Tabomatang Explained

Tabomatang is a village settlement on Nikunau Island in Kiribati. It is located near the southern end of the island; the nearest locations, a mile or two to the north, are Manriki and Nikumanu. The village has a population of less than 100 nowadays,[1] a shadow of its former self, with so many people having migrated to Tarawa Atoll. The village has several mwenga, a Protestant church and a church mwaneaba. The Te Atu ni Uea mwaneaba is now in ruins. It had 18 boti – for a floor plan, see Latouche, 1983, p. 74.[2] Tabomatang may have been the village that HMS Dolphin, under the command of John Byron, stood off in 1765, according to Officer on Board the Said Ship (1767, pp. 135–138).[3]

References

-1.4°N 205°W

Notes and References

  1. Office of Te Beretitenti & T’Makei Services. (2012). Nikunau [Online]. Available at: http://www.climate.gov.ki/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/15_NIKUNAU-revised-2012.pdf (accessed 28 November 2014).
  2. Latouche, J-P. (1983). Mythistoire Tungaru: Cosmologies et genealogies aux Iles Gilbert. Paris: Societe d'Etudes Linguistiques et Anthropologiques de France.
  3. Officer on Board the Said Ship. (1767). A voyage round the world in His Majesty’s Ship the ‘Dolphin’, commanded by the honourable commodore Byron. London: J. Newbery and F. Newbery.