DANGER ISLANDS.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 138, 12 June 1926, Page 17

DANGER ISLANDS.

PUKAPUKA AND ITS PEOPLE. ON LEAST KNOWN SOUTH SEA ATOLL. ißy J.C.i "T "liresr-ed :V people : n Maori. :'-. • H..::\ -ir M r:: 1' -ma 7. j' n de'.-'-ribing :•• r. ..- -,:;- v ,- : - :.i I'ukapuka. ; -'_■:■! "■ .■: :-. .'it ; ie -truc'.urc and v j -■;'':v of '. :■• ia:i;tiaj, are very Mi ■••:." '■: -his !s .la-c-l H:tlo tribe of I-!.in ii vs. •' is : 'C-!:evcd that their ancest■.•:■.- an:-' ;:•• m N"pw Z-a'.and. reversing the -"pull" view ..:' South la i:ic colonisatio.". Prob.i'.dj -..n- : e of the ancient sa.iir:.- arioc .Tews %<.;,,, at carious times let': 1'- Ika-a-Maui to revisit their former nome- in the fopi--- went astray : in tiieir reckoning, and fetched up vii strange i-'.an-i-. I'ukapuka may well Lave heen peopled orizinally in this way. l i; ;j .- .i: e'.y a phi c that would be chosen ■ deliberately as a home by Polynesians who had on.-c ta-tcl of life OU a great j well-'-vatered country. The I'anui-r I-lnmW. small, low. reefisian is. are th- least-visited map-dots in j o!i" far—a; tin 1 P.i.-i ti>- posses-ions. They vin-i-t of three palm-clothed "niot'i-" e'.-'vate i -oi'v a few feet above t!i- ii-' -!;•>:;;:•. o can that eneom-]-.i--.-- tin !ii. a!>.. i- 400 nub's north-east 0! ~a:i;...i an-l midway between t'aai yi-ii'.'p .'. 1 I Y::r ; iv n Uhin-i. They wore c-er'.i .nl.v i\'-:'.:>' iit;ing!y named by tiieir d:---.iver.-r: the !-.n_- rural reefs, ju-'- . n'.i-a. c\l.-!iditig for many mile- around the three islands, do not invite close- ' qua: :•■;■- examination by navigators.. The piisltioii (■: t!io as defined l.y 1 aptain ' .i-.-■ m. ~;' H.M.s. Curacoa. w.'ieii lie [ rcM-iaiiiit'd the liritish protectorate iiere in lS!i2. is between 10..">'2 an-l 1 •'..">• 5 -oir.il latitude, and between 1i;.~>..al and 1'm.44 we-t longitude. Tiie islands arc- named Ware, l\o. and Kotawa. The prine::a! of these is Ware, a horseshaped island on whh-h all the people live, in three villages, called Ato. Roto. ami X.-ake. 'Ih- total population at bi-t count 11.24 u.iso4o'. l-"iM were adult males and . Id.'! females: the- children of both sexes i numbered --7. They are a happy looking, ho.-nitable folk, less civilised—or, as the j oHi.-ial reports put it. more backward— than any other island community under' New Zealand's flag. This is due to their i long isolation, which will henceforth be! more frequently broken by visits of trad- j in- and inspecting vessels. During later i y,-ar- the only regular caller has been tiie' small schooner Tiare Taporo from Tahiti and Raroton»a. and that only twice a year: but now that an Auckland j firm is sending an agent there to trade i for eojra. it is expected that at least j three trips a year will be made. The j arrival of that little schooner is a most' exciting break in the monotony of the | Hand-dwellers' lives: so it 'may l>o! imagined that the visit of the Hinemoa ; list month was a wonderful event for j I'ukapuka. giving food for talk for many a month to conn-. 1 •iconnts and ti-h. taro and bananas— these nr,. the food staples of Pukapuka. j 1,1 the main island there is a large swamp, in which taro and the common I piinikil oMjiese low islands are -row,,,' and the cultivation of bananas is increas-; ;"-• Mr. Ayson. the Commissioner fori i." 1 ' ouk Niaud-, lias sent up to this I lonely island son..- fruit trees and vege- i laides and flowering trees for experimental cultivation. For copra-making! all the coconuts are "pooled and divided j among the residents of each of the three districts. Access to the place* is still in it* I primitive stage. Boats from visitin* I ships have to cross the outer fringing reef, and there is about a mile of Shallow lagoon between the reef and the j landing place on the beach in front of the main village. The authorities intend to make a boat passage when opportunity offers. ' _ Th,- principal need of the Pukapuka j folk is a doctor's visit now and again and some means of instruction for the young people. A teacher is settling on the island when arrangements can be made: and S :r Maui Tomare intends to send a medical man to attend to the | people and advise them on sanitation. I hey don't need much else, and the 1 Government of the far-off land, of which ; they hear at such infrequent intervals ! ir wis.- in leaving them to follow their ! old ea.-y-going communal system of life ; There have been offers to lease the- ' islands—over the islanders' heads. Sir ! Maui Poniare and his Department very naturally and properly turned down such proposals quite hard. Slowly Sinking? i No scientific investigator has ever I Visited Pukapuka. There is niu.-h that would oe worth recording in the life and traditions of this primitive little people. Fascinating, too, would be inquiry into the geological past of the reef islands. It in believed that the "mot us"' are slowly diminishing in size- there are indications that the land area was one considerably larger. Ther- are traditions that the population of Pukapuka once numbered probably more thousands than it now numbers hundreds. Such a gradual diminution nf the dry land surface would be quite in accordance with observations ' by physiographers and geologists j n ether parts oi the Pacific rsonie lands have been upthnist, land is in the makin-' and in other regions there i- a slow but certain subsidence. lie Dan2er Islands may be more. dangerous still in centuries to come. I when 'lie ocean has submerged tie- j Wooded levels on which tiie brown folk j now live their little-troubled lives. On j the other hand. Ru, the god of the underworld, may give the islets a tiny ho.-' upwards again, and a few thousand yeais more of sunshine and life.