Sapwuahfik
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Sapwuahfik, formerly Ngatik,[1] or the Raven Islands[2] is an atoll of the Federated States of Micronesia. It is a village and municipality in the state of Pohnpei.
Geography
It is located 150 km southwest of the main island of Pohnpei in the Eastern Caroline Islands and consists of 10 individual islands on the reef. The largest and only inhabited island is Ngatik, at the western end.
The atoll is 22.5 km long and up to 9.6 km wide. The lagoon measures 78.56 km² in area, and the total area is 114 km². The aggregate land area of the 10 islands is 1.75 km², of which the main island Ngatik is 0.91 km², or more than half. While Ngatik is the only inhabited island, the six larger of the remaining islands are used by the population for harvesting coconuts and growing taro, and animal husbandry (pigs and chicken). There is a total of 12 buildings for temporary shelter on those islands.[3]
The islands clockwise, starting at Ngatik in the west:
| Island | Area km²[3] |
Location |
|---|---|---|
| Ngatik | 0.906 | western end |
| Peina | 0.206 | north |
| Bigen Karakar | 0.025 | northeast |
| Jirup | 0.023 | east |
| Bigen Kelang | 0.047 | east |
| Pikepe (Piken Mategan) | 0.009 | east |
| Dekehnman | 0.009 | eastern end |
| Wat | 0.281 | eastern end |
| Pikenmetkow | 0.006 | southeast |
| Uataluk (Wateiluk) | 0.039 | south |
| Sapwuahfik (Atoll) | 1.551 | fringing reef |
Population
The population of Sapwuahfik is approximately 433 (2010). The culture is closely related to that of Pohnpei, its closest neighbor, however it retains its own distinctive character.[4]
The local creole, Ngatik Men's Creole, developed as a result of the 1837 Ngatik massacre, during which the island's male population was wiped out by the crew of Australian captain C.H. Hart and Pohnpeian warriors. Some of the Europeans and Pohnpeians settled and repopulated the island, taking the local women as wives. The island formed a new culture and language, a mixture of English and Ngatikese (a Pohnpeic language).[1][4] In addition to the creole, which is only spoken by men, all of the residents speak Ngatikese, a Pohnpeic language closely related to the Pohnpeian language.
History
The atoll was first discovered by Westerners on 6 April 1773 by the Spanish naval officer Felipe Tompson when sailing from Manila to San Blas in New Spain on board of the vessel Nuestra Señora de la Consolación also called in short Buen Fin. Tompson charted the island as Los Valientes (the island of the bold in Spanish).[5]
See also
- Madolenihmw
- Kitti (municipality)
- U, Pohnpei
- Nett
- Kapingamarangi
- Pingelap
- Sokehs
- Nukuoro
- Mokil
- Kolonia
- Oroluk
- Palikir
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ "F.S.M. Airports & Civil Airfields--Sapwuahfik Civil Airfield"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Donald W. Buden: The Reptiles of Sapwuahfik Atoll, Federated States of Micronesia
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Riesenberg, Saul H. "Six Pacific island discoveries" The American neptune Vol. 34; Salem, Mass. 1974, p.250
External links
- Sapwuahfik - Oceandots at the Wayback Machine (archived December 23, 2010)
- Deutsches Koloniallexikon (German)
- Statoids.com, retrieved December 8, 2010
- POHNPEI (Islas Carolinas orientales). 3º parte. (Spanish)
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