Te I'i

Te I‘i is a traditional province of Nuku Hiva, in the Marquesas Islands. The province covers slightly more than the western two-thirds of the island. The western coast is characterized by steep slopes which plunge directly into the sea, indented occasionally by small bays leading to short deep valleys leading to the interior.

The northern coast is indented by the four good-sized bays, Haka Ehu, Haka Ea (also called Haka Pu‘a), A‘a Kapa, and Haume. The southern coast is, like the western coast, characterized by steep slopes, and even cliffs, that plunge into the sea. These are broken by a succession of bays, the deep bay of Haka Ui in the southwest, with its neighboring bay Ua Uka, and near the center of the southern coast, Ha‘a o Tupa, just west of the deep bay of Tai o Hae, location of the island's chief town, of the same name. To the east of Tai o Hae is a peninsula on the east side of which are the two small valleys of Haka Puu Vae and Haka Pa‘a. On either side of the entrance to Tai o Hae, are small rocky islands, called "the sentinels", named "Motu Nui" on the west side, and "Mata ‘Ua Puna" on the east side of the entrance to the bay.

The interior of Te I‘i is a high plateau, called Tōvi‘i, which is covered primarily by a tall-grass grassland. The highest peak on Nuku Hiva Tekao is along the northwestern edge of this plateau, reaching a height of 1,224 m (4,016 ft.).

Te I‘i was formerly inhabited by a number of warring tribes, who were united only in times of war with the tribes of Tai Pi, the province covering the remainder of the island. There is some anecdotal evidence that indicates that the tribes of Ua Pou were sometimes united with the tribes of Te I'i in war against Tai Pi. Despite the fact that tribes from both the eastern and western halves of Ua Pu were often united in war against each other, however, it appears that such differences among them were not considered when members of tribes from either side of the island sought refuge among the tribes of Te I'i on Nuku Hiva.

During the wars between the Te I'i and the Tai Pi in 1813, the American navy Captain David Porter arrived with the frigate USS Essex and ten other armed ships on October 25. A shore party was landed and they claimed the island for the United States and constructed a small village, named Madisonville. A fort and a dock was also built, the latter to refit the Essex. Almost immediately Porter became involved in the tribal conflict. The first expedition into the jungle was led by Lieutenant John Downes, He and forty others captured a fort held by 3,000 to 4,000 Happah warriors with the assistance of several hundred Te I'is. The victory forced the Happah to terms and they allied themselved with both the Americans and the Te I'i. A second expedition was led by Porter himself and he made an amphibious assault against the Tai Pi held coastline. 5,000 Te I'is and Happahs accompanied the fleet in at least 200 war-canoes. Though the landing was unappossed, Porter's force of thirty men and a cannon led the march inland where they found another, more formidable, enemy fort. Thousands of natives armed with rocks and spears, positioned in a formidable mountain fortress, were able to fend off their enemies. The victory was short-lived however and Captain Porter followed up his landing with an expedition overland, bypassing the fort, to threaten the Tai Pi's village center in Typee Valley as the Americans named it.

...
Wikipedia