Matua (baptized Maria Tepano or Marie-Etienne; fl. 1838) was the High Priest (''taura tupua'') of the island of
Mangareva. He served as one of the regents for his nephew
Maputeoa
Te Maputeoa (baptized Gregorio Stanislas; reigned as Gregorio I; born c. 1814 – 20 June 1857) was a monarch of the Polynesian island of Mangareva and the other Gambier Islands. He was the King or '' ʻAkariki'' (paramount chief), as well as ...
and was instrumental in the conversion of Mangareva and the
Gambier Islands
The Gambier Islands ( or ) are an archipelago in French Polynesia, located at the southeast terminus of the Tuamotu archipelago. They cover an area of , and are made up of the Mangareva Islands, a group of high islands remnants of a caldera alo ...
to
Roman Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
. His name is often written as Matoua.
Biography
Matua was the son of Terehi-kura and Mapurure (also known as Te Mateoa), the
King
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
or ''
ʻAkariki'' (paramount chief) of
Mangareva, who was known to be alive in 1825 and said to have died in 1830 or 1832. Because his elder brother Te Ikatohara was killed by sharks in about 1824, his son and Matua's nephew
Maputeoa
Te Maputeoa (baptized Gregorio Stanislas; reigned as Gregorio I; born c. 1814 – 20 June 1857) was a monarch of the Polynesian island of Mangareva and the other Gambier Islands. He was the King or '' ʻAkariki'' (paramount chief), as well as ...
became king after Mapurure's death. Matua served as regent during the minority of his nephew and enjoyed the full trust of his people and may have had intentions of usurping power. As ''ʻakariki'' (paramount chief), the young king Maputeoa had complete authority over the kingdom, excepting his four uncles, who jointly owned the land with the king. The uncles' allegiance to the king was only formal.
On August 1834, French Pipcus missionaries, headed by Father
Honoré Laval
Honoré Laval, SS.CC., (born ''Louis-Jacques Laval''; 5/6 February 1808 – 1 November 1880) was a French Catholic priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (also known as the Picpus Fathers), a religious institute of the R ...
and Father
François Caret
François d'Assise Caret, SS.CC., (born François Toussaint Caret; 4 July 1802 – 26 October 1844) was a French Catholic priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, a religious institute of the Roman Catholic Church.
Life ...
from Chile of the order of the
Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, landed at Mangareva, but were rebuffed by the king. They managed to land on a small island where the local chief gave them support to learn the
Mangareva language and the islanders learned about Christianity. Within one year of their arrival, the missionaries converted the islanders at
Taravai
Taravai is the second largest island in the Gambier Islands of French Polynesia, at 5.7 km2. Taravai is about 1.5 km southwest of Mangareva and about 300 m north of the island of Angakauitai. Off its eastern shore lies the tiny rock ÃŽ ...
,
Aukena
Aukena is the 5th largest of the Gambier Islands in French Polynesia. Aukena is located about halfway between Mangareva and Akamaru, or about 5 km southeast of Mangareva. Aukena is approximately 2.5 km long and about 0.5 km wide, ...
and
Akamaru to Christianity, established churches, and even made the islanders wear
tunics.
Father Caret and Father Laval eventually converted Matua and he donated the ''
marae'' (temples) to the missionaries to build churches. Fearing the ulterior intentions of his uncle, Maputeoa began appearing in churches during mass. Matua and Maputeoa consented to the dismantling of the Te Keika ''marae'', which was the largest of its kind on
Rikitea
Rikitea is a small town on Mangareva, which is part of the Gambier Islands in French Polynesia. A majority of the islanders live in Rikitea. The island was a protectorate of France in 1871 and was annexed in 1881.
History
The town's history dates ...
, and in its place,
St. Michael's Cathedral was built, which became the largest church in the
South Pacific islands
Collectively called the Pacific Islands, the islands in the Pacific Ocean are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of se ...
. Both uncle and nephew reconciled with each other around this time after the deathbed baptism of an aunt of the king. On 11 May 1835, Matua and his family were baptized. Matua had his long hair, sacred in the old pagan religion, cut short. He was baptized with the name Marie-Etienne, written as Maria Tepano in the Mangarevan language, in honor of
Étienne Jérôme Rouchouze
Étienne, a French analog of Stephen or Steven, is a masculine given name. An archaic variant of the name, prevalent up to the mid-17th century, is Estienne.
Étienne, Etienne, Ettiene or Ettienne may refer to:
People
Scientists and inventors
...
, the
Vicar Apostolic of Eastern Oceania. King Maputeoa was baptized later on 25 August 1836 at the Church of Saint-Joseph-de-Taku on Mangareva along with 160 other people of the kingdom.
With his wife Toa-Matui, he had a son,
Akakio Tematereikura
Akakio Tematereikura (died 1869) was the Prince Regent of the Polynesian island of Mangareva and other territories of the Gambier Islands, including Akamaru, Aukena, Taravai and Temoe, in 1869. He served as regent and de facto monarch during th ...
, who served as regent of Mangareva in 1869. When French naval explorer
Jules Dumont d'Urville
Jules Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville (; 23 May 1790 – 8 May 1842) was a French explorer and naval officer who explored the south and western Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, and Antarctica. As a botanist and cartographer, he gave his nam ...
visited Mangareva with the ships ''Astrolabe'' and ''Zélée'' in 1838, he met "Matoua" and his nephew King "Mapou-Teoa". Jacques Marescot du Thilleul, an artist with the expedition, drew a picture of the king, Matua, and another chief named "Mabou-Kouiké". Matua's exact date of death is unknown, although he was last described in French sources as alive in 1840. He was buried in a chapel at the Kara-Ea Cemetery.
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Matua
History of French Polynesia
Gambier Islands
Year of birth unknown
Year of death unknown
French Polynesian royalty
People from the Gambier Islands
Regents
Converts to Roman Catholicism
French Polynesian Roman Catholic priests