The Tuamotus
MOTU Tane NecklaceT
Sale Price: $529*
Retail: $989 (47% off!)
(Mermaid Pearls, LLC)
This is a wonderful design that speaks directly of Tahitian pearls and their origin. The sterling silver pendant depicts a motu or an islet much like the small islands that fan out across the Gambier and Tuamotu archipelago where Tahitian black pearls are found.
Merchant: Mermaid Pearls, LLC
The Tuamotus (French: Îles Tuamotu officially Archipel des Tuamotu) are a chain of atolls in French Polynesia and the largest chain of atolls in the world, spanning an area of the Pacific Ocean roughly the size of Western Europe.
Economy
Today the most important source of income in the Tuamotus is from the cultivation of black pearls and the preparation of copra. Agriculture in the islands is predominantly subsistence in nature.
Tourism-related income remains meager, especially by comparison to the tourism industry of the neighboring Society Islands. A modest tourism infrastructure is found on the atolls of Rangiroa and Manihi, two favorite scuba-diving and snorkeling destinations.
History
The early history of the Tuamotu islands is generally shrouded in mystery. Archaeological findings lead to the conclusion that the western Tuamotus were settled from the Society Islands by c. 700 A.D. On the islands of Rangiroa, Manihi and Mataiva, there are flat ceremonial platforms (called marae) made of coral blocks, although their exact age is unknown.
The Tuamotus were first discovered by Ferdinand Magellan, during his circumglobal voyage in 1521. His visit was followed by:
- Portuguese sailor Pedro Fernandes de Queirós in 1606
- Dutch mariners Willem Schouten and Jacob Le Maire in 1616
- Jakob Roggeveen (who also first sighted Easter Island) in 1722
- John Byron in 1765
- Louis Antoine de Bougainville in 1768
- James Cook during his first voyage in 1769
- German navigator Otto von Kotzebue, sailing in the service of the Russian tsars, in 1815
- From the Inca Empire, Tupac Inca Yupanqui is also credited with leading a circa 10 month-long voyage of exploration into the Pacific around 1480
None of these visits were of political consequence, the islands being in the sphere of influence of the Pomare dynasty of Tahiti.
At the beginning 18th century the first Christian missionaries arrived. The islands' pearls penetrated the European market in the late 1800s, making them a coveted possession. Following the forced abdication of King Pomare V of Tahiti, the islands were annexed as an overseas territory of France.
The Tuamotus made headlines around the world in 1947, when archaeologist Thor Heyerdahl, sailing from South America reached Raroia on his raft, Kon-Tiki.
More recently the islands have made headlines for French nuclear weapons testing on the atolls of Mururoa (sometimes called also Moruroa) and Fangataufa.
