Manihiki
Manihiki is an island in the Cook Islands known as the Island of Pearls. It is a triangular atoll 1,160 kilometres (720 mi) north of Rarotonga. About 500 people live on the island, which is approximately 4 square kilometers in area.
History
Polynesians are believed to have lived on Manihiki since at least 900 or 1000 AD. Kupe was the first to explore Aotearoa. Kupe came from Manihiki, also known as Fakahotu Nui, or Niiva Nui. His canoe was named by the ancient name of Tukao Village known as Te Matafourua. On his return from Aotearoa he renamed the Marae in the Village of Tukao (Te Matafourua) Te Puna Ruki o Toi Tu Rahui Te Rautea as Te Hono O Kupe Ki Aotea, shortened as Te Marae Hono.
The only food available on the island at the time was coconut. This meant that inhabitants traveled by boat between Manihiki and the nearby atoll Rakahanga to obtain food.
It is believed that Pedro Fernandes de Queirós discovered the island in 1606 and called it Gente Hermosa (Beautiful People). However, on 13 October 1822, when it was sighted by the U.S. ship Good Hope it was named Humphrey Island by captain Patrickson.
In 1928 the whale ship Ganges spotted the island and named it Great Ganges Island, as other whale ships named it Liderous, Gland, Sarah Scott and pescado. Despite repeated renaming by explorers, the island now retains its aboriginal name.
The name has two possible meanings: It's believed that the original name of the island was Manuhiki, inspired by the aboriginal discovers Manu coming from the word Rua Manu (a kind of canoe) and Hiki meaning ashore, so the literal translation would be canoe carried ashore. The second interpretation is that the original discoverers were from Manihi, an island in Tuamotus, so the name of the island would mean Little Manihi.
