Fata-a-iki (died 1896) was a ''

patu-iki Patu-iki ("chief of chiefs") is the title that was given to the leader of the Pacific Ocean island of Niue. The position was not hereditary, and was elected by the people from among the heads of influential families. John Macmillan Brown reported i ...

'' (king) of the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

island of

Niue Niue (, ; niu, Niuē) is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Zealand. Niue's land area is about and its population, predominantly Polynesian, was about 1,600 in 2016. Niue is located in a triangle between Tong ...

Reign

Fata-a-iki ruled from 1887 to 1896. He was the seventh king of the island, and the second to be of the

Christian faith Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global populat ...

. He was anointed on November 21, 1888, although he began ruling the island the previous year, following the death of his predecessor, Tui-toga. One of his first acts as ''patu-iki'', in 1887, was to write a letter to the British monarch

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

, requesting that Niue become a

protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a State (polity), state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over m ...

of the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

, so as to prevent

annexation Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...

by another colonial power. His letter read: The letter was not answered, and King Fata-a-iki repeated his request in 1895, to no avail.

External links

King Fata-a-iki
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fata-A-Iki Year of birth unknown 1896 deaths History of Niue Niuean monarchs