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Tuvaluan Mythology
Tuvaluan mythology tells stories of the creation of the islands of Tuvalu and of the founding ancestors of each island. While on some of the islands there are stories of spirits creating the islands, a creation story that is found on many of the islands is that ''te Pusi mo te Ali'' (the Eel and the Flounder) created the islands of Tuvalu; ''te Ali'' (the flounder) is believed to be the origin of the flat atolls of Tuvalu and ''te Pusi'' (the eel) is the model for the coconut palms that are important in the lives of Tuvaluans. The strength of this belief has the consequence that Moray eel are ''tapu'' and are not eaten. Origin myths of the people of Tuvalu The reef islands and atolls of Tuvalu are identified as being part of West Polynesia. During pre-European-contact times there was frequent canoe voyaging between the islands as Polynesian navigation skills are recognised to have allowed deliberate journeys on double-hulled sailing canoes or outrigger canoes. The pattern of se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gymnothorax Fimbriatus
''Gymnothorax'' is a genus of fish in the family Muraenidae found in Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean. With more than 120 species, it the most speciose genus of moray eels. Smith (2012) noted that ''Gymnothorax'' as currently recognized is polyphyletic, but cautioned that comparative studies are needed before action is taken to resurrect generic synonyms of ''Gymnothorax''. Species Both FishBase and World Register of Marine Species recognize a total of 128 valid species in the genus. However, each database includes three species that the other does not list, which are noted in the list below. * ''Gymnothorax afer'' Bloch, 1795 (Dark moray) * ''Gymnothorax albimarginatus'' (Temminck & Schlegel, 1846) (White-margin moray) *''Gymnothorax andamanensis'' * ''Gymnothorax angusticauda'' ( M. C. W. Weber & de Beaufort, 1916) (Narrow-tail moray) * ''Gymnothorax angusticeps'' (Hildebrand & F. O. Barton, 1949) * ''Gymnothorax annasona'' Whitley, 1937 (Lord Howe Island moray) * ''Gy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samoan Mythology
Samoan culture tells stories of many different deities. There were deities of the forest, the seas, rain, harvest, villages, and war. There were two types of deities, ''atua'', who had non-human origins, and ''aitu'', who were of human origin. Tagaloa was a supreme god who made the islands and the people. Mafuiʻe was the god of earthquakes. There were also a number of war deities. Nafanua, Samoa's warrior goddess hails from the village of Falealupo at the western end of Savai'i island, which is also the site of the entry into Pulotu, the spirit world. She also is regarded as a peace bringer, having brought peace to Savai'i through winning the wars between the two regions of the island. Tilafaiga is the mother of Nafanua. Nafanua's father, Saveasi'uleo, was the god of Pulotu. Another well-known legend tells of two sisters, Tilafaiga, the mother of Nafanua, and Taema, bringing the art of tattooing to Samoa from Fiti. A figure of another legend is Tui Fiti, who resides at Fagamalo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sina And The Eel
Sina and the Eel is a myth of origins in Samoan mythology, which explains the origins of the first coconut tree. In the Samoan language the legend is called ''Sina ma le Tuna.'' ''Tuna'' is the Samoan word for 'eel'. The story is also well known throughout Polynesia including Tonga, Fiji and Māori in New Zealand. Different versions of the legend are told in different countries in Oceania. The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') has many uses and is an important source of food. It is also used for making coconut oil, baskets, sennit rope used in traditional Samoan house building, weaving and for the building of small traditional houses or '' fale''. The dried meat of the coconut or copra has been an important export product and a source of income throughout the Pacific. The legend of Sina and the Eel is associated with other figures in Polynesian mythology such as Hina, Tinilau, Tagaloa and Nafanua. Sina is also the name of various female figures in Polynesian mythology. The wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tuvaluan Language
Tuvaluan (), often called Tuvalu, is a Polynesian language closely related to the Ellicean group spoken in Tuvalu. It is more or less distantly related to all other Polynesian languages, such as Hawaiian, Māori, Tahitian, Samoan, Tokelauan and Tongan, and most closely related to the languages spoken on the Polynesian Outliers in Micronesia and Northern and Central Melanesia. Tuvaluan has borrowed considerably from Samoan, the language of Christian missionaries in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The population of Tuvalu is approximately 10,645 people (2017 Mini Census) There are estimated to be more than 13,000 Tuvaluan speakers worldwide. In 2015 it was estimated that more than 3,500 Tuvaluans live in New Zealand, with about half that number born in New Zealand and 65 percent of the Tuvaluan community in New Zealand is able to speak Tuvaluan. Name variations Native speakers of Tuvaluan have various names for their language. In the language itself, it is often re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Johnson Sollas
Prof William Johnson Sollas PGS FRS FRSE LLD (30 May 1849 – 20 October 1936) was a British geologist and anthropologist. After studying at the City of London School, the Royal College of Chemistry and the Royal School of Mines he matriculated to St. John's College, Cambridge, where he was awarded First Class Honours in geology. After some time spent as a University Extension lecturer he became lecturer in Geology and Zoology at University College, Bristol in 1879, where he stayed until he was offered the post of Professor of Geology at Trinity College Dublin. In 1897 he was offered the post of Professor of Geology at the University of Oxford, which he accepted. Considered "one of the last true geological polymaths", Sollas worked in a number of areas including the study of sponges, brachiopods and petrological research, and during his lifetime published 180 papers and wrote three books. He also invented the serial sectioning device for the study of fossils.A method for the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Niutao
Niutao is a reef island in the northern part of Tuvalu. It is one of the nine districts (islands) of Tuvalu. It is also one of the three districts that consist of only one island - not counting the three islets inside the closed lagoon. Niutao has a population of 582 (2017 census). Geography There are two lakes (ponds or lagoons), which are brackish to saline. The larger has three islands and a dam. There are three wells from which fresher water sits in a "lens" above the salt water that leaches in through the coral. Older maps show the only village as Tuapa (with the neighbourhood of Angafoulua). The main village is Kulia; another village is Teava. There is a maneapa (community hall), Uepele Primary School, a church named ''Tineifale'' of the Church of Tuvalu, a post office, and three wells. A gravel road rings the island to connect the graveyard, half mile (800 m) counter clockwise from the village, and clockwise a quarter of a mile (400 m) to the hospital. The island is somew ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manono Island
Manono is an island of Samoa, situated in the Apolima Strait between the main islands of Savai'i and Upolu, 3.4 km west-northwest off Lefatu Cape, the westernmost point of Upolu. There are four villages on the island with a total population of 889 (2006 Census). Electricity was only introduced in 1995 and there are several shops with beach fale accommodation for visitors. The boat trip from Upolu island takes about 20 minutes. The neighbouring islands are Apolima, which has a small village settlement and the islet Nu'ulopa. Manono Island is part of the political district Aiga-i-le-Tai. The majority of people in the Aiga-i-le-Tai district live on the 'mainland' at the west end of Upolu island. Dogs of any kind are prohibited on Manono island. Villages The four villages and their populations on Manono Island are # Apai, west (111) # Faleu, south (354) # Lepuia'i, southwest (223) # Salua, north (201) Out of the four inhabited islands of Samoa, Manono Island has the third l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nui (atoll)
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 610 (2017 Census). Traditionally Nuian culture is organised in three family circles – Tekaubaonga, Tekaunimala and Tekaunibiti families. Most people live on the western end of Fenua Tapu. In the 2012 census, 321 people live in Alamoni – Maiaki and 221 people live in Manutalake – Meang (Tanrake). The junior school is Vaipuna Primary School. Geography Nui consists of at least 21 islets. These are: * Fenua Tapu * Motupuakaka * Pakantou * Piliaieve * Pongalei * Talalolae * Telikiai, also known as ''Meang'' * Tokinivae * Unimai * and at least 12 other islands The biggest, most southern and most eastern island is Fenua Tapu (area 1.38 km²), which is followed by Telikiai (which is the most western islet), Tokinivae, Pongalei, Talalolae, Pakantou, Unimai, Piliaieve and Motupuakaka. Languages The people of Nui speak the Gi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fiji
Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about 110 are permanently inhabited—and more than 500 islets, amounting to a total land area of about . The most outlying island group is Ono-i-Lau. About 87% of the total population of live on the two major islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. About three-quarters of Fijians live on Viti Levu's coasts: either in the capital city of Suva; or in smaller urban centres such as Nadi—where tourism is the major local industry; or in Lautoka, where the Sugarcane, sugar-cane industry is dominant. The interior of Viti Levu is sparsely inhabited because of its terrain. The majority of Fiji's islands were formed by Volcano, volcanic activity starting around 150 million years ago. Some geo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tokelau
Tokelau (; ; known previously as the Union Islands, and, until 1976, known officially as the Tokelau Islands) is a dependent territory of New Zealand in the southern Pacific Ocean. It consists of three tropical coral atolls: Atafu, Nukunonu, and Fakaofo. They have a combined land area of . The capital rotates yearly among the three atolls. In addition to these three, Swains Island, which forms part of the same archipelago, is the subject of an ongoing territorial dispute; it is currently administered by the United States as part of American Samoa. Tokelau lies north of the Samoan Islands, east of Tuvalu, south of the Phoenix Islands, southwest of the more distant Line Islands, and northwest of the Cook Islands. Tokelau has a population of approximately 1,500 people; it has the fourth-smallest population of any sovereign state or dependency in the world. As of the 2016 census, around 45% of its residents had been born overseas, mostly in Samoa or New Zealand. The populace has ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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. It has a population of 597 who live on Savave islet (2017 Census). In 1951 the school that was located on Motumua islet was transferred to Savave and became the government primary school for Nukufetau. It was named the Tutasi Memorial School in honour of its predecessor. Geography Nukufetau is an atoll with passages through the reef that allow large ships to enter and anchor in the lagoon. Nukufetau consists of at least 33 islets: * Faiava Lasi * Fale * Funaota * Kongo Loto Lafanga * Lafanga * Matanukulaelae * Motufetau * Motulalo * Motuloa (north of Nukufetau) * Motuloa (south of Nukufetau) * Motumua * Niualuka * Niuatui * Oua * Sakalua * Savave * Teafatule * Teafuaniua * Teafuanonu * Teafuone * Temotuloto * and at least 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
