Pukapuka
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- This article is about Pukapuka in the Cook Islands. For the coral atoll in French Polynesia, see Puka-Puka.
Pukapuka is a coral atoll in the Cook Islands in the Pacific Ocean, with three small islets threaded on a reef, which encloses a beautifully clear lagoon. It is one of the most remote islands of the Cook Islands located 1150 kilometres northwest of Rarotonga.It is a triangular atoll with three islets comprising little more than 3 square kilometres of land area, yet on this small island an ancient culture and distinct language developed over many centuries. Archaeologists have recently discovered evidence of human settlement as early as approximately 2000 years ago, and the closest prehistoric associations appear to be with Samoa and other islands to the west. The old name for the atoll was Te Ulu-o-te-watu (head of the rock), and the northern islet where the people normally reside is affectionately known as Wale (home).
Of the inhabited islands in the Cook group, it is one of the most isolated. It is also still known as "Danger Island" and appears on some maps as such. That name originates from 21 June, 1765 when British vessels, "Dolphin" under Commodore John Byron and "Tamer" under Captain Mouat sighted the island. They named it "Island of Danger" because of the high surf which made it too dangerous to land. It was called Isle de la Loutre by Captain Peron of "La Loutre" who sighted it on 3 April, 1796. It should not to be confused with Danger Island of the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean.
Pukapuka has the distinction of being the first of the Cook Islands to be sighted by Europeans. The Spanish explorer Alvaro de Mendana saw it on Saint Bernard's day, Sunday 20th of August 1595 and named it San Bernardo. Commodore Byron sighted the group on June 21, 1765, in the British ship Dolphin. Some authorities believe it to be the San Bernardo seen by Mendana, August 20, 1595. Due to its isolation, few vessels visited it prior to 1857, when the London Missionary Society landed missionaries. In 1862, Rev. Wyatt W. Gill found most of the people on the island converted to Christianity. Peruvian slavers raided the island in 1863, and took off about 100 men and women. The English missionary barque John Williams was wrecked on the west side in May 1864.
Pukapuka is also known for being the landing place of 3 downed U.S. Navy fliers, in February 1942. The 3 men, Harold Dixon, Gene Aldrich, and Tony Pastula, survived 34 days on the open ocean in a tiny (4 foot by 8 foot) raft, beginning their odyssey with no food or water stores and very few tools. Shortly after their arrival a typhoon struck the island. Their story has been called “…unquestionably one of the most grueling and fantastic ordeals of World War II.”
Pukapuka is shaped like a three bladed fan. There are three islets on the roughly triangular reef. Motu Ko, the biggest island is to the southeast, Motu Kotawa (Frigate Bird Island) is to the southwest and the main island Wale, to the north. Ko and Kotawa are un inhabited and are used for growing food. You will find the airport on Ko. On the crescent-shaped bay of Wale, you will find the three villages: Ngake (meaning Windward), Loto (Central) and Yato (Leeward). The traditional names for these villagers are Te Langaikula, Kotipolo and Ulekawa.
664 people inhabit the island today, according to figures from the 2001 census.
The United States of America gave up its claim to this island in a treaty signed with New Zealand/the Cook Islands on December 3, 1980.
Although the island features a well maintained airstrip, flights are very infrequent as the island is closer to Samoa than to the rest of the Cook Islands. The five hour flight from Rarotonga operates only once every six weeks or so.
Pukapuka is closer to Samoa than it is to the capital island, Rarotonga. It has its own language and customs and other Cook Islanders say its main asset is its “beautiful girls”. Its name derives from the puka tree which is commonplace.
The entire population is said to be descended from just 14 or so people who survived a catastrophic storm and tidal wave (tsunami) over 400 years ago.
The late American writer Robert Dean Frisbie settled on Pukapuka in 1924 and immortalised the island in the books he wrote about it. He said at the time he was looking for a place beyond the reach of "the faintest echo from the noisy clamour of the civilised world". He found it, and to this day Pukapuka is one of the most untouched and secluded places in the Cook Islands.
The island and nearby Nassau (Cook Islands) were hit by Cyclone Percy in Feb 2005 - the fourth of five cyclones to hit the Cook Islands in five weeks in 2005 - and reconstruction work is still going on. An assessment by the New Zealand Air Force after the cyclone reported that only 10 percent of houses on the Island survived intact.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Ethnology of Pukapuka, by Ernest and Pearl Beaglehole (1938). Bernice P. Bishop Museum Bulletin 150.
- Through Enemy Lines, Phil Hirsch, editor ; Pyramid Books, NY, NY, 1967.
[edit] External links
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