Draft:Tetabo

Ten Tetabo was an 18th-century Gilbertese warrior and landowner. He was the founder of Tuangaona, the ruling family of Abemama, Kuria and Aranuka during the 19th century.

According to oral tradition, Tetabo was the son of villagers from Tabontebike, Abemama. Before he was born, his parents performed magic spells that resulted in Tetabo being a toa (giant), a man endowed with supernatural size and strength. When invaders attacked from the north, Tetabo unified Abemama against them and became the first person to do so. He was accorded the Gilbertese title of mataniwi-iaon-te-aba (lit. 'master-over-the-land'). Despite his exploits, Tetabo fell out of favour with the people because of his constant intrigues and was exiled from Abemama. In his later years, Tetabo quietly returned to live on his lands at Kabangaki.

The Gilbert Islands are a chain of coral atolls in the Pacific Ocean. The Gilberts were annexed into the British Empire in 1892 and received independence under the Republic of Kiribati in 1979. Located on the southeast end of Micronesia, the Gilberts are poor in land and resources, but the Gilbertese people developed a rich store of oral tradition. The precise memorization and recitation of stories and genealogies was how the Gilbertese passed down skills, affirmed land rights and established consanguinity. The British colonial administrator and historian H. E. Maude argued that, to oral tradition, "one may accord a degree of reliability concerning more recent events approximating to that possessed by many documents accepted by historians."

Ten Tetabo was the son of Ten Teannaki and Nei Teraeai.^[1] His parents were villagers from Tabontebike, Abemama, and a married couple.^[2] His father, Teannaki, was the great-great-grandson of Tem Mwea,^[3]

In 1953, R. G. Roberts, Native Lands Commissioner of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, wrote that Tetabo was accorded the title of mataniwi-iaon-te-aba (lit. 'master-over-the-land') but not of uea (lit. 'high chief'). Later sources claim that Tetabo or his grandson Karotu were the first to receive the latter title.

Despite his exploits, Tetabo eventually fell out of favour with the people because of his constant intrigues and was exiled from Abemama. In his later years, Tetabo quietly returned to work on his lands at Kabangaki.

• Clarke, Thurston (1990). Equator: A Journey. Avon Books. ISBN 978-0-380-70855-0.
• 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. ANU Press. ISBN 0708101666.
• Pateman, May, ed. (1942). Aia Karaki nikawai I-Tungaru [Myths and Legends of the Gilbertese People] (PDF) (in Gilbertese). London Missionary Society.
• Roberts, R. G. (1953). "The Dynasty of Abemama". The Journal of the Polynesian Society. 62 (3). Polynesian Society: 267–277. JSTOR 20703382.
• Simon, Paul I. (1960) [1916]. The Genealogical Book of the Royal Family of Abemama (in Gilbertese). Copied by John R. Tokatake.
• Teeko, Airam (2019) [1989]. "A History of Abemama". In Maude, H. E. (ed.). Tungaru Traditions. Translated by Cowell, Reid. University of Hawaiʻi Press. pp. 334–354. ISBN 9780824882235.
• Uriam, Kambati K. (1995). In Their Own Words: History and Society in Gilbertese Oral Tradition. The Journal of Pacific History. ISBN 0959547770.