Matunga (Penrhyn) Explained

Matunga, also known as Morokai, is an islet in Penrhyn Atoll (Tongareva) in the Cook Islands, in the South Pacific Ocean.[1] The islet is in the northwest of the atoll, just south of Tekasi. Matunga contains the ruins of a marae, Kirihuri, as well as a ruined church. It was one of the missionary villages depopulated by Peruvian slavers.[2]

In 1890 after an outbreak of leprosy the island was used as a leper colony and was renamed "morokai".[3] The remaining lepers were evacuated to Fiji in 1929.[4]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Penrhyn Atoll . Liu Chuang . Shi Ruixiang . Chen Lijun . Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences . January 2019 . 10 August 2020.
  2. Book: Ethnology of Tongareva . Te Rangi Hiroa . Bernice P. Bishop Museum . Honolulu . April 1932 . 159 . 21 August 2020 . NZETC.
  3. Book: The Dark Island: Leprosy in New Zealand and the Quail Island Colony . Benjamin Kingsbury . Bridget Williams Books . Wellington . 2019 . 11.
  4. Hiroa (1932), p. 82

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