59-695: Mangareva is the central and largest island of the Gambier Islands in French Polynesia . It is surrounded by smaller islands: Taravai in the southwest, Aukena and Akamaru in the southeast, and islands in the north. Mangareva has a permanent population of 1,239 (2012) and the largest village on the island, Rikitea , is the chief town of the Gambier Islands. The island is approximately eight kilometres (5 mi) long and, at 15.4 km ( 5 + 15 ⁄ 16 sq mi), it comprises about 56% of
118-466: A hot spot under the Pacific Plate , which is moving northwestward at a rate of 12.5 cm per year. They are part of an atoll that formed between 5.6 and 5.7 million years ago. The central island has already partially subsided, so that ancient parts of the crater rim still protrude from the water as islands of igneous rocks. The long-sunken caldera can still be noted by the position of the islands in
177-449: A cargo service operated by two schooners, which rotate every three weeks. The inhabitants are self-sufficient. They grow yams, taro and breadfruit , as well as all kinds of tropical fruits and, to a lesser extent, coffee for export. Politically, the Gambier Islands belong to French Polynesia. They form one of 17 municipalities ( Commune des Gambier ) administered by a subdivision ( Subdivision administrative des Tuamotu-Gambier ) of
236-686: A meter high and only remotely human, represents the god Rao, supposedly the "god of inequity" according to Father Caret's description, the third most important deity in the Mangareva pantheon. A four-armed stand, like the one described in the text fragment above, is on display at the Musée de l'Homme in Paris. Another naturalistic statue, approximately one meter high, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York ,
295-533: A population density of 43 p.e./km . The official language is French. The currency is (still) the CFP franc , which is pegged to the euro. The administrative budget of the Gambier Islands is largely subsidized with funds from France and the European Union. The main island is Mangareva , on which, however, only the seat of the local administration is located. The Gambier Islands had a population of 1,431 inhabitants at
354-613: Is a 60% lexical similarity, and usually with French, as well. It is a member of the Marquesic subgroup, and as such is closely related to Hawaiian and Marquesan . According to the Endangered Languages Project , Mangarevan is considered endangered with fewer than 900 speakers out of an ethnic population of 1,491. The larger portion of the population in the Gambier Islands speak French. Robert Lee Eskridge Robert Lee Eskridge (November 22, 1891 – April 14, 1975)
413-410: Is believed to represent the god Rogo, the sixth son of Tagaroa and Haumea, the mythical founders of Mangareva. Rogo was the ancient deity of peace and hospitality and was revealed as a rainbow . His cult was associated with the cultivation of turmeric. At the 2017 census, only 24.8% of the population age 15 and older in the Gambier Islands still reported that Mangarevan was the language they spoke
472-450: Is dry grassland. The fringing reef coral islands are species-poor due to poor soil fertility. Here mainly coconut trees ( Cocos nucifera ) thrive, which are used economically for a small copra production. The fauna of the coral islands, poor in species, is limited to birds, insects and lizards. In contrast, the underwater fauna is species-rich. All kinds of coral fish make the lagoon a paradise for divers. The Gambier Islands formed from
531-529: Is located 45 km (28 mi) south-east of the Mangareva Islands. In the Mangareva Islands, besides Mangareva proper (the main island), the other notable high islands of the group are Akamaru , Angakauitai , Aukena , Kamaka , Kouaku , Makapu , Makaroa , Manui , Mekiro and Taravai . These are primarily of volcanic origin . A number of others are actually coral islands , hence of secondary volcanic origin, including Papuri , Puaumu , Totengengie and
590-535: Is relatively constant throughout the year. Temperatures are similar to those of the Austral Islands, with a warm season from November to April and a cool season from May to October. The minimum and maximum temperatures recorded at Gambier (Rikitea meteorological station; station météorologique de Rikitea) are 13.2 °C (27 August 1992) and 31.2 °C (23 January 1989). The volcanic islands are covered with lush tropical vegetation. The windward side of Mount Duff
649-463: The Catholic missionaries , provoking a diplomatic conflict. France sent Admiral Dupetit-Thouars to try to remedy the matter. The admiral ended up establishing a protectorate, and later the annexation of Tahiti. Meanwhile, the Gambier Islands suffered a strong earthquake and tsunami in 1837. Laval and Caret returned to the archipelago and established a theocratic regime. But, most notably, they taught
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#1732844281644708-514: The French military dragged a chain through some of the coral reef beds to cut a wider and deeper channel for deep draft vessels. Higher rate of infections by ciguatera were subsequently recorded. The Gambier Islands include the Mangareva Islands (the Gambier Islands proper), which have an enclosing coral reef which is broken by only three passages to the open sea , and Temoe atoll, which
767-514: The Gambier Islands were ruled by a line of kings – and, later, regents – until the French formally annexed the islands. King Maputeoa requested a French protectorate on 16 February 1844, but the French government never ratified it. On 4 February 1870, the Mangarevan government and its prince regent, Arone Teikatoara , formally withdrew the protectorate request and asked the French not to intervene in
826-565: The Polynesian triangle . For instance, traditionally, in Mangareva, the most important god was named Tu, whereas in New Zealand and Hawai'i , the god of war was similarly named Kū . Other commonalities amongst the islands of the Polynesian triangle include the goddess Haumea , who is said to have been responsible for the creation of the world, and the demi-god Māui , who is said to have fished up
885-561: The President of France on 30 January 1882. In the 20th century, in July 1966, the Mangareviens were exposed to radioactive fallout due to the French military's nuclear tests at Moruroa and Fangataufa . Military officials were aware of the doses received by the island and their effects, but kept them secret. The information was made public in 1998 by journalist Vincent Jauvert, and acknowledged by
944-830: The South Seas , he lived in Chicago, New York, and Coronado Beach, California (1917–32). He moved to Honolulu in 1932 and taught at the University of Hawaii . During the Great Depression he was a Works Progress Administration muralist. His murals are in the Ala Moana Park Sports Pavilion in Honolulu and at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago. The Honolulu Museum of Art and Smithsonian American Art Museum are among
1003-560: The Tokorua group. The Mangareva Islands have a land area of 25.71 km , with a population of 1,431 people at the 2017 census. The primary town is Rikitea , located on Mangareva , as is the highest point in the Gambiers, Mt. Duff , rising to 441 metres (1,447 ft) along that island's south coast. The islands of Gambier comprise: The Gambier Islands have a typical maritime climate, tropical in character but relatively cool. Rainfall
1062-733: The 2017 census, all living in the Mangareva Islands. Ethnologist Kenneth P. Emory of the Bishop Museum in Honolulu assumed that the Gambier Islands, like the other islands of East Polynesia, were colonized from the Marquesas. However, it is now more likely that settlement originated in the Society Islands around 1000 A.D. There is archaeological evidence that the islands of Mangareva , Taravai, Agakauitai, Akamaru, Aukena and Kamaka were colonized by Polynesians in protohistoric times. The social form
1121-496: The 2017 census. The population was spread over the following islands: The majority of the islands' population follows Christianity, mostly the Catholic Church and various Protestant groups , a legacy of the missionary activity that began with the arrival of Europeans to the region. According to 1991 data, between 5 and 6% of the population belonged to a Protestant Christian group. Recently restored after years of closure,
1180-611: The Church of Saint Raphael in Aukena ( Église de Saint-Raphaël ), the Church of Saint Joseph of Taku in Mangareva ( Église de Saint-Joseph-de-Taku ), the Church of Saint Joseph in Marutea ( Église de Saint-Joseph ), and the aforementioned Ancient Cathedral of Saint Michael in Rikitea ( Ancienne cathédrale Saint-Michel ) (Eastern Oceania cathedral between 1833 and 1848) Little is known about
1239-471: The European invention of binary by as many as 300 to 600 years. In 2020, Mangarevan binary counting was shown to be an extension of a traditional Polynesian method of counting. Polynesian societies are known to count specific types of objects differently, and they count objects both singly (one by one) and collectively (by twos, fours, or eights). In each case, counting remains decimal (one, two, three...), though
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#17328442816441298-588: The French government in 2006. Mangareva has a tropical rainforest climate ( Köppen climate classification Af ). The average annual temperature in Mangareva is 23.5 °C (74.3 °F). The average annual rainfall is 1,913.5 mm (75.33 in) with November the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in March, at around 26.0 °C (78.8 °F), and lowest in August, at around 21.3 °C (70.3 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded in Mangareva
1357-606: The High Commissariat of French Polynesia ( Haut-commissariat de la République en Polynésie française ) in Papeete , Tahiti. In addition to the Gambier Islands in the geographical sense (i.e. including the atolls of Gambier and Temoe), the following atolls in the southeast of the Tuamotu archipelago belong to the municipality of Gambier: The municipality of Gambier had a total population of 1,421 inhabitants according to 2012 data, with
1416-715: The Huguenot James Gambier , who had financially supported the expedition. In 1825, the British Frederick William Beechey reached the Gambier Islands with his ship HMS Blossom during a long voyage of exploration to the Pacific and Arctic of North America. In 1834 the missionaries of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts Honoré Laval and François Caret arrived in the islands to found
1475-471: The Mangareva Islands are of volcanic origin with central high islands. Administratively, the Gambier Islands are inside the commune of Gambier , which also includes several atolls in the Tuamotu Archipelago. The town hall ( mairie ) of the commune of Gambier is located on Mangareva , which is the largest island in the Gambier Islands group. The population of the Gambier Islands was 1,431 people at
1534-409: The Mangarevan system (VTPK, where V ( varu ) means 80, T ( tataua ) is 40, P ( paua ) is 20, and K ( takau ) is 10). As binary counting is unknown in other Polynesian societies, it most likely developed after Mangareva was settled (which was sometime between 1060 and 1360 AD). Since Gottfried Leibniz would not invent the modern binary number system until 1689, the Mangarevan binary steps prefigured
1593-689: The Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary of Picpus. The Catholic missionaries quickly converted almost the entire population . They constructed many religious buildings and had the marae, the places of worship of the ancient local gods , destroyed. Today the Catholic Church administers 6 buildings in the region the Church of Saint Gabriel in Agonoko, Taravai ( Église de Saint-Gabriel ), the Church of Our Lady of Peace in Akamaru ( Église de Notre-Dame-de-Paix ),
1652-502: The acquiescence and then with the active support of the ruler, the Picpusians deployed an extensive development program for the islands . Encouraged by their success, after baptizing the entire population of the Gambier Islands, they moved to Tahiti in 1836. On this island, since Wilson's expedition, there was a Protestant mission led by Pritchard, who was also British consul and advisor to Queen Pomare Vahine. Pritchard succeeded in expelling
1711-426: The art and culture of the Gambier Islands before European influence. Ethnological studies on a scientific basis could not be carried out because the works of art were almost eliminated by the colonizers in a very short time. Father Laval claimed to have burned 40 wooden idols in a single day. The scant information that has survived on the religion and worship of the Gambier Islands comes mainly from letters written by
1770-404: The author. In 1962, the adventure-fiction writer Garland Roark acknowledged Eskridge's work in a foreword to his novel, The Witch of Manga Reva . Eskridge also wrote and illustrated a children's book about his visit to Mangareva: South Sea Playmates (Bobbs Merrill; 1933). Sailor and author W. I. B. (Bill) Crealock describes in his book Cloud of Islands a visit to Mangareva, which he considered
1829-482: The deity. On each side of the idol were carved three-armed stands on which were presented various objects, such as decorated coconut shells and pieces of bamboo, possibly intended to represent musical instruments. Only eight artifacts from the pre-European period from the Gambier Islands remain in the world, including a carved deity of the type described by Beechey in the above text in the Musée national des Arts d'Afrique et d'Océanie in Paris. The wooden figure, about
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1888-438: The eyes themselves, were molded and, from the way the figure was carved, one could deduce that no consideration had been given to human anatomy. The idol was placed in an upright position with its limbs attached to the wall of the hut. The head and loins were tied with a piece of white cloth and the feet were placed in a gourd filled with water. Next to the idol were various oars, mats, coils of rope and garments, obviously gifts for
1947-632: The first Catholic mission in Polynesia, after the failed attempt of the Spaniards in Tahiti in 1775. The two priests ended up being protagonists of the French union of Tahiti. At first, King Maputeoa , the last king of Mangareva, resisted, but after attributing the recovery from a serious illness to the new god, he increasingly submitted to the influence of the Christian missionaries and was baptized in 1836. First with
2006-520: The former cathedral of St. Michael of Mangareva , in the Gambier archipelago, bears witness to the time when the first Catholic missionaries settled there in the 19th century. It is a building protected as a historical monument of France. The structure is considered one of the centers of Catholicism in Polynesia. The activity of the Catholic Church was boosted by the Missionary work of the Congregation of
2065-497: The ideal island, on the yacht Arthur Rogers , in the company of Diana and Tom Hepworth, whose lives were later recounted in the book Faraway by Lucy Irvine. The Mangarevan people developed a binary number system centuries ahead of Europeans. In 2013, the islanders were discovered to have developed a novel binary system that allowed them to reduce the number of digits involved in binary counting: for example, representing 150 requires eight digits in binary (10010110) but only four in
2124-568: The inhabitants of the islands to read and write, and protected them from European traders and whalers. According to a phrase of Father Laval, "civilization leads to contentment". On the other hand, religious zeal led them to systematically replace all the idols and temples, and in their place they ordered the construction of more than a hundred stone buildings: churches, chapels , convents, seminaries , cemeteries, vicarages, triumphal arches. The cathedral of St. Michael in Mangareva alone could accommodate more than 2,000 people. The population , which
2183-464: The islanders between the 10th and 15th centuries resulted in deforestation of the island, with disastrous results for both its environment and its economy (see Gambier Islands for more details). The first European to visit Mangareva was a British captain, James Wilson , who arrived in 1797 on the ship Duff . Wilson named the island group in honour of Admiral James Gambier , who had helped him to equip his vessel. Mangareva and its dependencies in
2242-476: The islands from the bottom of the sea. Gambier Islands The Gambier Islands (French: Îles Gambier or Archipel des Gambier ) are an archipelago in French Polynesia , located at the southeast terminus of the Tuamotu archipelago. They cover an area of 27.8 km or 10.7 sq mi, and are made up of the Mangareva Islands, a group of high islands remnants of a caldera along with islets on
2301-464: The items being counted (in New Zealand, this method was misunderstood by Europeans as undecimal or base-11 counting). In the traditional method, the pile of set-asides would then be counted the same way, with every tenth item marking a hundred (second round), thousand (third round), ten thousand items (fourth round), and so on. In Mangarevan binary, in the first round items were counted as before, but in
2360-411: The kingdom's affairs. However, after Father Honoré Laval was removed to Tahiti, the native government changed its stance: On 30 November 1871, Prince Regent Arone and the French colonial authority in Tahiti signed an agreement reaffirming the islands’ protectorate status. The Gambier Islands were finally annexed on 21 February 1881 under Prince Regent Bernardo Putairi , and the annexation was approved by
2419-428: The lagoon. The entire group sits on an underwater rise that sinks relatively rapidly in the south and east, so that the 65 km long fringing reef only rises above the water surface on three sides. From there, numerous low motus, composed of coral sand and rubble, rise just above the sea surface . Today, pearl farming is practiced in the numerous pearl farms in the Gambier lagoons, whose relatively cold waters allow
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2478-465: The land area of the whole Gambier group. Mangareva has a high central ridge which runs the length of the island. The highest point in the Gambiers is Mount Duff , on Mangareva, rising to 441 metres (1,447 ft) along the island's south coast. The island has a large lagoon 24 kilometres (15 mi) in diameter containing reefs whose fish and shellfish helped ancient islanders survive much more successfully than on nearby islands with no reefs. Mangareva
2537-420: The missionaries to their religious superiors. A thatched hut twenty feet long, ten feet wide, and seven feet high contained the idols. In front of the structure was a space twenty feet square paved with hewn coral blocks and bordered with curbs. Inside the hut was a boundary one meter high along its entire length, in the center of which stood a finely carved and polished one meter high idol. The eyebrows, but not
2596-401: The most at home (down from 38.6% at the 2007 census), while 62.6% reported French as the main language spoken at home (up from 52.3% at the 2007 census), 4.9% reported Tahitian (down from 6.4% in 2007), and 4.6% reported some Chinese dialects (predominantly Hakka ) (up from 3.5% in 2007). In the Gambier Islands, the number of people age 15 and older who reported that the language they spoke
2655-583: The most at home was Mangarevan declined from 300 at the 2007 census to 270 at the 2017 census. In the entire French Polynesia, the number of people age 15 and older who reported that the language they spoke the most at home was Mangarevan declined from 424 at the 2007 census to 332 at the 2017 census. Most of the people who spoke Mangarevan at home outside of the Gambier Islands at the 2017 census lived in Tahiti . Speakers have some bilingualism in Tahitian, in which there
2714-534: The price of airfare to get there are largely responsible for this, but the islands have potential because of their climate , environment and unique historical past. A few sailboats call at Rikitea Bay and tourists wishing to visit the British Pitcairn Islands pass through Mangareva as a base. Local production in the Gambier Islands is limited to a few productive sectors, such as subsistence farming and fishing, and most consumer goods are transported by
2773-470: The production of quality pearls. There are 129 farms, including fourteen companies. In recent years, although far from the large population centers of French Polynesia, the archipelago has seen its population increase thanks to pearl farming and the exploitation of mother-of-pearl. In terms of tourism, the Gambier archipelago is one of the least visited in French Polynesia. The remoteness of Tahiti and
2832-571: The second half of the 19th century, the archipelago remained in the sphere of influence of the Pomaré royal dynasty of Tahiti. The Gambier Islands were discovered for Europe in 1797 by James Wilson, captain of the ship Duff of the London Missionary Society , which had left Great Britain to carry out missionary work in Tahiti, Tonga and the Marquesas . He named the islands after his role model,
2891-433: The second round and thereafter they were grouped into eights ( varu ) and then fours ( tataua ), twos ( paua ), and singles ( takau ). Once counting had shifted to binary units in the second and subsequent rounds, the method was no longer decimal, suggesting an explanation for the upper limit of 800 (for items counted singly) observed for the counting system. Mangarevan mythology includes deities and gods commonly found across
2950-476: The spread of previously unknown infectious diseases led to destitution and a drastic decline in population. On the other hand, the missionaries suppressed constant tribal warfare, as well as human sacrifice and combated cannibalism. The French governor of Tahiti stood by and watched the actions on the islands for many years. Only when complaints from businessmen and merchant ships became more frequent did he intervene. Father Laval had to leave Mangareva in 1871 at
3009-519: The surrounding fringing reef , and the uninhabited Temoe atoll , which is located 45 km (28 mi) south-east of the Mangareva Islands. The Gambiers are generally considered a separate island group from Tuamotu both because their culture and language ( Mangarevan ) are much more closely related to those of the Marquesas Islands , and because, while the Tuamotus comprise several chains of coral atolls,
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#17328442816443068-416: The traveler to the island. Some reach Pitcairn by commercial shipping traffic, but that is uncommon, because shipping lanes do not typically pass close to Pitcairn. Painter and author Robert Lee Eskridge 's book Manga Reva: The Forgotten Islands (Bobbs Merrill; 1931) offers first-hand observations of the environment, peoples, and traditions of Mangareva. It includes original illustrations and photographs by
3127-481: The unit counted varies (one, two, four, or eight). In Mangareva, counting collective items decimally produced productive terms for ten ( takau or ten singles), twenty ( paua or ten pairs), forty ( tataua or ten groups of four), and eighty ( varu or ten groups of eight). Given the availability of these terms and their associated numerical values, binary counting was then a simple adaptation of traditional Polynesian counting, which set aside every tenth item to mark ten of
3186-594: The urging of the Bishop of Tahiti, Florentin Etienne "Tepano" Jaussen. He died on 1 November 1880, and was buried in Tahiti. The Gambier Islands were finally annexed on 21 February 1881 under Prince Regent Bernardo Putairi and approved by the President of France on 30 January 1882. The Gambiers served as a logistical staging base for French nuclear testing activity in Mururoa , approximately 400 kilometers away. During this time,
3245-420: Was 31.4 °C (88.5 °F) on 6 March 2016; the coldest temperature ever recorded was 13.2 °C (55.8 °F) on 27 August 1992. Mangareva is reached by boat from the nearby airport across the lagoon. Mangareva is an important travel link to Pitcairn Island . Practically the only way a traveler can reach Pitcairn Island is to fly to Tahiti , then to Mangareva. From there, a 32-hour boat ride will take
3304-427: Was a strictly stratified tribal society, with constant inter-clan warfare and intermittent food shortages; cannibalism was not unknown. There is evidence that, shortly before European influence, unrest was taking place that led to turmoil and civil war between the social classes. This social upheaval may have greatly facilitated the conquest of the archipelago by King Pomaré II of Tahiti in the early 19th century. Until
3363-751: Was an American genre painter, muralist and illustrator. He was born in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania , to Ella May Moore and Joshua Hargus Eskridge. Eskridge moved with his family to Pasadena, California as a child. He studied at the University of Southern California , the Los Angeles College of Fine Arts, the Art Institute of Chicago , the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts and with George Senseney and André Lhote in Paris. After traveling extensively in Spain and
3422-469: Was first settled by Polynesians in the first millennium CE. While carbon dating has so far only dated settlements to 1160–1220, there is evidence from the Pitcairn Islands of trade with Mangareva from 1000 CE, and it is likely settlement dates to around 800 CE. The island was once heavily forested and supported a large population that traded with other islands via canoes. However, excessive logging by
3481-405: Was over 2,000 when Laval and Caret left, dropped to 500 at the end of the 19th century due to disease and emigration. Many laborers were sent from Mangareva to Tahiti to build the cathedral of Papeete in 1856. The recruitment of labor for the large-scale projects depopulated the smaller Gambier Islands and led according to some sources to famine , as daily food procurement was neglected. This and
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