Nikunau

Nikunau is a low coral atoll in the Gilbert Islands and forms a council district of the Republic of Kiribati. It consists of two parts, (the larger one in the northwest), joined by an isthmus about 150 metres (490 ft) wide.

There are several landlocked, hypersaline lagoons located within the island, measuring about 30 hectares (74 acres) in area. The island is surrounded by a narrow fringing reef. Vegetation on Nikunau is moderately dense and consists largely of coconut palms and pandanus.

The population of the island averages about 2,000 Kain Nikunau I-Kiribati people. Typically, there are also a few other I-Kiribati there, working for the Republic Government or the Nikunau Island Council. From time to time United States Peace Corps and other I-Matang volunteers have been stationed there. Other external residents over the years have included castaways and beachcombers in the days of whaling and itinerant trading; Protestant Samoan pastors; traders and agents running the islands trade stores and cooperatives (e.g. Andrew Turner, Tom Day, Frank Even, Kum Kee, Kwong); and Roman Catholic clergy.

Surf on Nikunau depends on location, but averages 2 ft to 8 ft in height. The tip of Nikunau, close to the airstrip, has the largest waves on the island. This is the point where two tides meet, clashing one wave with another, thus creating strong tides, waves, and currents.

Nikunau's history comprises oral accounts passed down through the generations, primarily from unimane to unimane (the old men of each family in each generation), and committed to writings by I-Matang (fair-skinned people of European descent) since the 19th century. Significant contributors among these I-Matang are Arthur Grimble and Harry Maude, who were long-time officials of the British Colony of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, Barrie MacDonald, a professor of history who has specialised in the history of that colony and the Republic of Kiribati that was created out of it, and Jean-Paul Latouche, who wrote down the stories of unimane of the 1960s in te taetae ni Kiribati (Gilbertese) and translated them into French. Another significant contributor is Anne Di Piazza, who carried out some archaeological digs near Rungata in the 1990s.

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