on nearby Manra and Orona Island were probably founded around 1000 BC, when eastern Melanesians are known to have travelled northwards across the water.<ref>Suárez, p 17.</ref> These have yielded basalt artifacts that originated in Samoa, the Marquesas, and the Cook Islands, and were transported to the Phoenix and Line Islands during the 12th–14th centuries AD.<ref>Di Piazza and Pearthree. Voyaging and basalt exchange in the Phoenix and Line archipelagoes: the viewpoint from three mystery islands. Archaeol. Oceania 36 (2001) 146–152</ref> 
There is evidence to suggest that Howland Island was the site of a prehistoric settlement, which may have extended down to Rawaki, Canton, Manra and Orona - and possibly Nikumaroro.
Archaeological sites have been discovered on Manra and Orona that suggest there were two distinct groups of settlers in the area, one from eastern Polynesia, and one from Micronesia.<ref>[https://www.janeresture.com/sydney-island/ Jane's Oceania Home Page. Jane Resture. September 28, 2008]</ref>

==History==
===19th-century sightings and claims===
Nikumaroro was known by sundry names during the early 19th century: Kemins' Island, Kemis Island, ''Motu Oonga'', ''Motu Oona'', and Mary Letitia's Island. The first record of a European sighting was made by Capt. C. Kemiss (or Kemin, Kemish) from the [[History of whaling#Britain|British whaling ship]] ''Eliza Ann'' in 1824. On 19 August 1840, the [[USS Vincennes (1826)|USS ''Vincennes'']] of the [[U.S. Exploring Expedition]] confirmed its position and recorded the atoll's name as Gardner Island, originally given in 1825 by [[Coffin (whaling family)#Joshua Coffin|Joshua Coffin]] of the [[Nantucket]] whaler ''[[Ganges (1809 whaler)|Ganges]]''. Some sources say the island was named after U.S. Congressman [[Gideon Gardner]], who owned the ''Ganges''.<ref name="JRi"/><ref name="Bryan p. 71">Bryan 1942, p. 71.</ref>{{refn|Since other sources say that family member [[Gardner (whaling family)#Joshua Gardner|Joshua Gardner]] was captain of the ''Ganges'' at this time, either some confusion exists in the historical record or both Gardner and Coffin were on board when the island was sighted in 1825. {{Harv|Dunmore|1992|p=115}}|group=N}}

In 1856, Nikumaroro was claimed as "Kemins Island" by CA Williams & Co. of [[New London, Connecticut]], under the American [[Guano Islands Act]]. No record exists of [[guano]] deposits ever being exploited, however.<ref name="Bryan p. 71"/> On 28 May 1892, the island was claimed by the United Kingdom during a call by [[HMS Curacoa (1878)|HMS ''Curacoa'']].<ref name="JRi"/> Almost immediately, a license was granted to Pacific entrepreneur [[John T. Arundel]] for planting [[coconut]]s.<ref name="JRi"/> Twenty-nine islanders were settled there and some structures with [[corrugated iron]] roofs were constructed, but a severe drought resulted in the failure of this project within a year. In 1916, it was leased to a Captain E.F.H. Allen of the Samoa Shipping Trading Co Ltd, but remained uninhabited until 1938.<ref name="JRi"/>

===SS ''Norwich City'' wreck===
During a storm on 29 November 1929, the [[SS Norwich City|SS ''Norwich City'']], a large unladen British freighter with a crew of 35 men, ran aground on the reef at the island's northwest corner. A fire broke out in the engine room and all hands abandoned ship in darkness through storm waves across the dangerous coral reef. There were 11 fatalities. The survivors camped near collapsed structures from the abortive [[John T. Arundel|Arundel]] coconut plantation and were rescued after several days on the island. The devastated wreck of the ''Norwich City'' was a prominent landmark on the reef for 70 years, although by 2007, only the ship's keel, engine, and two large tanks remained.<ref>[http://www.tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Expeditions/NikuV/gallery/NorwichCity/norwichcity.html "'Norwich City' photograph and caption."] ''TIGHAR'' via ''tighar.org'', 2007. Retrieved: 25 October 2009.</ref> A Digital Globe satellite image taken 15 November 2016 shows one of the two tanks pushed inland by wave action, and the engine is now gone.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Archives/Research/Bulletins/80_LongFarewell/80_LongFarewellNC.html |title=The Long Farewell of the Norwich City |access-date=19 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180821181758/http://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Archives/Research/Bulletins/80_LongFarewell/80_LongFarewellNC.html |archive-date=21 August 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Amelia Earhart===
[[File:Nikumaroro Atoll 2014.jpg|thumb|upright=1.7|Nikumaroro Island in 2014]]
[[Amelia Earhart]] attempted her world flight in 1937, but she and navigator [[Fred Noonan]] disappeared after the plane left [[Lae]], [[Territory of New Guinea|New Guinea]], and headed for [[Howland Island]]. Nikumaroro Island—then called Gardner Island—is about {{convert|400|mi|km|-1|disp=flip}} southeast of Howland Island. During the subsequent search for them and their plane, the [[United States Navy]] checked several nearby islands, and flew over Gardner Island, noting "signs of recent habitation", though they presumed the island was uninhabited. A British exploratory expedition visited Gardner Island in October 1937 but found nothing. In 1938, recent skeletal remains were found on the island, but they were not linked to Earhart's flight.{{cn|date=September 2023}}

[[The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery]] (TIGHAR) made several expeditions to Nikumaroro during the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s.<ref name="Niku IIII summary."/><ref name="Niku V summary."/><ref name="PyleAugust2">{{cite news | first=Richard | last=Pyle | url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/group-ends-latest-search-amelia-earhart-article-1.236499 | title=Group Ends Latest Search for Amelia Earhart | agency=Associated Press | date=2 August 2007}}</ref> The group investigated the renewed hypothesis that [[Amelia Earhart#Gardner Island hypothesis|Earhart and Noonan had landed on Gardner Island]] after they had failed to find Howland Island, and died as castaways. TIGHAR found and cataloged artifacts: U.S. beauty and skin-care products that may have dated to the 1930s, such as flakes of rouge and a shattered mirror from a woman's cosmetic compact,<ref>Lorenzi, Rossella. [https://web.archive.org/web/20120714023659/http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/07/13/amelia-earhart-beauty-case-found-new-clues-in-mystery/ "Amelia Earhart's beauty case found? Conclusion to mystery nears."] [[Discovery News]], 13 July 2012.</ref> parts of a folding pocket knife, traces of campfires bearing bird and fish bones, clams opened in the same way as oysters in New England, "empty shells laid out as if to collect rain water", and U.S. bottles dating from before World War II.<ref name="LorenziDecember">Lorenzi, Rossella. [https://web.archive.org/web/20200923231735/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/40605153 "Amelia Earhart's finger bone recovered?"] Discovery News, 10 December 2010. Retrieved: 10 December 2010.</ref> What appeared to be the [[phalanx bone]] of a human finger had DNA tests done, but the tests were inconclusive as to whether it was turtle or human bone.<ref>Gast, Phil. [http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/03/03/earhart.dna.research/?hpt=T1 "DNA tests on bone fragment inconclusive in Amelia Earhart search."] CNN, 3 March 2011. Retrieved: 3 March 2011.</ref> A piece of aircraft-grade aluminum found on the island closely resembles a patch that is in photographs of Earhart's airplane.{{cn|date=August 2022}}

The TIGHAR hypothesis has various critics, with TIGHAR's founder and executive director, Richard Gillespie, described as a good showman who lacks credible results.<ref>{{Harvnb|Zwick|2012|p=}}:"Indeed, Gillespie's search, the way in which his gifted showmanship has overshadowed the dubiousness of his discoveries and long odds of success, may be the most fitting tribute that the world could offer Earhart on the 75th anniversary of her death." Zwick quoting Kurt Campbell: "He is by nature a showman and an explorer and an enthusiast."</ref> A curator at the [[Smithsonian Institution]]'s [[National Air and Space Museum|Air and Space Museum]] said: "Not to impugn [Gillespie], but I don't think he's found anything on any expedition."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Zwick |first=Jesse |url=http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/magazine/104230/amelia-earhart-hillary-clinton?page=0,0 |title=Up in the Air: Hillary Clinton, a lone explorer, and the search for Amelia Earhart. |magazine=The New Republic |date=23 June 2012 }}</ref> 

Ocean explorer [[Robert Ballard]] led a 2019 expedition to locate Earhart's [[Lockheed Model 10-E Electra]] or evidence that it landed on Nikumaroro. After days of searching the deep cliffs supporting the island and the nearby ocean, Ballard did not find any evidence of the plane or any associated wreckage of it. Allison Fundis, Ballard's chief operating officer stated: "We felt like if her plane was there, we would have found it pretty early in the expedition."<ref name="Cohn"/>

In their October 2019 documentary, ''"Expedition Amelia"'' tracing Robert Ballard's efforts, National Geographic stated regarding the Gardner Island (Nikumaroro) hypothesis, "It’s a nice story. But like all the other evidence obtained here over the decades, there is no provable link to Amelia or her plane."

===British settlement scheme===
[[File:Phoenix group.jpg|thumb|right|Gardner and other islands of the Phoenix Group, from a geographical handbook compiled by the [[British Admiralty]] in 1943-45]]
On 1 December 1938, members of the British Pacific Islands Survey Expedition arrived to evaluate the island as a possible location for either [[seaplane]] landings or an airfield. On 20 December, more British officials arrived with 20 [[Gilbert Island|Gilbertese]] settlers in the last colonial expansion of the [[British Empire]] (other than formal annexations preparatory to withdrawal, etc.).{{refn|The document contains a detailed description of the British Pacific Islands Survey Expedition. See [http://www.tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Documents/maude.html "The Colonization of the Phoenix Islands."] ''TIGHAR'' via ''tighar.org'', 2007. Retrieved: 25 October 2009.|group=N}}

The British colonial officer [[Gerald Gallagher]] established a headquarters of the Phoenix Islands Settlement Scheme in the village located on the island's western end, on the south side of the largest entrance to the lagoon.{{refn|The reference source provides a brief history of Gallagher and the Phoenix Island Settlement Scheme. See [http://www.tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Research/Bulletins/25_GallagherNiku/25_GallagherNiku.html "Gallagher of Nikumaroro: The Last Expansion of the British Empire."] ''TIGHAR'' via ''tighar.org'', 2007. Retrieved: 25 October 2009.|group=N}} Efforts to clear land and plant coconuts were hindered by a lack of [[drinking water]]. By June 1939, a few wells had been successfully established and 58 I-Kiribati were on Gardner, comprising 16 men, 16 women, and 26 children. Wide coral-gravel streets and a parade ground were laid out and important structures included a thatched administration house, a wood-frame cooperative store, and a radio shack. Gallagher died and was buried on the island in 1941.<ref>[http://archaeology.about.com/od/pacificislands/a/king_ae_2.htm "Archaeology and the fate of Amelia Earhart."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070920141138/http://archaeology.about.com/od/pacificislands/a/king_ae_2.htm |date=20 September 2007 }} ''archaeology.about.com''. Retrieved: 25 October 2009.</ref>

At his mother's request, Gallagher's remains were moved to Tarawa for reburial and the memorial plaque was retrieved.<ref name="king">King, Thomas, ''[http://www.tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Research/Bulletins/25_GallagherNiku/25_GallagherNiku.html Gallagher of Nikumaroro - The Last Expansion of the British Empire]'', tighar.org, 1 August 2000, retrieved 14 October 2008. This source is itself supported by over a dozen citations, many of which are primary sources.</ref> Although reasons cited for giving up on the struggling colony included unstable [[Lens (hydrology)|water lenses]] and uncertain copra markets, observers familiar with the colony's history remarked that after Gallagher's death a "will" or "nerve" to succeed seemed to vanish from the settlements.<ref name="king"/>

From 1944 through 1945, the [[United States Coast Guard]] operated a navigational [[LORAN]] station with 25 crewmen on the southeastern tip of Gardner, installing an antenna system, [[quonset hut]]s, and some smaller structures.<ref>[http://tighar.org/wiki/USCG_LORAN_Station "USCG LORAN Station."] ''TIGHAR'' via ''tighar.org''. Retrieved: 31 August 2011.</ref> Only scattered debris remains on the site.

The island's population reached a high of about 100 by the mid-1950s, but by the early 1960s, periodic drought and an unstable [[Lens (hydrology)|freshwater lens]] had thwarted the struggling [[colony]]. Nikumaroro (together with [[Manra]] and [[Orona]]) was evacuated by the British government in 1963. Its residents were evacuated to the [[Solomon Islands]] by the British, and by 1965, Gardner was officially uninhabited.

The Gardner Island Post Office opened around 1939 and closed around January 1964.<ref name = "Post Office">[https://www.premierpostal.com/cgi-bin/wsProd.sh/Viewpocdwrapper.p?SortBy=ge&country= "Premier Postal History: Post Office List."] ''Premier Postal Auctions.'' Retrieved: 5 July 2013.</ref>

===Kiribati===
{{see also|List of islands of Kiribati}}
In 1971, the UK granted self-rule to the [[Gilbert Islands]], which achieved complete independence in 1979 as [[Kiribati]]. That same year, the United States, after having recently surveyed the island for possible weapons testing, relinquished any claims to Gardner through the [[Treaty of Tarawa]]. The island was officially renamed Nikumaroro, a name inspired by Gilbertese legends and used by the settlers during the 1940s and 1950s.

==Island folklore==
===Nei Manganibuka===
The current name for the Island, Nikumaroro, comes from the name of a legendary goddess of the Gilbertese people, "Nei Manganibuka". It is said that she comes from [[Samoa]], is associated with the Buka tree, and first taught the Gilbertese canoe craft along with the lore of ocean navigation.<ref>P.B. Laxton, 1951. Nikumaroro</ref> Nikumaroro was named by the natives who accomanied the British during a visit to the island in 1938. In Tungaru ([[Gilbertese]]), “Nei” is roughly the equivalent of Miss or Ms, and “Manganibuka” means “old woman of the Buka trees.”

In an interview in 1997, Risasi Finikaso, who lived in Nikumaroro as a child, remarked of a place called Niurabo which was sacred to Nei Manganibuka.<ref>[https://tighar.org/wiki/Place_Names_on_Nikumaroro Place Names on Nikumaroro, TIGHAR]</ref>

===Ghost Maneaba===
According to legend, the wife of Teng Koata, the first island leader of Nikumaroro, had been walking along the north-western part of the island when she saw a "great and perfect [[maneaba]]".<ref>P.B. Laxton, 1951, p. 150. Nikumaroro</ref> It is said that this was the maneaba of Nei Manganibuka who she saw sitting under its high thatched roof. Nei Manganibuka was seated with two children, and conversing with three ancients about the happy future of Nikumaroro and how it would one day support thousands of inhabitants.<ref>P.B. Laxton, 1951, Nikumaroro</ref> In later years this spot became known as Ghost Maneaba, though the area is now known as Kanawa Point.{{fact|date=January 2025}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Islands}}
* [[List of Guano Island claims]]
* [[List of islands]]
* [[Desert island]]
* [[Phoenix Islands]]

==References==
===General references===
{{Reflist|group=N}}

===Inline citations===
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===
{{Refbegin}}
* Bryan, Edwin H., Jr. ''American Polynesia and the Hawaiian Chain''. Honolulu, Hawaii: Tongg Publishing Company, 1942.
* Crouch, Thomas D. "Searching for Amelia Earhart." ''Invention & Technology'', Volume 23, Issue 1, Summer 2007.
* {{citation |last=Dunmore |first=John |title=Who's Who in Pacific Navigation |location=Melbourne, Australia |publisher=Melbourne University Press |date=1992 |isbn=0-522-84488-X }}
* Gillespie, Ric. ''Finding Amelia: The True Story of the Earhart Disappearance''. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2006. {{ISBN|1-59114-319-5}}.
* Jones, A.G.E. ''Ships Employed in the South Seas Trade, 1775–1861 (Part I and II) and Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen Transcripts of Registers of Shipping, 1787–1862 (Part III)''. Canberra, Australia: Roebuck Society, 1986. {{ISBN|0-909434-30-1}}.
* Maude, Henry Evans. ''Of Islands and Men: Studies in Pacific History''. Melbourne, Australia: Oxford University Press, 1968. {{ISBN|978-0-19-550177-3}}.
* Reynolds, J.N. [http://www.du.edu/~ttyler/ploughboy/usexex573.htm ''Report dated 24 September 1829 in: American State Papers, Documents Legislative and Executive of the Congress of the United States from the Second Session of the Twenty-first to the First Session of the Twenty-fourth Congress... Volume IV Naval Affairs, Document 573, Information Collected by the Navy Department Relating to Islands, Reefs, Shoals etc, in the Pacific Ocean (29 January 1835)''.] Washington, D.C.: Gales's & Seaton, 1861.
* Stackpole, Edouard A. ''The Sea-Hunters, The New England Whalemen during Two Centuries: 1635–1835''. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1953.
* Strippel, Richard G. "Researching Amelia: A Detailed Summary for the Serious Researcher into the Disappearance of Amelia Earhart." ''Air Classics'', Vol. 31, No. 11, November 1995.
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20101225130355/http://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/MapsandPhotos/maps/Nikumap.html Geographical map of Nikumaroro (Earhart related)]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20171102215756/http://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Overview/AEhypothesis.html Earhart Project Hypothesis, Summer 2009]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20101225170805/http://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Research/Bulletins/19_Forensicupdate.html Forensic Imaging Project II (Earhart related)]
* [http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/20/2704312/clinton-helps-launch-new-search.html Miamiherald.com: Planned July 2012 search for Earhart]
* [http://tighar.org/smf/index.php?PHPSESSID=tn7redfns06jpeh5a893eh4fn3&action=dlattach;topic=677.0;attach=2433;image Tighar.org: Hydrographic Office Chart 125]
* [http://natlib.govt.nz/records/29856399?search%5Bpath%5D=items&search%5Btext%5D=Gardner+Island Natlib.govt.nz: 1889 Survey catalog entry]
* http://www.loran-history.info/Gardner_Island/gardner.htm

{{Kiribati geography}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Atolls of Kiribati]]
[[Category:Phoenix Islands (Kiribati)]]
[[Category:Phoenix Islands Settlement Scheme]]
[[Category:Uninhabited islands of Kiribati]]
[[Category:Former disputed islands]]
[[Category:Former populated places in Oceania]]
[[Category:Former regions and territories of the United States]]
[[Category:Pacific islands claimed under the Guano Islands Act]]
[[Category:Seabird colonies]]
[[Category:Important Bird Areas of Kiribati]]