'Ata
Encyclopedia
Ata is a small, rocky island in the far south of the Tonga
archipelago, situated on 22.149°S 176.178°W. It is also known as Pylstaart island. It should not be confused with Atā, which is an uninhabited, low coral island in the string of small atolls along the Piha passage along the northside of Tongatapu
, nor should it be confused with Ata, a traditional chiefly title from Kolovai
.
(Fiji
) than from Tonga proper itself.
According to these myths it was, together with Eua
the first island hauled up by (one of) the Maui
brothers from the bottom of the sea. Having not much experience in this type of fishing yet, these two islands became quite hilly. It had originally 7 hills, but Maui stamped on the highest mountain until it was flattened into its surrounding valleys, and he did likewise with the next mountains. By the time only 3 hills were left over he was weary and went away. With the following islands he hauled up, starting with Tongatapu, he was more careful to keep them flat. The sub-god Laufakanaa
was the first ruler of Ata.
on 19 January 1643. Because of the many tropic birds he saw near the island, he gave it the name of Pylstaert Eylant or in modern Dutch
Pijlstaart, meaning arrowtail, an apt description for, and in that time the name of the Tropic Bird. Adverse winds prohibited him from coming closer and no natives coming to him in their canoes were seen either. From his vantage point (looking towards the northeast), the shape of the island resembled to him the breasts of a woman.
Ata has the dubious honour to be one of the three islands in Tonga to have been affected by the Peruvian slavetrade of 1862 to 1864, and to be the one which suffered most.
In 1862 the Peru
vian government had decided to obtain indentured labourers to collect guano
on the Peru's Chincha Islands
. A fleet of ships spread out over the Pacific to find willing migrants, but quickly switched to plain kidnapping tactics instead. In June 1863 there lived about 350 people on Ata in a village called Kolomaile (of which remnants were still visible a century later). Captain Thomas James McGrath of the whaler "Grecian", having decided that slavetrade was more profitable than whaling, came along and invited the islanders on board for trading. But once almost half of the population was on board, doors and rooms were locked, and the ship sailed away. 144 persons would never return. The "Grecian" tried to get more recruits from the Lau group, but was not successful there. From Niuafouou
it was able to fool only 30 people; the second island in Tonga to be affected. (Uiha
was the third, but there the islanders had actually been able to reverse roles and ambushed the ship the "Margarita" instead).
The "Grecian" never made it to Peru. Probably near Pukapuka (Tuamotu) it met another slaver, the "General Prim", which had left Callao
in March, which was more than willing to take over the 174 Friendly islanders to quickly return to port, where it arrived on 19 July. Meanwhile, however, the Peruvian government, under pressure from foreign powers and also shocked that its labour plan had turned into a slavetrade, had already on 28 April cancelled all licenses. The islanders on board of the "General Prim", and other ships were even not allowed to enter Peruvian soil. They were transferred to other ships chartered by the Peruvian government to bring them home. By the time, 2 October 1863, the "Adelante" (on which the Tongans were put) finally left, many had already died or were dying from contagious diseases. It seems that Captain Escurra of the "Adelante" (which had been one of the most successful slavers before!) had not any intention to bring them home after being paid $30 per head. Instead he dumped them on uninhabited Cocos Island
, (absolutely not on the route to Tahiti
), claiming that the 426 kanakas
were affected with smallpox and a danger to his crew. 200 were left over there when the whaler "Active" passed along and found them on 21 October. Somewhere in November finally a Peruvian warship "Tumbes" came to save the survivors, of which there were 38 left. They were brought to Paita
, where they apparently were absorbed in the local population.
Meanwhile in Tonga, king George Tupou I, having heard of the happenings, sent three schooners to Ata to evacuate and to resettle the about 200 remaining people to Eua
, where they would be safe against future attacks. Nowadays their descendants still live in Haatua of which a part has received the name Kolomaile. Their wish ever to return to Ata was still much alive in the mid 20th century. But it is not likely to happen, as the island does not have a harbour, making shipping to it a dangerous and uneconomical adventure.
Currently Ata, still part of the kingdom of Tonga, remains uninhabited.
In 1965 six Tongan youths, Sione Fataua,17, Fatai Latui,17, Tevita Fifita Sioloa,15, Kolo Fekitoa,17, Mano Fotau,16 and Luke Latu,16, were shipwrecked on 'Ata for 13 months. They lived off the land on this waterless island until rescued by the Australian fishing boat,Just David, under its skipper John Derrick.
Tonga
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...
archipelago, situated on 22.149°S 176.178°W. It is also known as Pylstaart island. It should not be confused with Atā, which is an uninhabited, low coral island in the string of small atolls along the Piha passage along the northside of Tongatapu
Tongatapu
Tongatapu is the main island of the Kingdom of Tonga and the location of its capital Nukualofa. It is located in Tonga's southern island group, to which it gives its name, and is the country's most populous island, with approximately 71,260 residents , 70.5% of the national population...
, nor should it be confused with Ata, a traditional chiefly title from Kolovai
Kolovai
Kolovai is a village on the Tongan island of Tongatapu. Its 2006 population was 4,098.The village is notable for its lakalaka, the national dance of Tonga. A national monument has been proposed to preserve the site of the koka tree where members of the Tu'i Kanokupolu dynasty received investiture....
.
Myths
Although Ata must have been known to Tongans from times immemorial, as it features in old myths, it may have been mixed up with Atā, and it is alleged not to have been remembered until the Tongans were told about it by the Europeans. In fact the following myth is rather from the original Tongans in the Lau IslandsLau Islands
The Lau Islands of Fiji are situated in the southern Pacific Ocean, just east of the Koro Sea. Of this chain of about one hundred islands and islets, about thirty are inhabited...
(Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
) than from Tonga proper itself.
According to these myths it was, together with Eua
'Eua
Eua is a smaller but still major island in the kingdom of Tonga. It is close to Tongatapu, but forms a separate administrative division. It has an area of 87.44 km2, and a population in 2006 of 5,165 people.- Geography :...
the first island hauled up by (one of) the Maui
Maui
The island of Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is part of the state of Hawaii and is the largest of Maui County's four islands, bigger than Lānai, Kahoolawe, and Molokai. In 2010, Maui had a population of 144,444,...
brothers from the bottom of the sea. Having not much experience in this type of fishing yet, these two islands became quite hilly. It had originally 7 hills, but Maui stamped on the highest mountain until it was flattened into its surrounding valleys, and he did likewise with the next mountains. By the time only 3 hills were left over he was weary and went away. With the following islands he hauled up, starting with Tongatapu, he was more careful to keep them flat. The sub-god Laufakanaa
Laufakana'a
In the Polynesian mythology of Tonga, Laufakanaa was a primordial creator god. Although called 'Tongan', his home was Ata, and he was better known by the original Tongans on the Lau Islands than in the kingdom of Tonga proper.In Tongan cosmogony, the sky and the sea, and the land of Pulotu In the...
was the first ruler of Ata.
History
The first European to discover Ata was Abel TasmanAbel Tasman
Abel Janszoon Tasman was a Dutch seafarer, explorer, and merchant, best known for his voyages of 1642 and 1644 in the service of the VOC . His was the first known European expedition to reach the islands of Van Diemen's Land and New Zealand and to sight the Fiji islands...
on 19 January 1643. Because of the many tropic birds he saw near the island, he gave it the name of Pylstaert Eylant or in modern Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
Pijlstaart, meaning arrowtail, an apt description for, and in that time the name of the Tropic Bird. Adverse winds prohibited him from coming closer and no natives coming to him in their canoes were seen either. From his vantage point (looking towards the northeast), the shape of the island resembled to him the breasts of a woman.
Ata has the dubious honour to be one of the three islands in Tonga to have been affected by the Peruvian slavetrade of 1862 to 1864, and to be the one which suffered most.
In 1862 the Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
vian government had decided to obtain indentured labourers to collect guano
Guano
Guano is the excrement of seabirds, cave dwelling bats, and seals. Guano manure is an effective fertilizer due to its high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen and also its lack of odor. It was an important source of nitrates for gunpowder...
on the Peru's Chincha Islands
Chincha Islands
The Chincha Islands are a group of three small islands 21 km off the southwest coast of Peru, to which they belong, near the town of Pisco,...
. A fleet of ships spread out over the Pacific to find willing migrants, but quickly switched to plain kidnapping tactics instead. In June 1863 there lived about 350 people on Ata in a village called Kolomaile (of which remnants were still visible a century later). Captain Thomas James McGrath of the whaler "Grecian", having decided that slavetrade was more profitable than whaling, came along and invited the islanders on board for trading. But once almost half of the population was on board, doors and rooms were locked, and the ship sailed away. 144 persons would never return. The "Grecian" tried to get more recruits from the Lau group, but was not successful there. From Niuafouou
Niuafo'ou
Niuafoou is the most northerly island in the kingdom of Tonga. It is a volcanic rim island of 15 km² and with a population of 650 in 2006.-Geography:...
it was able to fool only 30 people; the second island in Tonga to be affected. (Uiha
'Uiha
Uiha is an island in Lifuka district, in the Haapai islands of Tonga. It had a population of 638 and an area of 5.36 km².More about Ha'apai at http://www.nelligennet.com/horst.com...
was the third, but there the islanders had actually been able to reverse roles and ambushed the ship the "Margarita" instead).
The "Grecian" never made it to Peru. Probably near Pukapuka (Tuamotu) it met another slaver, the "General Prim", which had left Callao
Callao
Callao is the largest and most important port in Peru. The city is coterminous with the Constitutional Province of Callao, the only province of the Callao Region. Callao is located west of Lima, the country's capital, and is part of the Lima Metropolitan Area, a large metropolis that holds almost...
in March, which was more than willing to take over the 174 Friendly islanders to quickly return to port, where it arrived on 19 July. Meanwhile, however, the Peruvian government, under pressure from foreign powers and also shocked that its labour plan had turned into a slavetrade, had already on 28 April cancelled all licenses. The islanders on board of the "General Prim", and other ships were even not allowed to enter Peruvian soil. They were transferred to other ships chartered by the Peruvian government to bring them home. By the time, 2 October 1863, the "Adelante" (on which the Tongans were put) finally left, many had already died or were dying from contagious diseases. It seems that Captain Escurra of the "Adelante" (which had been one of the most successful slavers before!) had not any intention to bring them home after being paid $30 per head. Instead he dumped them on uninhabited Cocos Island
Cocos Island
Cocos Island is an uninhabited island located off the shore of Costa Rica . It constitutes the 11th district of Puntarenas Canton of the province of Puntarenas. It is one of the National Parks of Costa Rica...
, (absolutely not on the route to Tahiti
Tahiti
Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
), claiming that the 426 kanakas
Kanakas
Kanaka was the term for a worker from various Pacific Islands employed in British colonies, such as British Columbia , Fiji and Queensland in the 19th and early 20th centuries...
were affected with smallpox and a danger to his crew. 200 were left over there when the whaler "Active" passed along and found them on 21 October. Somewhere in November finally a Peruvian warship "Tumbes" came to save the survivors, of which there were 38 left. They were brought to Paita
Paita
Paita is a city in northwestern Peru. It is the capital of the Paita Province which is in the Piura Region. It is a leading seaport in that region...
, where they apparently were absorbed in the local population.
Meanwhile in Tonga, king George Tupou I, having heard of the happenings, sent three schooners to Ata to evacuate and to resettle the about 200 remaining people to Eua
'Eua
Eua is a smaller but still major island in the kingdom of Tonga. It is close to Tongatapu, but forms a separate administrative division. It has an area of 87.44 km2, and a population in 2006 of 5,165 people.- Geography :...
, where they would be safe against future attacks. Nowadays their descendants still live in Haatua of which a part has received the name Kolomaile. Their wish ever to return to Ata was still much alive in the mid 20th century. But it is not likely to happen, as the island does not have a harbour, making shipping to it a dangerous and uneconomical adventure.
Currently Ata, still part of the kingdom of Tonga, remains uninhabited.
In 1965 six Tongan youths, Sione Fataua,17, Fatai Latui,17, Tevita Fifita Sioloa,15, Kolo Fekitoa,17, Mano Fotau,16 and Luke Latu,16, were shipwrecked on 'Ata for 13 months. They lived off the land on this waterless island until rescued by the Australian fishing boat,Just David, under its skipper John Derrick.