Baiteke
| Baiteke | |
|---|---|
| Uea of Abemama | |
 "Tem Baiteke. King of Apemama" Handley Bathurst Sterndale | |
| Reign | c. 1850 – 1878 |
| Predecessor | Tewaia |
| Successor | Binoka |
| Issue | Binoka Timon |
| House | Tuangaona |
| Father | Tewaia (official) Karotu (biological) |
| Mother | Teaa |
Baiteke (r. 1850–1878) was the third ruler of the Kingdom of Abemama. Forced to confront growing European influence, Baiteke ordered every foreigner in his kingdom killed, closed his borders, and limited trade to a single port. With firearms bought from the Europeans, Baiteke easily suppressed rebellions. He established a stratified society with his family at the top. In 1878, he abdicated in favour of his eldest son, Binoka.
Early life
[edit]Karotu was the first ruler of the Kingdom of Abemama, a precolonial polity in the Gilbert Islands. Ruled by the Tuangaona utu,[a] the kingdom encompassed Abemama, Kuria, and Aranuka. In the 1840s, Tewaia succeeded his father, Karotu, and was given the chiefly title of uea.[b][c] Soon after, Teaa, Karotu's second wife, fell pregnant. Tewaia accepted Karotu and Teaa's wishes for the new child to be the next uea and had sex with Teaa four times so that the child would be considered his son.[4] Teaa gave birth around 1810;[5] the child was announced as Tewaia's son and named Baiteke.[d] Locals on Abemama told the story to R. G. Roberts, who recounted it in The Journal of the Polynesian Society. While Roberts wrote that Baiteke was actually Karotu's son,[4] H. E. Maude later concluded it was impossible to know if Karotu or Tewaii was Baiteke's father.[7]
In 1821, I-Matang[e] whalers began to frequent the area. In the 1830s, during Karotu's reign, the I-Abemama[f] began trading bêche-de-mer with European ships. Beachcombers began arriving on Karotu's islands in 1838. Growing I-Matang influence eroded traditional I-Kiribati governance and norms, and would become a key issue of Baiteke's reign. Tewaia's reign was brief and uneventful, and Baiteke succeeded him as uea around 1850.[7]
Reign
[edit]I-Matang
[edit]In the 1840s, a number of beachcombers were enroaching on the island realm. The Abemamans prostituted female serfs to whalers, who started barters controlled by them rather than the uea. In the 1840s, there was an influx of whalers and merchants seeking to trade for coconut oil, including ships under Richard Randell's firm. Considering this, Baiteke had all nine foreigners staying on Abemama killed. Several months later, he ordered the deaths of the 25 foreigners residing on Kuria and Aranuka. Maude wrote that Baiteke did not face any European retribution — or even any demands for reprisal — largely because of Richard Randell.[8]
Richard Randell, married to an I-Kiribati woman, fluent in the Gilbertese language, advocated for them to Protestant missionaries led by Randell's close friend Hiram Bingham. Randell cast the foreigners as men who committed atrocities against I-Kiribati and influenced Baiteke against missionaries. According to Maude, he was largely why Baiteke did not face any calls of retribution for the massacre.
Rebellions
[edit]Society
[edit]Legacy
[edit]In late 1878, Baiteke abdicated in favour of his eldest son, Binoka.
Notes
[edit]- ^ Family.[1]
- ^ The Gilbertese language uea has been translated as "king" or "high chief".[1] It refers to a hereditary monarch, and has been used for men and women.[2]
- ^ H. E. Maude refers to Karotu as the first uea of the State of Abemama.[3] However, R. G. Roberts writes that Karotu inherited Tetabo's title of mataniwi-iaon-te-aba (lit. 'the master on the land') and proclaimed his son, Tewaia, the first uea.[4]
- ^ R. G. Roberts translated Baiteke as "(to) hit things",[4] while A Combined Kiribati-English Dictionary defines the word as "dexterity" when used as a noun, and "having a sure aim" as a verb.[6]
- ^ Foreigners.
- ^ People of Abemama
Citations
[edit]- ^ a b Uriam 1995, p. xv.
- ^ Roberts 1953, p. 275.
- ^ Maude 1970, p. 204.
- ^ a b c d Roberts 1953, p. 271.
- ^ Uriam 1995, p. 170.
- ^ Trussel, Stephen; Groves, Gordon W. (2003) [1978]. "baiteke". A Combined Kiribati-English Dictionary. Retrieved July 18, 2024.
- ^ a b Maude 1970, p. 205.
- ^ Maude 1970, p. 206–207; Garrett 1982, p. 153.
Bibliography
[edit]- Maude, H. E. (1970). "Baiteke and Binoka of Abemama: Arbiters of change in the Gilbert Islands". In Davidson, J. W.; Scarr, Deryck (eds.). Pacific Islands Portraits. Canberra: ANU Press. ISBN 0708101666.
- Garrett, John (1982). To Live Among the Stars: Christian Origins in Oceania. Geneva : Suva: World Council of Churches. ISBN 978-2-8254-0692-2.
- Roberts, R. G. (1953). "The Dynasty of Abemama". The Journal of the Polynesian Society. 62 (3). Polynesian Society: 267–278. JSTOR 20703382.
- Uriam, Kambati K. (1995). In Their Own Words: History and Society in Gilbertese Oral Tradition. Australian National University: The Journal of Pacific History. ISBN 0959547770.