Nukuoro
Nukuoro from space. Courtesy
NASA
|
Map of Nukuoro (without western rim)
|
|
Total islands
| 40
|
---|
Area
| 40 km
2
(15 sq mi)
|
---|
Length
| 6 km (3.7 mi)
|
---|
|
Federated States of Micronesia
|
State
| Pohnpei
|
---|
|
Population
| 372 (2007)
|
---|
Languages
| Nukuoro
|
---|
Location of Nukuoro Atoll in the Pacific Ocean
Nukuoro
is an
atoll
in the
Federated States of Micronesia
. It is a municipality of the
state of Pohnpei
, Federated States of Micronesia. It is the secondmost southern atoll of the country, after
Kapingamarangi
. They both are
Polynesian outliers
. As of 2007
[update]
, Nukuoro had a population of 372, though several hundred Nukuorans live on
Pohnpei
. Fishing,
animal husbandry
, and agriculture (
taro
and
copra
) are the main occupations. A recent project to farm
black pearl
oysters
has been successful at generating additional income for the island's people.
[1]
[2]
Nukuoro is remote. It has no airstrip, and a passenger boat calls irregularly only once every few months. The island has no tourism except for the occasional visit by passing sailing yachts. There is a 4-room schoolhouse but children over the age of 14 must travel to
Pohnpei
to attend high school.
Geography
[
edit
]
The total area, including the lagoon, is 40 km
2
(15 sq mi), with a land area of 1.7 km
2
(0.66 sq mi), which is divided among more than 40 islets that lie on the northern, eastern, and southern sides of the lagoon. By far the largest islet is
Nukuoro islet
, which is the center of population and the capital of the municipality. The lagoon is 6 km (3.7 mi) in diameter.
Traversable by foot during low tide, the islets of Nukuoro (called
modu
) are separated by narrow waterways during high tide. These
modu
form a chain that is perceived by residents as starting from the southwestern terminus (
ngage
"the front") to the northwestern terminus (
ngaiho
"the back"), in a counterclockwise direction. Direction when traveling along the atoll is relative and is determined by the terminus one is moving towards (i.e., one is 'going
ngage
' when moving away from
ngaiho
, and vice versa). This is true no matter which side of the atoll one is proceeding on. The largest islet, Nukuoro, which gives its name to the atoll, also affects direction on the atoll: when traveling towards Nukuoro, one is said to be 'going
hale
' ("home"), rather than 'going
ngage/ngaiho
.'
[3]
The lagoon itself also serves as a reference point to determine relative direction. Movement towards the lagoon, the center of the atoll, is called
i dai
("on the water"), while movement outwards in the direction of the open ocean is called
i dua
("on the back").
[3]
Population
[
edit
]
The inhabitants speak
Nukuoro
, which is a
Polynesian
language related to
Kapingamarangi
,
Rennellese
and
Pileni
languages. Nukuoro and
Kapingamarangi
constitute parts of the "
Polynesian outlier
" cultures, lying well outside the
Polynesian Triangle
.
A sizable proportion of the Nukuoro population have relocated from the atoll in recent years, with
diaspora
communities throughout
Micronesia
, the
United States
, and elsewhere in the world, but especially on the island of
Pohnpei
, to which there is continuous migration today. While about half of residents on the Nukuoro atoll are monolingual in
Nukuoro
, members of the speech community residing on Pohnpei are more commonly multilingual, with most speaking
Pohnpeian
,
English
, or both, in addition to Nukuoro.
[4]
According to oral tradition, the atoll was first settled by migrants originating from
Samoa
, led by a man named Vave, who remains an important figure in Nukuoro culture.
[4]
History
[
edit
]
In general,
Polynesian Outlier
communities are thought to have been established after the settlement of
Polynesia
proper, as a result of backwash migrations and drift voyages.
[5]
Linguistic and folkloric evidence is consistent with this view: the Nukuoro language is closely related to Samoan, and the oral tradition describes the settlement of Nukuoro Atoll by a group of Samoans led by Vave, the son of a king from the
Manu'a islands
in
Samoa
.
[4]
However, archaeological evidence suggests that Nukuoro Atoll has been continuously occupied since at least the ninth century A.D., with no clear evidence of cultural replacement and no unambiguously Polynesian artifacts.
[6]
What is known of the history of Nukuoro Atoll prior to European contact comes from the oral tradition, and narratives have occasionally been recorded and published by Western visitors.
[4]
[7]
[8]
After the initial Samoan settlement of the island, the history of the atoll is punctuated by visitors from other Micronesian islands, including
Yap
,
Chuuk
, the
Mortlock Islands
, the
Marshall Islands
, the
Gilbert Islands
,
Fiji
, and
Palau
.
[7]
The first sighting recorded by Europeans was by Spanish naval officer
Juan Bautista Monteverde
on 18 February 1806 commanding the
frigate
San Rafael
of the
Royal Company of the Philippines
. They have therefore appeared in the maps as the
Monteverde Islands
for a long time.
[9]
[10]
[11]
Tino aitu
sculptures
[
edit
]
Nukuoro is famous for its carved deity sculptures, which are known as
tino aitu
sculptures. The statues represent gods and deified ancestors who are associated with the five Nukuoro family groups:
sekave, seala, sehege, sehena,
and
seolo
. Traditionally, the figurines were placed in the
malae
(temple), as well as in the home, to protect their inhabitants from bad fortune and ill-wishing spirits. They were often given food as sacrificial offerings on major festive occasions, and were ritually clothed or adorned with flowers.
[12]
The sculptures, which range in size from 30 to 215cm, are carved from breadfruit wood using local adzes equipped with either
Tridacna
shell blades or western metal blades. The surfaces were smoothed with pumice.
[13]
They are known for their ovoid heads, faint or blank facial features, sloping shoulders, and geometric chests, buttocks, and legs. The chests of the figurines are typically indicated with a simple line, though some female figurines have rudimentary breasts. Some figurines are carved with tattoos.
[7]
Today, 37 Nukuoro sculptures are housed in museums and private collections around the globe, with many of the statues located in German and Hawai'ian museums.
[7]
At least nine of these sculptures were collected by
Johann Stanislaus Kubary
, a Polish naturalist and ethnographer who visited the atoll in 1873 and 1877 as a collector for the
Museum Godeffroy
in Hamburg.
[7]
An additional three sculptures were collected by Carl Jeschke, a German ship captain who visited first in 1904 and then more regularly between 1910 and 1913.
[7]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Round pearl seedings in Nukuoro, FSM"
(PDF)
.
SPC Pearl Oyster Information Bulletin
(9).
Secretariat of the Pacific Community
. September 1996
. Retrieved
25 November
2014
.
- ^
Limtiaco, Steve (19 June 2006).
"Atoll harvests black pearls"
. Pacific Daily News. Archived from
the original
on 25 November 2014
. Retrieved
25 November
2014
.
Alt URL
- ^
a
b
Carroll, Vern (1964).
"Place names on Nukuoro Atoll"
.
Atoll Research Bulletin
.
107
: 1?11.
doi
:
10.5479/si.00775630.107.1
.
ISSN
0077-5630
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Drummond, Emily; Rudolph, Johnny; Harrison, K. David (2019).
"A Nukuoro origin story"
.
Pacific Asia Inquiry
.
10
: 141?171.
- ^
Thomas., Bayard, Donn (1976).
The cultural relationships of the Polynesian Outliers
.
OCLC
165037758
.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link
)
- ^
Davidson, Janet (1992).
"New Evidence About the Date of Colonisation of Nukuoro Atoll, A Polynesian Outlier in the Eastern Caroline Islands"
.
The Journal of the Polynesian Society
.
101
(3): 293?298.
ISSN
0032-4000
.
JSTOR
20706460
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Nukuoro : sculptures from Micronesia
. Christian Kaufmann, Oliver Wick, Nigel Stephenson, Nora Scott, Fondation Beyeler. Riehen, Switzerland. 2013.
ISBN
978-3-7774-2028-8
.
OCLC
834407783
.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link
) CS1 maint: others (
link
)
- ^
Carroll, Raymonde (1980).
Nukuoro stories
. University of Michigan Press.
OCLC
6277266
.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: date and year (
link
)
- ^
Brand, Donald D. "The Pacific Basin: A History of its Geographical Explorations"
The American Geographical Society
, New York, 1967, p. 141.
- ^
Sharp, Andrew
The discovery of the Pacific Islands
Oxford, 1960, p. 189.
- ^
Nukuoro cited as Monteverde Islands
- ^
"Tino Aitu (Deity sculpture)"
.
Google Arts & Culture
. Retrieved
2021-04-14
.
- ^
Wonu Veys, Dr. Fanny (November 21, 2015).
"Wooden sculptures from Nukuoro"
.
Smarthistory
. Retrieved
September 22,
2022
.
External links
[
edit
]
- "Nukuoro Atoll, Federated States of Micronesia"
.
Earth Observatory
. Image of the Day. NASA. 10 July 2006.
Archived
from the original on 2012-09-07.
- maps
- Carroll, Vern (30 September 1964).
"Place Names on Nukuoro Atoll"
(PDF)
.
Atoll Research Bulletin
.
107
(107). Washington, D.C.: National Research Council, National Academy of Science: 1?11.
doi
:
10.5479/si.00775630.107.1
.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 2015-10-03.
- [1]
Nukuoro, photographs (1969).
- Los atolones occidentales de Pohnpei (Estados Federados de Micronesia). 4ª parte.
(Spanish) Nukuoro, Kapingamarangi and Minto atolls.
- An outline of the structure of the language of Nakuoro
(Part 2, 1965), Vern Carroll,
Journal of the Polynesian Society
,
Auckland University
.
3°50′54″N
154°56′27″E
/
3.84833°N 154.94083°E
/
3.84833; 154.94083