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(詳細はatoll of the nation of Tuvalu. It is located at 7.48 degrees south and 178.83 degrees west. There are almost 1,600 people living on 5.6 km2 with the main village being Asau. ==History== The exact date of Vaitupu's first settlement is unknown. According to oral history, the founder of the Vaitupuan community was a Samoan by the name of Telematua, who arrived in the 16th or 17th century. However, it is possible that Tongans may have first reached the atoll during the mid-13th century. Vaitupu has maintained contacts with Tonga throughout its history, both peaceful (marriage alliances) and hostile (visits by Tongan slave-seekers). Vaitupu was also visited by I-Kiribati, and was thus far from isolated.〔Donald G. Kennedy, (''Field Notes on the Culture of Vaitupu, Ellice Islands'' ), Journal of the Polynesian Society, vol.38, 1929, pp.2–5〕 Vaitupu means 'the fountain of water'. Obed Starbuck, a whaling captain, visited Vaitupu on the ''Loper'' in 1825, naming it 'Tracy Island'.〔Keith S. Chambers & Doug Munro, ''The Mystery of Gran Cocal: European Discovery and Mis-Discovery in Tuvalu'', 89(2) (1980) The Journal of the Polynesian Society, 167–198〕 The United States Exploring Expedition under Charles Wilkes visited Vaitupu in 1841.〔Tyler, David B. – 1968 ''The Wilkes Expedition. The First United States Exploring Expedition'' (1838–42). Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society〕 Samoan pastors from the London Missionary Society successfully introduced Christianity in the 1860s. The pastors implemented religious regulations, outlawing many cultural practices. They also introduced the Samoan language, as their Bibles were written in Samoan. Vaitupuans became literate in Samoan rather than in their own language.〔Donald G. Kennedy, ''Field Notes on the Culture of Vaitupu, Ellice Islands'', Journal of the Polynesian Society, vol.38, 1929, pp.5–6〕 Vaitupuans celebrate Te Aso Fiafia (Happy Day) on 25 November of each year. Te Aso Fiafia commemorates 25 November 1887 which was the date on which the final instalment of a debt of $13,000 was repaid to H. M. Ruge and Company, a German trading firm that operated from Apia, Samoa. Vaitupu history is that Thomas William Williams, the Ruge agent, pretended to do his customers a favour by allowing them to obtain goods on credit. In 1883 the debt of the Vaitupuans was $13,000 and H. M. Ruge and Company had threatened to seize the entire island unless the debt was repaid. Neemia, a Vaitupuan pastor living in Samoa, returned and organised working parties to collect coconuts and prepare copra to sell to pay off the debt, with Henry Nitz, the Webber & Co agent on Vaitupu, contributing money to meet the final payment.〔 The Vaitupuans, with the help of their friends from Funafuti, repaid the debt by the due date. Seven thousand dollars was repaid by 1886 and the balance was paid on 25 November 1887. Vaitupuan tradition is that chance favoured their efforts, a ship sent to collect the last payment sank, as did the second ship the trading schooner ''Vaitupulemele''. By the time a third ship arrived most of the money had been collected. However, the trading schooner ''Vaitupulemele'' appears to have a different role in the history of Vaitupu. The creation of the debt that was repaid to Ruge & Co extended beyond the purchase of goods on credit to include the purchase price of the ''Vaitupulemele'' by the Vaitupu Company.〔 While T.M. Williams had been the Ruge agent, he later formed the Vaitupu Company with the Vaitupuan community and purchased the ''Vaitupulemele'' from Ruge & Co. However the schooner was lost during a voyage from Samoan and soon after Williams died, leaving no accounting for copra that had been shipped from Vaitupu.〔 In any event the Vaitupuans paid the full amount claimed by Ruge & Co, although that company soon after went into liquidation.〔 Vaitupu Post Office opened around 1916. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Vaitupu」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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