For the 2009 tsunami, see the main article: 2009 Samoa tsunami

2009 Samoa earthquake

The 2009 Samoa earthquake was an 8.1 Mw submarine earthquake that took place in the Samoan Islands region at 06:48:11 local time on September 29, 2009 . At a magnitude of 8.1, it was the largest earthquake of 2009....

.

Niuatoputapu is an island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

 in the island nation

Island nation

An island country is a state whose primary territory consists of one or more islands or parts of islands. As of 2011, 47 of the 193 UN member states are island countries.-Politics:...

 of Tonga

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...

, Pacific Ocean. Its name means sacred island. Older European names for the island are Traitors island or Keppel island.

Niuatoputapu is located in the north of the country, 300 km away from Vavau

Vava'u

Vavau is an island chain of one large island and 40 smaller ones in Tonga. According to tradition Maui fished both Tongatapu and Vavau but put a little more effort into the former. Vavau rises 204 meters above sea level...

 near the border with Sāmoa

Samoa

Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...

. Its closest neighbours are the small island of Tafahi

Tafahi

Tafahi is a small island in the north of the Tonga archipelago, in fact closer to Savaii than the main islands of Tonga. It is only north-northeast away from Niuatoputapu, and fishermen communicate in small outboard motorboats almost daily between the two.Other names for Tafahi are Cocos Eylant ...

, only 9 kilometers to the north-northeast, and the island of Niuafo'ou

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:...

. The three islands together form the administrative division of the Niuas

Niuas

Niuas is a division of Tonga. It consists of three islands:*Niuafoʻou*Niuatoputapu*Tafahi...

. There is an airport

Airport

An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...

 in Niuatoputapu, Mataaho airport, which is designated to accept international flights. The population of Niuatoputapu was 934 in 2006. The inhabitants formerly spoke the Niuatoputapu language

Niuatoputapu language

Niuatoputapu was the indigenous language of Niuatoputapu, Tonga. It was more closely related to Samoan than to Tongan. Sometime in the 18th or 19th century, it became extinct and its use was replaced by Tongan....

, but it has now been extinct

Extinct language

An extinct language is a language that no longer has any speakers., or that is no longer in current use. Extinct languages are sometimes contrasted with dead languages, which are still known and used in special contexts in written form, but not as ordinary spoken languages for everyday communication...

 for centuries. Now the inhabitants speak Tongan

Tongan language

Tongan is an Austronesian language spoken in Tonga. It has around 200,000 speakers and is a national language of Tonga. It is a VSO language.-Related languages:...

. Nevertheless Sāmoan

Samoan language

Samoan Samoan Samoan (Gagana Sāmoa, is the language of the Samoan Islands, comprising the independent country of Samoa and the United States territory of American Samoa. It is an official language—alongside English—in both jurisdictions. Samoan, a Polynesian language, is the first language for most...

, Uvean

Fakauvea

Wallisian or Uvean is the Polynesian language spoken on Wallis Island . The language is also known as East Uvean to distinguish it from the related West Uvean spoken on the outlier island of Ouvéa...

 and Futunan elements can be noticed.

Geography

The central top of Niuatoputapu, just beside Vaipoa, is a hill of only 157 meters in height. It is the eroded remnant of a large volcano, which erupted about 3 million years ago. The island is surrounded by a large reef, uplifted and largely covered with volcanic ash, which has yielded it a fertile soil.

Niuatoputapu consists primarily of three villages: Hihifo

Hihifo

Hihifo is the main village on the island of Niuatoputapu in Tonga.Hihifo is situated on the west side of Niuatoputapu and is the main centre for public and government facilities for the island residents, with a post office and police station.The other two villages on Niuatoputapu are Falehau and...

 (meaning "west" in Tongan), Vaipoa

Vaipoa

Vaipoa is one of three villages on the island of Niuatoputapu in Tonga.The other two villages on Niuatoputapu are Falehau and Hihifo, the main village on the island....

, and Falehau

Falehau

Falehau is a village on the island of Niuatoputapu in Tonga.The other two villages on Niuatoputapu are Vaipoa and Hihifo, the main village on the island.Falehau was extensively damaged in the 2009 Samoa earthquake and tsunami....

. Hihifo is the largest village, and, as its name suggests, lies in the west of the island. It contains the majority of the governmental facilities of the island, including the post office, telecommunications, police station and a high school (there are primary schools in all 3 villages). Vaipoa lies in the middle of the island. To the east is Falehau, which contains Niuatoputapu's port.

History

The traditional line of lords of the island is the Māatu dynasty. According to the legends, an early member of them became the fish god Seketoa

Seketo'a

Seketoa was a fish god from Niuatoputapu and Tafahi in Tongan mythology.Originally Seketoa was a mortal, the grandson of Puakatefisi, the first of the traditional line of rulers of Niuatoputapu island, the Māatu dynasty. Puakatefisi had a son by a concubine of his, named Falefehi. That son had two...

.

Niuatoputapu was put on the European maps by Willem Schouten

Willem Schouten

Willem Cornelisz Schouten was a Dutch navigator for the Dutch East India Company. He was the first to sail the Cape Horn route to the Pacific Ocean.- Biography :Willem Cornelisz Schouten was born in c...

 and Jacob Le Maire

Jacob Le Maire

Jacob Le Maire was a Dutch mariner who circumnavigated the earth in 1615-16. The strait between Tierra del Fuego and Isla de los Estados was named the Le Maire Strait in his honor, though not without controversy...

 during their famous circumnavigation of the globe in their ship the Eendracht (Unity) in 1616. After successful bartering with the inhabitants of Tafahi, but not finding a suitable anchorage there, they proceeded to its neighbour. There their reception was less peaceful. Natives boarded their ship and attacked the Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 with clubs, until they found out what muskets were and could do. After that an uneasy truce existed, enabling the barter of more coconuts, ubes roots (probably ufi (yam

Yam (vegetable)

Yam is the common name for some species in the genus Dioscorea . These are perennial herbaceous vines cultivated for the consumption of their starchy tubers in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Oceania...

)), hogs and water. A 'king' of the island came along, but not on board. "He was equally naked with all the rest", only distinguishable by the respect the islanders paid to him. The next day the Dutch felt that something was in the air, and indeed when the king came again along he suddenly ordered his people into an attack. There were about 700 to 800 of them in 23 double canoes and 45 single canoes. But the Dutch fired their muskets and 3 canons, and the islanders then quickly made themselves scarce. Schouten and LeMaire continued their westwards trip, leaving Verraders (Traitors) island behind.

Popular culture

The 2001 film The Other Side of Heaven

The Other Side of Heaven

The Other Side of Heaven is a 2001 film produced by Academy Award winner Gerald R. Molen and directed by Mitch Davis and stars Christopher Gorham and Anne Hathaway .-Overview:...

, depicts the LDS missionary efforts of John Groberg on Niuatoputapu. The film was, however, filmed on Rarotonga

Rarotonga

Rarotonga is the most populous island of the Cook Islands, with a population of 14,153 , out of the country's total population of 19,569.The Cook Islands' Parliament buildings and international airport are on Rarotonga...

 in the Cook Islands

Cook Islands

The Cook Islands is a self-governing parliamentary democracy in the South Pacific Ocean in free association with New Zealand...

 and in Auckland, New Zealand

Auckland

The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...

 as well.

2009 Tsunami

The island of Niuatoputapu was affected by a tsunami following a 2009 Samoa earthquake

2009 Samoa earthquake

The 2009 Samoa earthquake was an 8.1 Mw submarine earthquake that took place in the Samoan Islands region at 06:48:11 local time on September 29, 2009 . At a magnitude of 8.1, it was the largest earthquake of 2009....

of an 8.0 M_w

Moment magnitude scale

The moment magnitude scale is used by seismologists to measure the size of earthquakes in terms of the energy released. The magnitude is based on the seismic moment of the earthquake, which is equal to the rigidity of the Earth multiplied by the average amount of slip on the fault and the size of...

 earthquake

Earthquake

An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...

 in the Samoan Islands

Samoan Islands

The Samoan Islands or Samoa Islands is an archipelago covering in the central South Pacific, forming part of Polynesia and the wider region of Oceania...

 region at 06:48:11 local time on 29 September 2009 (17:48:11 UTC

Coordinated Universal Time

Coordinated Universal Time is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is one of several closely related successors to Greenwich Mean Time. Computer servers, online services and other entities that rely on having a universally accepted time use UTC for that purpose...

).