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 550 (2022 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 in 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 somewhat a horizontal oval which has a length of about one mile (1.6 km). Vegetation is abundant but of very limited variety. Main food staples are pulaka (Cyrtosperma merkusii) or swamp taro that is grown in the pits; breadfruit, coconut and pandanus is also cultivated. A fringing reef surrounds the whole island, which makes local fishing and transport into and out of the island difficult.
In March 2015 Niutao suffered damage to houses, crops and infrastructure as the result of storm surges caused by Cyclone Pam.
History
Prehistory
Niutaoans believe that their ancestors came from Samoa in the 12th or 13th century.
In the 15th century warriors from Tonga were defeated in a battle on the reef of Niutao at a place known as Tāga A Kaupapa. Tongan warriors also invaded Niutao later in the 15th century and again were repelled. A third invasion of Tongan warriors occurred in the late 16th century; with a fourth following when the Tongans were defeated at a place called Tekamaitoga.
European contact and Christianization
There has been some debate as to the first European (Palagi) to visit Niutao, Keith S. Chambers and Doug Munro (1980) solved what Europeans described as The 'Mystery' of Gran Cocal and identified Spanish naval officer Francisco Mourelle de la Rúa as sailing past Niutao on May 5, 1781. Laumua Kofe (1983) accepted Chambers and Munro's conclusions, with Kofe describing Mourelle's ship La Princesa, as waiting beyond the reef, with Nuitaoans coming out in canoes, bringing some coconuts with them. La Princesa was short of supplies but Mourelle was forced to sail on — naming Niutao, El Gran Cocal ('The Great Coconut Plantation'). Presumably this was on November 19 and or November 20, 1825.
Charlie Douglas was an early trader on Niutao in the 1850s. Christianization of Niutao began in 1861, with the first introduction by the traders Mr Tom and Mr Jack with the help of Mr Ah Fong and Mr Tong. Mose, from Vaitupu, helped persuade the chiefs and people of Niutao to accept Christianity. Tapumanaia Kitiona was the Samoan missionary on Niutao who arrived in 1865 after graduating from Malua Theological College in Samoa. The Reverend Archibald Wright Murray, of the London Missionary Society, visited in 1866. Murray reported that a blackbirder (a slave ship seeking to kidnap workers to mine the guano deposits on the Chincha Islands in Peru) had called but no islanders were taken by the blackbirders because of the actions of McKenzie, the resident trader. HMS Royalist, Captain Edward Davis (1892); and , Captain Herbert Gibson (1892). Captain Davis of the Royalist, reported Niutao as exporting about 50 tons of copra each year — in a good season.
Palagi copra traders known to have been resident on Niutao are: Charlie Douglas (1850s); George Westbrook (1880s);
The Cruise of the Janet Nichol
The Janet Nicoll was a trading steamer owned by Henderson and Macfarlane of Auckland, New Zealand, which operated between Sydney, Auckland and into the central Pacific. Robert Louis Stevenson was in Sydney, Australia in April 1890, looking for a ship to travel into the central Pacific; he and his wife Fanny Vandegrift Stevenson, and her son Lloyd Osbourne sailed on the Janet Nicoll. From 29 May to 2 June 1890 the Janet Nicoll anchored off Niutao to take on copra. An account of the voyage was written by Fanny Vandegrift Stevenson and published under the title The Cruise of the Janet Nichol. A passenger on the ship was Jack Buckland, who later returned to Niutao to be the resident copra trader.
thumb|upright=1.15|Landing cargo on the reef at Niutao
20th century
The Niutaons financed the building of a church which was designed and built by Mr Foster Wesley and his assistant Lifuka Falakai from Vaiputo, with skilled Niutaons also working on the church. Building began in April 1915 and was completed in about September 1919. The service of dedication was led by Pastor Panapa of Samoa and the church was named Tineifale.
In 1919 a new Fale Kaupule (community hall) was built, which was named Fetu Afiafi. The anointing slab or stone of the Chiefs of Malaefono was moved into the Fale Kaupule; this stone was the symbol of authority, dignity, honour and peace. The paletua (seat) of the Chief Kaupule or Fogauli was made out of pukavai (Pisonia grandis) timber by Fred Whibley. The school was named “Whibley Memorial School” by the Paramount Chiefs as Fred Whibley (trader resident on Niutao from 1898 to circa 1911) had encouraged education. The first teacher was Pulekai Alofa Sogivalu, with a class of 40 pupils. Koch returned to Niutao in 1996, where he met islanders who were children when he visited in 1961.
In 1964 the Island Councils of Tuvalu were restructured so as to consist of a President, Vice-President and three councillors elected by the people of each island. In 1979 the central government reformed the Council of Chiefs of each island. From the late 18th century the two Paramount Chiefs of Niutao were leaders of the districts of Teitieva and Malaefono.
In 2024 new boat harbour facilities were constructed on the reef for workboats to use. The facilities include a sea access channel, approach jetty, wharf, boat ramp and passenger terminal. The project includes the construction of buildings for cargo near the jetty to assist in the safe movement of passengers and cargo from the land to the ship.
Demographics
Newton (1967) estimated that the early 19th century population of Niutao was about 450 people, with these estimates derived from reports of European visitors to Niutao:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Rev. Archibald Wright Murray 1866 !! Rev. Samuel James Whitmee 1870 !! Captain John Moresby !! Rev. Gill 1872
|-
| 700 || 360 || 417 || 417
|-
| Probable overestimate || 100 on other islands || ||
|-
| Missionary visitor || Missionary visitor|| HMS Basilisk || Missionary visitor
|}
In 1949, people from overpopulated Niutao settled on Niulakita.
Official sources of the 2002 census of population, listed the village of Kulia (pop. 224) and the village of Teava (pop. 439).
The 2012 census, listed the village of Kulia (pop. 200) and the village of Teava (pop. 406).
Politics
Feleti Teo and Sa'aga Talu Teafa were elected in the 2024 general election.
Notable people
- Sir Fiatau Penitala Teo (1911–1986), Appointed Chief in the House of Chiefs of Niutao in 1945; appointed as the first Governor General of Tuvalu on independence from Great Britain on 1 October 1978; reappointed as a Chief on 29 June 1997.
- Sir Tomu Sione, (1941– 2016) former Governor General of Tuvalu and subsequently Speaker of the Parliament of Tuvalu; he represented the constituency in the parliament until the 2010 Tuvaluan general election.