NIUE... The wtitten history of the Visitor... BY way of preface, I may say that I resided on Niuē Island in 1901 for nearly four months, having gone there at the request of His Excellency the Earl of Ranfurly, Governor of New Zealand, to introduce a form of government somewhat more consonant with British ideas than the existing one, a proceeding which was rendered necessary by the annexation of this and many other islands to New Zealand under a Proclamation made by H.R.H. the Duke of Cornwall and York at Auckland on the 11th June, 1901 . The position I occupied during my visit, as Government Resident, put me in a favourable position to obtain information from the natives, but although possessing a fair knowledge of several of the dialects of the great Polynesian language, that of Niuē is so divergent from the others that it took me some time to acquire a sufficient knowledge of it to enter freely into communication with the natives. Hence the sketchy nature of many of the notes I have preserved. I am very greatly indebted to my friend the Rev. F. E. Lawes for a large amount of matter contained in the notes to follow; but for his knowledge of the language and the people, I should have acquired but little matter relating to their customs. So soon as I could speak freely to the chiefs in their own language and they found that I was interested in their history, &c., I began to find that there was a great deal of interesting information to be obtained, but my early departure prevented my availing myself fully of this. It is to be hoped that my successor as Resident, on acquiring the language, will make use of his exceptional opportunities of recording as much as possible of the history and beliefs of this people before the day is nast for so doing Niue-Fekai From the Admirally chart On the whole, the history of the people obtained is unsatisfactory, for the Niuē people differ very much from most branches of the race, in that they have few historical traditions, and, what is really very strange in a branch of the Polynesian race, no genealogies of consequence, and hence there is lacking the means of fixing chronologically the events which will be described. I have entered at some length into the description of the fauna and flora of the Island, having taken special care to obtain the correct native names. Failing traditions, I look on these names, when compared with those in other islands, as affording the surest way to discover the origin of the people. And, moreover, though many of the notes herein printed may not have much interest at the present day, the time will come when the descendants of the present inhabitants of Niuē will be glad to have even the little that I have gathered about their forefathers. The Island: Geographical and Physical Niuē is the common name by which the Island is known to the people themselves and to those of the adjacent groups, but its proper modern name is Niuē-fekai, used on formal occasions, in songs, &c. The origin of this name will be given later on. In the meantime it may be mentioned that it has a probable connection with those of other islands in the Western Pacific, such as Niuā in the New Hebrides , Niua-fou north of the Tongan Group, and Niuā-taputapu, Keppel Island. The letters a and e are constantly interchangable in the Polynesian language. It was stated to me that fekai should really be faikai , food-possessing, but this requires confirmation. The word fekai is lost in the Niuē dialect, but in Tonga and Samoa —which are the dialects most akin to that of Niuē—it means “fierce.” It is somewhat remarkable how difficult to English tongues is the pronunciation of this name, and how often it is misspelt. It is pronounced in English letters “neeooway,” with a strong accent on the “way.” But this was not the original name of the island. Apparently its earliest name was Nuku-tu-taha, which was given by Huanaki, one of its earliest discoverers, from the fact of its being a solitary island, not one of a group, nuku being a very common Polynesian name for an island, or land, whilst tu is to stand, taha (Maori tahi ) singly; one, &c. If, as is probable, the original discoverers came from the groups to the west, this would be an appropriate name to apply, as distinguishing it from the many-isled groups to which they were accustomed. Another old name of the island is Motu-te-fua, to which the natives now attach the meaning of sterile ( tufua ), but as there is a fairly strong accent on the te , this is probably the old Polynesian negative not now used by the Niuē people, and might perhaps be translated by “the island without fruit, or offspring.” A fourth name of the island is Fakahoa-motu, which again the natives do not appear to be able to explain, beyond saying that it means that one of the original discoverers helped the other, any more than they can that of Nuku-tuluea, its fifth name. All these old names have gone out of use, except in song and on very formal occasions, being replaced by Niuē. It is perhaps needless to add that the most modern name is Savage Island, given to it by Captain Cook when he discovered That is—discovered it, so far as Europeans are concerned. Of course, the Polynesians had discovered and occupied it ages before Captain Cook. it in 1774 –a name the natives do not like, for they feel it to be not appropriate in their present condition, and say that Captain Cook by applying this name gave them an unnecessarily bad reputation, for they never injured any of his crew, but merely made a demonstration to prevent his landing, fearing he would introduce disease amongst them. The north end of the island has a general name, Mata-fonua (the front of the land), as has the south end, Mui-fonua (Muri-whenua in Maori, Muli-fanua in Samoa —meaning the “lands end”—in both of which countries the names are found—in New Zealand at the North Cape, in Samoa at the western end of Upolu Island. If my recollection serves me right, the east end of Rarotonga is also called Murienua). In addition to the above names, the north end of the island is called Ulu-lauta and the south end Hiku-lauta. The sketch map accompanying this paper is taken from the Admiralty chart, to which I have added the names, villages, tracks, &c. The notice of the Hydrographer Royal should be drawn to the shape of the south-east end of the island, which is apparently a good deal out of position, and requires rectification. The south point of Niuē is situated in south latitude 19° 10′, west longitude 169° 17′. The nearest land is Vavau, of the Tonga group, distant nearly west 240 miles. Tongatapu Island is distant S.S.W. about 300 miles, and Tutuila, of the Samoa group, N. by W. 270 miles. To the east Palmerston Island is the nearest land, about 360 miles E. by N., all directions given being true. The island is about 40 miles in circumference, the extremes of length and breadth being about 17 and 11 statute miles respectively, whilst its average height above sea level is about 220 feet. It belongs to that class termed a “raised coral island,” and has a fringing reef ( uluulu ) quite close to the shore, the width of which is about 60 to 80 yards. Intersecting this reef in numerous places are narrow—and often deep—chasms ( ara ) which, under ordinary circumstances, afford good landing places, at any rate on the leeward side, which is towards the west. On the east side, where the prevailing E.S.E. trade winds blow home for eight months out of the twelve, landing is extremely difficult, if not impossible.
Posted on: Sun, 27 Apr 2014 13:30:39 +0000
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