Elekana

Elekana was the first person to introduce Christianity to the Pacific islanders in what is now called Tuvalu. He was born in the Cook Islands in the 19th century, although the dates of his birth and death are unknown.^[1][2]

History

Christianity came to Tuvalu in 1861 when Elekana, a deacon of a Congregational church in Manihiki, Cook Islands, became caught in a storm and drifted for 8 weeks in a canoe before landing at Nukulaelae in the Ellice Islands on 10 May 1861.^[3][4] The distance between the two places is approximately 2,772 kilometres (1,722 mi).

Elekana began proselytising during the four months he spent on the atoll.^[5] He travelled to Funafuti where he also preached before returning to Samoa.^[3] He then trained at the London Missionary Society (LMS) Malua Theological College in Samoa before beginning his work in establishing the Church of Tuvalu. The "miraculous" drift voyage of Elekana was featured in the publications of the LMS.^[6][7]

Elekana, Ioane and Matatia, graduates of Malua Theological College, were appointed by the LMS to work in the Ellice Islands.^[3] Elekana and the other teachers started work in the Ellice Islands in 1865; travelling to the islands with the Revd. A. W. Murray of the LMS.^[3]

Monument

The "Elekana Tuvalu-Christianity Memorial 1861" is a monument that is located on Nukulaelae atoll.^[8]

Sources

• Besnier, N., Literacy, Emotion and Authority: Reading and Writing on a Polynesian Atoll, (1995) Cambridge University Press (ISBN 0521485398 ISBN 978-0521485395)
• Besnier, N., Gossip and the Everyday Production of Politics, University of Hawaii Press (2009) (ISBN 978-0-8248-3357-2).
• Chambers, KS. & Chambers, A., Unity of Heart: Culture and Change in a Polynesian Atoll Society, (2001) Prospect Hts, Illinois: Waveland Press (ISBN 1-57766-166-4)
• Goodall, N., A history of the London Missionary Society 1895–1945, London: Oxford University Press (1954).
• Goldsmith, M. & Munro, D., The Accidental Missionary: Tales of Elekana, Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies, University of Canterbury (1950).
• Kofe, L., Chapter 15, Palangi and Pastors, Tuvalu: A History (1983) Isala, Tito and Larcy, Hugh (eds.), Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific and Government of Tuvalu.
• Luker, V. & Lal, BV. (editors) Telling Pacific Lives: Prisms of Process, ANU Press (2013) (ISBN 9781921313813).

References

1. Goldsmith, M. and Munro, D. (1992). "Encountering Elekana Encountering Tuvalu". Rubinstein, D.H. Ed. Pacific History: Papers from the 8th Pacific History Association Conference: 25–41.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
2. Luker, V.; Lal, B. V., eds. (2013). Telling Pacific Lives: Prisms of Process. ANU Press. p. 110.
3. Kofe, Laumua (1983). "Chapter 15, Palangi and Pastors". Tuvalu: A History. University of the South Pacific/Government of Tuvalu. p. 110.
4. Goldsmith, Michael & Munro, Doug (2002). The accidental missionary: tales of Elekana. Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies, University of Canterbury. ISBN 1877175331.
5. Goldsmith, M. and Munro, D. (1992). "Conversion and Church Formation in Tuvalu". Journal of Pacific History. 27 (1): 44–54. doi:10.1080/00223349208572690.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
6. Besnier, Niko (1995). Literacy, Emotion and Authority: Reading and Writing on a Polynesian Atoll. Cambridge University Press. pp. 153–177.
7. Besnier, Niko (2009). Gossip and the Everyday Production of Politics. University of Hawaii Press. p. 48.
8. "Elekana Tuvalu-Christianity Memorial 1861". geoview.info. 7 April 2008. Retrieved 21 May 2017.