Marquesas Islands - History

History

The first recorded settlers of the Marquessa were Polynesians, who, from archæological evidence, are believed to have arrived before 100 AD. Ethnological and linguistic evidence suggests that they likely arrived from the region of Tonga and Samoa.

The islands were given their name by the Spanish explorer Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira who reached them on 21 July 1595. He named them after his patron, García Hurtado de Mendoza, 5th Marquis of Cañete (Spanish: Marqués de Cañete) who was Viceroy of Peru at the time. Mendaña visited first Fatu Hiva and then Tahuata before continuing on to the Solomon Islands.

The American Maritime Fur Trader Joseph Ingraham first visited the northern Marquesas while commanding the brig Hope in 1791, giving them the name Washington Islands. In 1813, Commodore David Porter claimed Nuku Hiva for the United States, but the United States Congress never ratified that claim, and in 1842, France, following a successful military operation on behalf of a native chief (named Iotete) who claimed to be king of the whole of the island of Tahuata, took possession of the whole group, establishing a settlement (abandoned in 1859) on Nuku Hiva. French control over the group was reestablished in 1870, and later incorporated into the territory of French Polynesia.

Of all the major island groups of the Pacific, the Marquesas Islands suffered the greatest population decline as a result of diseases brought by Western explorers, reducing the eighteenth century population of over 78,000 inhabitants, to about 20,000 by the middle of the nineteenth century, and to just over 4,000 by the beginning of the 1900s. During the course of the twentieth century, the population increased to 8,712 at the November 2002 census, not including the Marquesan community residing on Tahiti, but it decreased slightly to 8,632 at the August 2007 census.

The sparsely populated Marquesas Islands, located 1,371 km (852 mi) from Tahiti, the most populous island and dominant political center of French Polynesia, often feel neglected by politicians in Tahiti, and some favor a direct link with Paris instead of depending on Papeete. Several prominent Marquesan political leaders have repeatedly declared themselves in favor of separating from French Polynesia and remaining within the French Republic in case French Polynesian political leaders in Tahiti would proclaim the independence of French Polynesia. This has generated controversies in Tahiti where pro-independence Tahitian leaders have accused the French central government of encouraging the separation of the Marquesas Islands from French Polynesia.