History of Tuvalu - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The first inhabitants of Tuvalu were Polynesians

Polynesians

The Polynesian peoples is a grouping of various ethnic groups that speak Polynesian languages, a branch of the Oceanic languages within the Austronesian languages, and inhabit Polynesia. They number approximately 1,500,000 people...

so that the origins of the people of Tuvalu is addressed in the theories regarding the spread of humans out of Southeast Asia, from Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

, via Melanesia

Melanesia

Melanesia is a subregion of Oceania extending from the western end of the Pacific Ocean to the Arafura Sea, and eastward to Fiji. The region comprises most of the islands immediately north and northeast of Australia...

and across the Pacific islands to create Polynesia

Polynesia

Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are termed Polynesians and they share many similar traits including language, culture and beliefs...

.

The stories as to the ancestors of the Tuvaluans vary from island to island. On Funafuti

Funafuti

Funafuti is an atoll that forms the capital of the island nation of Tuvalu. It has a population of 4,492 , making it the most populated atoll in the country. It is a narrow sweep of land between 20 and 400 metres wide, encircling a large lagoon 18 km long and 14 km wide, with a surface of...

and Vaitupu

Vaitupu

Vaitupu is an atoll, which is part of the nation of Tuvalu.Vaitupu, the largest atoll of Tuvalu is located at 7.48 degrees south and 178.83 degrees west. The capital is Asau.-History:...

the founding ancestor is described as being from Samoa

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...

; whereas on Nanumea

Nanumea

Nanumea is the northwesternmost atoll in the Polynesian nation of Tuvalu, a group of nine coral atolls and islands spread over about four hundred miles of Pacific Ocean just south of the equator and west of the International Date Line.-Geography:...

the founding ancestor is described as being from 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...

; These stories can be linked to what is known about the Samoa-based Tu'i Manu'a Confederacy, ruled by the holders of the Tu'i Manu'a title, which confederacy likely included much of Western Polynesia and some outliers at the height of its power in the 10th and 11th centuries. The extent of influence of the Tuʻi Tonga line of Tongan kings, which originated in the 10th century; while the existence of the Tuʻi Tonga Empire is disputed, Tuvalu is thought to have been visited by 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...

ns in the mid-13th century and was within Tonga's sphere of influence.

Various names were given to individual islands by the captains and chartmakers on visiting European ships. In 1819 the island of Funafuti

Funafuti

, was named Ellice's Island; the name Ellice was applied to all nine islands after the work of English hydrographer Alexander George Findlay (1812–1876). The islands came under Britain's

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

sphere of influence in the late 19th century, when the Ellice Islands were declared a British protectorate

Protectorate

In history, the term protectorate has two different meanings. In its earliest inception, which has been adopted by modern international law, it is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity...

by Captain Gibson, R. N. of HMS Curaçao

HMS Curacoa (1854)

HMS Curacoa was a 31-gun Tribune-class screw frigate launched on 13 April 1854 from Pembroke Dockyard.She served in the Mediterranean Station between 1854 until 1857 and was in the Black Sea during the Crimean War. She was part of the Channel Squadron between 1857 until 1859. She then was sent to...

between 9th and 16 October 1892. The Ellice Islands were administered as British protectorate by a Resident Commissioner

Resident Commissioner

Resident Commissioner is the title of several, quite different types of Commissioner in overseas possession or protectorate of the British Crown or of the United States.-British English:...

from 1892 to 1916 as part of the British Western Pacific Territories (BWPT), and later as part of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands

Gilbert and Ellice Islands

The Gilbert and Ellice Islands were a British protectorate from 1892 and colony from 1916 until 1 January 1976, when the islands were divided into two different colonies which became independent nations shortly after...

Colony from 1916 to 1974. The United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

claimed Funafuti

Funafuti

, Nukefetau, Nukulaelae

Nukulaelae

Nukulaelae is an atoll that is part of the nation of Tuvalu, and has a population of 393. It has the form of an oval and consists of at least 15 islets...

and Niulakita

Niulakita

Niulakita is the southernmost reef island, which is a district of Tuvalu, and the name of the only village on this island. The junior school is Lotoalofa Primary School.-Geographical features:...

under the Guano Islands Act

Guano Islands Act

The Guano Islands Act is federal legislation passed by the U.S. Congress, on August 18, 1856. It enables citizens of the U.S. to take possession of islands containing guano deposits. The islands can be located anywhere, so long as they are not occupied and not within the jurisdiction of other...

of 1856, this claim was renounced under the 1983 treaty of friendship between Tuvalu

Tuvalu

Tuvalu , formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia. Its nearest neighbours are Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa and Fiji. It comprises four reef islands and five true atolls...

and US

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

In 1974, the Ellice Islanders voted for separate British dependency status as Tuvalu, separating from the Gilbert Islands which became Kiribati

Kiribati

Kiribati , officially the Republic of Kiribati, is an island nation located in the central tropical Pacific Ocean. The permanent population exceeds just over 100,000 , and is composed of 32 atolls and one raised coral island, dispersed over 3.5 million square kilometres, straddling the...

upon independence

Independence

Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory....

. Tuvalu became fully independent within the Commonwealth

Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...

on October 1, 1978. On September 5, 2000, Tuvalu became the 189th member of the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

Early history

Tuvaluans are a Polynesian people who settled the islands around 3000 years ago coming from Tonga and Samoa. During pre-European-contact times there was frequent canoe voyaging between the islands as Polynesian navigation

Polynesian navigation

Polynesian navigation is a system of navigation used by Polynesians to make long voyages across thousands of miles of open ocean. Navigators travel to small inhabited islands using only their own senses and knowledge passed by oral tradition from navigator to apprentice, often in the form of song...

skills are recognised to have allowed deliberate journeys on double-hull sailing canoes or outrigger canoes.

Eight of the nine islands of Tuvalu were inhabited; thus the name, Tuvalu, means "eight standing together" in Tuvaluan

Tuvaluan language

Tuvaluan is a Polynesian language of or closely related to the Ellicean group spoken in Tuvalu. It is more or less distantly related to all other Polynesian languages, such as Hawaiian, Maori, Tahitian, Samoan, and Tongan, and most closely related to the languages spoken on the Polynesian Outliers...

. Possible evidence of fire in the Caves of Nanumanga

Caves of Nanumanga

Caves of Nanumanga is underwater cave off the northern shore of Nanumanga, Tuvalu in western Polynesia. Discovered by two scuba divers in 1986.Cave is located - below the sea level, down the wall of a coral cliff...

may indicate human occupation thousands of years before that. The pattern of settlement that is believed to have occurred is that the Polynesians spread out from the Samoan Islands into the Tuvaluan atolls, with Tuvalu providing a stepping stone to migration into the Polynesian outlier communities in Melanesia

Melanesia

and Micronesia

Micronesia

Micronesia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising thousands of small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It is distinct from Melanesia to the south, and Polynesia to the east. The Philippines lie to the west, and Indonesia to the southwest....

.

Tuvalu is thought to have been visited by 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...

ns in the mid-13th century, although it is uncertain whether they settled permanently. It was, however, within Tonga's sphere of influence, and there were regular contacts between the two island groups. Tuvalu is on the western boundary of the Polynesian Triangle

Polynesian Triangle

The Polynesian Triangle is a region of the Pacific Ocean with three island groups at its corners: Hawaii, Easter Island and New Zealand. It is often used as a simple way to define Polynesia....

so that the northern islands of Tuvalu, particularly Nui

Nui

Nui is an atoll and one of nine districts of the Pacific Ocean state of Tuvalu. It has a land area of 3.37 km² and a population of 548 .-Geography:Nui consists of at least 21 islets...

have links to Micronesians from Kiribati

Kiribati

Voyages by Europeans in the Pacific

Tuvalu was first sighted by Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

ans in 1568 with the arrival of Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira

Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira

Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira was a Spanish navigator. Born in Congosto, in León, he was the nephew of Lope García de Castro, viceroy of Peru...

from Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

who also encountered the island of Nui which he named Isla de Jesus (Island of Jesus) but was unable to land. Keith S. Chambers and Doug Munro (1980) identify Niutao

Niutao

Niutao is a reef island in the northern part of Tuvalu. It is one of the nine districts of Tuvalu, and one of the three who consist of only one island, not counting the three islets inside the closed lagoon. Niutao has a population of 663 .-Geography:There are two lakes , which are brackish to...

as the island that Francisco Antonio Mourelle

Francisco Antonio Mourelle

Francisco Antonio Mourelle de la Rúa was a Galician naval officer and explorer serving the Spanish crown. He was born in 1750 at San Adrián de Corme , near La Coruña, Galicia.-1775 voyage:...

named on May 5, 1781 thus solving what Europeans had called The Mystery of Gran Cocal.

In May 1819, Captain Arent de Peyster (or Peyter) of New York, as captain of the armed brigantine

Brigantine

In sailing, a brigantine or hermaphrodite brig is a vessel with two masts, only the forward of which is square rigged.-Origins of the term:...

or privateer

Privateer

A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...

Rebecca, sailing under British colours, while on a voyage from Valparaíso

Valparaíso

Valparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...

to India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, passed through the southern Tuvalu waters; de Peyster sighted Nukufetau

Nukufetau

Nukufetau is an atoll that is part of the nation of Tuvalu. The atoll was claimed by the US under the Guano Islands Act some time in the 19th century and was ceded in a treaty of friendship concluded in 1979 and coming into force in 1983...

and Funafuti

Funafuti

, which he named Ellice's Island after an English Politician, Edward Ellice

Edward Ellice (merchant)

Edward Ellice the Elder , known in his time as the "Bear", was a British merchant and politician. He was a Director of the Hudson's Bay Company and a prime mover behind the Reform Bill of 1832....

, the Member of Parliament for Coventry and the owner of the Rebecca's cargo. The next morning, De Peyster discovered another group of about seventeen low islands forty-three miles northwest of Funafuti

Funafuti

, naming this group "De Peyster's Islands." It is the first name, however, that was eventually used for the whole island group.

In 1820 the Russian explorer Mikhail Lazarev visited Nukufetau

Nukufetau

as commander of the Mirny. Following 1819 whalers were roving the Pacific though visiting Tuvalu only infrequently because of the difficulties of landing ships on the atolls. No settlements were established by the whalers.

Peruvian slave raiders ("blackbirders

Blackbirding

Blackbirding is a term that refers to recruitment of people through trickery and kidnappings to work as labourers. From the 1860s blackbirding ships were engaged in seeking workers to mine the guano deposits on the Chincha Islands in Peru...

") seeking workers to mine the 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...

deposits on the 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,...

in Peru, combed the Pacific between 1862 and 1865, including the southern islands of Tuvalu. The Rev. A. W. Murray, the earliest European missionary in Tuvalu, reported that in 1863 about 180 people were taken from Funafuti

Funafuti

and about 200 were taken from Nukulaelae

Nukulaelae

Nukulaelae is an atoll that is part of the nation of Tuvalu, and has a population of 393. It has the form of an oval and consists of at least 15 islets...

as there were fewer than 100 of the 300 recorded in 1861 as living on Nukulaelae

Nukulaelae

Nukulaelae is an atoll that is part of the nation of Tuvalu, and has a population of 393. It has the form of an oval and consists of at least 15 islets...

Christian missionaries

Christianity first came to Tuvalu in 1861 when Elekana, a Christian deacon from Manihiki

Manihiki

Manihiki is an island in the Cook Islands known as the Island of Pearls. It is a triangular atoll north of Rarotonga.- History :Polynesians are believed to have lived on Manihiki since at least 900 or 1000 AD. Kupe was the first to explore Aotea Roa. Kupe came from Manihiki, also known as...

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...

became caught in a storm and drifted for 8 weeks before landing at Nukulaelae

Nukulaelae

Nukulaelae is an atoll that is part of the nation of Tuvalu, and has a population of 393. It has the form of an oval and consists of at least 15 islets...

. Once there, Elekana began proselytizing

Proselytism

Proselytizing is the act of attempting to convert people to another opinion and, particularly, another religion. The word proselytize is derived ultimately from the Greek language prefix προσ- and the verb ἔρχομαι in the form of προσήλυτος...

Christianity.

In 1865 the Rev. A. W. Murray of the London Missionary Society

London Missionary Society

The London Missionary Society was a non-denominational missionary society formed in England in 1795 by evangelical Anglicans and Nonconformists, largely Congregationalist in outlook, with missions in the islands of the South Pacific and Africa...

- a Protestant congregationalist missionary society - arrived as the first European missionary where he too proselytized

Proselytism

among the inhabitants of Tuvalu. By 1878 Protestantism was well established with preachers on each island.

Trading firms & traders

The Sydney firms of Robert Towns and Company, J. C. Malcolm and Company, and Macdonald, Smith and Company, pioneered the coconut-oil trade in Tuvalu. By the 1870s J. C. Godeffroy und Sohn of Hamburg (operating out of Samoa) began to dominate the Tuvalu copra

Copra

Copra is the dried meat, or kernel, of the coconut. Coconut oil extracted from it has made copra an important agricultural commodity for many coconut-producing countries. It also yields coconut cake which is mainly used as feed for livestock.-Production:...

trade, which company was in 1879 taken over by Handels-und Plantagen-Gesellschaft der Südsee-Inseln zu Hamburg (DHPG). Competition came from H. M. Ruge and Company, and from Henderson and Macfarlane of Auckland, New Zealand. These trading companies engaged palagi

Palagi

Palagi or papaalagi is a term in Samoan culture of uncertain meaning, but sometimes used to describe foreigners or anything that does not 'belong' to Samoan culture...

traders who lived on the islands, some islands would have competing traders with dryer islands only have a single trader.

Changes occurred with steamships replacing sailing vessels. Over time the number of competing trading companies diminished, beginning with Ruge’s bankruptcy in 1888 followed by the withdrawal of the DHPG from trading in Tuvalu in 1889/90. Henderson and Macfarlane then dominated the copra

Copra

trade, operating their vessel SS Archer to call on islands in 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...

, Tuvalu, and Kiribati

Kiribati

. New competition came from Burns Philp, operating from what is now Kiribati

Kiribati

, with competition from Levers Pacific Plantations from 1903 and from Captain E. F. H. Allen of the Samoa Shipping and Trading Company from 1911. The numbers of palagi

Palagi

Palagi or papaalagi is a term in Samoan culture of uncertain meaning, but sometimes used to describe foreigners or anything that does not 'belong' to Samoan culture...

traders declined with the supercargo

Supercargo

Supercargo is a term in maritime law that refers to a person employed on board a vessel by the owner of cargo carried on the ship...

of each ship dealing directly with Tuvaluans so that by 1909 there were no resident palagi

Palagi

Palagi or papaalagi is a term in Samoan culture of uncertain meaning, but sometimes used to describe foreigners or anything that does not 'belong' to Samoan culture...

traders representing the trading firms. Tuvaluans became responsible for for operating trading stores on each island.

In 1892 Captain Davis of the , reported on trading activities and traders on each of the islands visited. Captain Davis identified the following traders in the Ellice Group: Edmund Duffy (Nanumea

Nanumea

); Jack Buckland

Jack Buckland

John Wilberforce Buckland , also known as ‘Tin Jack’, was a remittance man who lived in the South Pacific in the late 19th century. He travelled with Robert Louis Stevenson and his stories of life as an island trader became the inspiration for the character of Tommy Hadden in The Wrecker...

(Niutao

Niutao

); Harry Nitz (Vaitupu

Vaitupu

Vaitupu is an atoll, which is part of the nation of Tuvalu.Vaitupu, the largest atoll of Tuvalu is located at 7.48 degrees south and 178.83 degrees west. The capital is Asau.-History:...

); John (also known as Jack) O'Brien (Funafuti

Funafuti

); Alfred Restieaux and Fenisot (Nukufetau

Nukufetau

); and Martin Kleis (Nui). This was the time at which the greatest number of palagi

Palagi

Palagi or papaalagi is a term in Samoan culture of uncertain meaning, but sometimes used to describe foreigners or anything that does not 'belong' to Samoan culture...

traders lived on the atolls, acting as agents for the trading companies.

In the later 1890s and into first decade of the 20th century, structural changes occurred in the operation of the Pacific trading companies, with the trading companies moving from a practice of having traders resident on each island to trade with the islanders to a business operation where the supercargo

Supercargo

Supercargo is a term in maritime law that refers to a person employed on board a vessel by the owner of cargo carried on the ship...

(the cargo manager of a trading ship) would deal directly with the islanders when a ship would visit an island. From 1900 the numbers of palagi

Palagi

Palagi or papaalagi is a term in Samoan culture of uncertain meaning, but sometimes used to describe foreigners or anything that does not 'belong' to Samoan culture...

traders in Tuvalu declined, with the last of the palagi

Palagi

Palagi or papaalagi is a term in Samoan culture of uncertain meaning, but sometimes used to describe foreigners or anything that does not 'belong' to Samoan culture...

traders being Fred Whibley

Fred Whibley

Fred Whibley abandoned a career in a London bank to escape from the constraints and social expectations of respectability in the Victorian era...

on Niutao

Niutao

and Alfred Restieaux on Nukufetau

Nukufetau

. However, by 1909 there were no resident palagi

Palagi

Palagi or papaalagi is a term in Samoan culture of uncertain meaning, but sometimes used to describe foreigners or anything that does not 'belong' to Samoan culture...

traders representing the trading companies, although both Fred Whibley

Fred Whibley

Fred Whibley abandoned a career in a London bank to escape from the constraints and social expectations of respectability in the Victorian era...

and Alfred Restieaux remained in the islands until their deaths.

Scientific expeditions & travellers

The United States Exploring Expedition

United States Exploring Expedition

The United States Exploring Expedition was an exploring and surveying expedition of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding lands conducted by the United States from 1838 to 1842. The original appointed commanding officer was Commodore Thomas ap Catesby Jones. The voyage was authorized by Congress in...

under Charles Wilkes visited Funafuti

Funafuti

, Nukufetau

Nukufetau

and Vaitupu

Vaitupu

Vaitupu is an atoll, which is part of the nation of Tuvalu.Vaitupu, the largest atoll of Tuvalu is located at 7.48 degrees south and 178.83 degrees west. The capital is Asau.-History:...

in 1841. During the visit of the expedition to Tuvalu Alfred Thomas Agate, engraver and illustrator, recorded the dress and tattoo patterns of men of Nukufetau

Nukufetau

.

In 1890 Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....

, his wife Fanny Vandegrift Stevenson, and her son Lloyd Osbourne

Lloyd Osbourne

Samuel Lloyd Osbourne was an American author and the stepson of Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson with whom he would co-author three books and provide input and ideas on others.-Early life:...

sailed on the Janet Nicoll, a trading steamer owned by Henderson and Macfarlane of Auckland, New Zealand, which operated between Sydney, Auckland and into the central Pacific. The Janet Nicoll visited Tuvalu; while Fanny records that they made landfall at Funafuti

Funafuti

and Niutao

Niutao

, Jane Resture suggests that it was more likely that they visited Nukufetau

Nukufetau

rather than Funafuti

Funafuti

. An account of the voyage was written by Fanny Vandegrift Stevenson and published under the title The Cruise of the Janet Nichol, together with photographs taken by Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....

and Lloyd Osbourne

Lloyd Osbourne

Samuel Lloyd Osbourne was an American author and the stepson of Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson with whom he would co-author three books and provide input and ideas on others.-Early life:...

.

In 1894 Count Rudolph Festetics de Tolna, his wife Eila (née Haggin) and her daughter Blanche Haggin visited Funafuti

Funafuti

aboard the yacht Le Tolna. Le Tolna spent several days at Funafuti

Funafuti

with the Count photographing men and woman on Funafuti

Funafuti

.

The boreholes on Funafuti

Funafuti

at the site now called David's Drill are the result of drilling conducted by the Royal Society of London for the purpose of investigating the formation of coral reefs and whether traces of shallow water organisms could be found at depth in the coral

Coral

Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...

of Pacific atolls. This investigation followed the work on the structure and distribution of coral reefs

The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs

The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs, Being the first part of the geology of the voyage of the Beagle, under the command of Capt. Fitzroy, R.N. during the years 1832 to 1836, was published in 1842 as Charles Darwin's first monograph, and set out his theory of the formation of coral reefs...

conducted by Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin

Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...

in the Pacific. Drilling occurred in 1896, 1897 and 1911. Professor Edgeworth David

Edgeworth David

Sir Tannatt William Edgeworth David KBE, DSO, FRS, was a Welsh Australian geologist and Antarctic explorer. A household name in his lifetime, David's most significant achievements were discovering the major Hunter Valley coalfield in New South Wales and leading the first expedition to reach the...

of the University of Sydney

University of Sydney

The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...

lead the expeditions in 1896 & 1897. Photographers on the expeditions recorded people, communities and scenes at Funafuti.

Harry Clifford Fassett

Harry Clifford Fassett

Harry Clifford Fassett worked for the United States Fish Commission and later the United States Bureau of Fisheries. He became an expert on the salmon fisheries in Alaska and was also a map-maker and photographer....

, captain's clerk and photographer, recorded people, communities and scenes at Funafuti during a visit of USFC Albatross

USS Albatross (1882)

The second USS Albatross, often seen as USFC Albatross in scientific literature citations, was an iron-hulled, twin-screw steamer in the United States Navy and reputedly the first vessel ever built especially for marine research....

when the U.S. Fish Commission were investigating the formation of coral reefs on Pacific atoll

Atoll

An atoll is a coral island that encircles a lagoon partially or completely.- Usage :The word atoll comes from the Dhivehi word atholhu OED...

s in 1900.

The Pacific War & Operation Galvanic

During the Pacific War the United States Marine Corps

United States Marine Corps

The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...

landed on Funafuti

Funafuti

on October 2, 1942. The Japanese had already occupied Tarawa and other islands in what is now Kiribati

Kiribati

, A Naval Construction Battalion (Seabees) built compacted coral runways at Funafuti

Funafuti

with satellites airfields on both Nanumea

Nanumea

and Nukufetau

Nukufetau

. Building the runway at Funafuti involved the loss of land used for growing pulaka

Pulaka

Pulaka , or swamp taro, is a crop grown in Oceania and an important source of carbohydrates for the area's inhabitants. It is a "swamp crop" similar to taro, but "with bigger leaves and larger, coarser roots." Pulaka roots need to be cooked for hours to reduce toxicity in the corms, but are rich...

and taro

Taro

Taro is a common name for the corms and tubers of several plants in the family Araceae . Of these, Colocasia esculenta is the most widely cultivated, and is the subject of this article. More specifically, this article describes the 'dasheen' form of taro; another variety is called eddoe.Taro is...

with extensive excavation of coral from what are still known as the borrow pit

Borrow pit

A borrow pit, also known as a sand box, is a term used in construction and civil engineering. It describes an area where material has been dug for use at another location. Borrow pits can be found close to many major construction projects...

s. The runway continues in use today as Funafuti International Airport

Funafuti International Airport

Funafuti International Airport is an airport located in Funafuti, capital of the island nation of Tuvalu.-History:Funafuti Airport was built by United States Navy Seabee construction battalions in 1943 during World War II. The military airfield included an airstrip, control tower, facilities and...

.

The Seabees also blasted an opening in the reef at Nanumea

Nanumea

, which became known as the 'American Passage'.

While Funafuti suffered air attacks during 1943, casualties were limited, although on one occasion on 23 April 1943, 680 people took refuge in the concrete walled, pandanus

Pandanus

Pandanus is a genus of monocots with about 600 known species. They are numerous palmlike dioecious trees and shrubs native of the Old World tropics and subtropics. They are classified in the order Pandanales, family Pandanaceae.-Overview:...

-thatched church. Fortunately an American soldier, Corporal B. F. Ladd persuaded them to get into dugouts, as a bomb struck the building shortly after.

USAAF

United States Army Air Forces

The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....

B-24 Liberator bombers of the Seventh Air Force

Seventh Air Force

The Seventh Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces . It is headquartered at Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea....

operated from Tuvalu. The atolls of Tuvalu acted as a staging post during the preparation for the Battle of Tarawa

Battle of Tarawa

The Battle of Tarawa, code named Operation Galvanic, was a battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II, largely fought from November 20 to November 23, 1943. It was the first American offensive in the critical central Pacific region....

and the Battle of Makin

Battle of Makin

The Battle of Makin was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought from 20 November to 24 November 1943, on Makin Atoll in the Gilbert Islands.-Japanese invasion and fortification:...

that commenced on 20 November 1943, which was the implementation of operation 'Galvanic'.

Recent history

Tuvalu became fully independent in 1978 and in 1979 signed a treaty of friendship with the United States, which recognized Tuvalu's possession of four small islands formerly claimed by the United States.

Tuvalu

Tuvalu

became the 189th member of the United Nations

United Nations

in September 2000. At present, the country's Permanent Representative to the United Nations is Ambassador Afelee F. Pita

Afelee F. Pita

Afelee F. Pita, born February 11, 1958, is a Tuvaluan diplomat. He is currently Tuvalu's Permanent Representative to the United Nations.Pita holds a Master's degree in public administration from the University of Canberra and a Bachelor of Arts degree in administration and accounting from the...

.

Tuvalu, one of the world's smallest countries, has indicated that its priority within the United Nations is to emphasise "climate change

Climate change

Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...

and the unique vulnerabilities of Tuvalu to its adverse impacts". Other priorities are obtaining "additional development assistance from potential donor countries", widening the scope of Tuvalu's bilateral diplomatic relations, and, more generally, expressing "Tuvalu's interests and concerns". The issue of climate change has featured prominently in Tuvalu's interventions.

In 2002, Governor-General

Governor-General of Tuvalu

The Governor-General of Tuvalu is the representative of Queen Elizabeth II as Queen of Tuvalu, the nation's Head of State, and performs the duties of the Queen in her absence.-History:...

Tomasi Puapua

Sir Tomasi Puapua, GCMG, KBE, PC is a political figure from the Pacific nation of Tuvalu.-Prime minister:He was the second Prime Minister of Tuvalu from 1981-1989...

concluded his address to the United Nations General Assembly

United Nations General Assembly

For two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...

by saying:

"Finally, Mr. President, efforts to ensure sustainable development, peace, security and longterm livelihood for the world will have no meaning to us in Tuvalu in the absence of serious actions to address the adverse and devastating effects of global warming. At no more than three meters above sea level, Tuvalu is particularly exposed to these effects. Indeed our people are already migrating to escape, and are already suffering from the consequences of what world authorities on climate change have consistently been warning us. Only two weeks ago, a period when the weather was normal and calm and at low tide, unusually big waves suddenly crashed ashore and flooded most part of the capital island.

In the event that the situation is not reversed, where does the international community think the Tuvalu people are to hide from the onslaught of sea level rise? Taking us as environmental refugees, is not what Tuvalu is after in the long run. We want the islands of Tuvalu and our nation to remain permanently and not be submerged as a result of greed and uncontrolled consumption of industrialized countries. We want our children to grow up the way my wife and I did in our own islands and in our own culture.

We once again appeal to the industrialized countries, particularly those who have not done so, to urgently ratify and fully implement the Kyoto Protocol

Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change , aimed at fighting global warming...

, and to provide concrete support in all our adaptation efforts to cope with the effects of climate change and sea level rise. Tuvalu, having little or nothing to do with the causes, cannot be left on its own to pay the price. We must work together. May God Bless you all. May God Bless the United Nations."

Addressing the Special Session of the Security Council

United Nations Security Council

The United Nations Security Council is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of...

on Energy, Climate and Security in April 2007, Ambassador Pita stated:

"We face many threats associated with climate change. Ocean warming is changing the very nature of our island nation. Slowly our coral reefs are dying through coral bleaching, we are witnessing changes to fish stocks, and we face the increasing threat of more severe cyclones. With the highest point of four metres above sea level, the threat of severe cyclones is extremely disturbing, and severe water shortages will further threaten the livelihoods of people in many islands. Madam President, our livelihood is already threatened by sea level rise, and the implications for our long term security are very disturbing. Many have spoken about the possibility of migrating from our homeland. If this becomes a reality, then we are faced with an unprecedented threat to our nationhood. This would be an infringement on our fundamental rights to nationality and statehood as constituted under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly . The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled...

and other international conventions."

Addressing the United Nations General Assembly in September 2008, Prime Minister Apisai Ielemia

Apisai Ielemia

Apisai Ielemia is a Tuvaluan politician. He served as the tenth Prime Minister of Tuvalu from 2006 to 2010.-Background:...

stated:

"Climate change is, without doubt, the most serious threat to the global security and survival of mankind. It is an issue of enormous concern to a highly vulnerable small island State like Tuvalu. Here in this Great House, we now know both the science and economics of climate change. We also know the cause of climate change, and that human actions by ALL countries are urgently needed to address it. The central message of both the IPCC

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a scientific intergovernmental body which provides comprehensive assessments of current scientific, technical and socio-economic information worldwide about the risk of climate change caused by human activity, its potential environmental and...

reports and the Sir Nicholas Stern

Nicholas Stern

Nicholas Herbert Stern, Baron Stern of Brentford, Kt, FBA is a British economist and academic. He is IG Patel Professor of Economics and Government, Chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics , and 2010 Professor of Collège de...

reports to us, world leaders, is crystal clear: unless urgent actions are done to curb greenhoses gasses emissions by shifting to a new global energy mix based on renewable energy sources, and unless timely adaptation is done, the adverse impact of climate change on all communities, will be catastrophic." (italics in original submission)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Early history

Voyages by Europeans in the Pacific

Christian missionaries

Trading firms & traders

Scientific expeditions & travellers

The Pacific War & Operation Galvanic

Recent history

Further reading

See also

External links