Baiteke

In this Gilbertese name, Tem is the masculine personal article used before names of males starting with /bw/, among other phonemes.

Tem Baiteke was the third high chief (te uea) of Abemama, Kuria and Aranuka. His chiefdom was located in the Gilbert Islands in what is now Kiribati.

Baiteke
"Tem Baiteke. King of Apemama [sic]" (Handley Bathurst Sterndale, c. 1860 – c. 1871)
Uea of Abemama, Kuria and Aranuka
Reign	c. 1850 – 1878
Predecessor	Tewaia
Successor	Binoka
Issue	Binoka Timon
House	Tuangaona

In 1851, shortly after assuming power, Baiteke ordered the death of every foreigner on the islands. European beachcombers had been engaging in bartering with his subjects, allowing them access to resources outside of the chief's purview. Baiteke proceeded to close his borders and limit all ships to a single port, giving himself absolute control over the flow of resources within his territory.

Having monopolized foreign weapons such as guns, Baiteke could easily suppress dissent and committed genocide on Kuria and Aranuka after a revolt. He created a social hierarchy resembling feudalism to consolidate the chief's power, institutionalizing class division. H. E. Maude, the preeminent historian of the Gilbert Islands, credited Baiteke with the successful creation of a state and an autocracy in response to the threat of European influence. In 1878, Baiteke abdicated in favour of his eldest son, Binoka.

Background

Abemama, Kuria, and Aranuka are coral atolls in the Gilbert Islands. According to oral tradition, Tetabo was the first person to unify Abemama. Reputed to be an aintoa (giant), he rallied the people of Abemama against invaders from Tarawa but lost favour with them due to his constant involvement in feuds. He founded the utu (ramage) of Tuangaona, which was named after his birthplace.

Namoriki, Tetabo's eldest son, led his brothers in subjugating Abemama. He proceeded to the smaller islands of Kuria and Aranuka to make them pay tribute to Tuangaona. A son of Namoriki, Karotu, consolidated power over the three islands and suppressed a revolt on Abemama. He named himself uea (high chief) and transferred the title to his son Tewaia in the 1840s.

Karotu's second wife, Teaa, fell pregnant soon after Tawaia assumed power. Karotu and Teaa wanted Teaa's son to succeed Tawaia. Tawaia had no issue with this, but the child had to be Tawaia's, not Karotu's, in order to succeed Tawaia. Tawaia was announced as the father, and he and Teaa proved the child's paternity by having sex on "four apparently well publicised occasions".

The child's birth name has been forgotten, but he was later named Baiteke. H. E. Maude concluded it was impossible to know if Tawaia was Baiteke's father or half-brother. Genealogical dating places Baiteke's birth around 1810. Tawaia's reign was brief and uneventful, and Baiteke succeeded him as uea around 1850.

Reign

European beachcombers arrived on Abemama, Kuria and Aranuka in the 1840s and engaged in bartering with the Gilbertese. This allowed the chief's subjects access to resources outside of the chief's purview.

I-Matang

In the 1840s, a number of beachcombers were enroaching on the island realm. The Abemamans prostituted female serfs to whalers, who started barters controlled by them rather than the uea. In the 1840s, there was an influx of whalers and merchants seeking to trade for coconut oil, including ships under Richard Randell's firm. Considering this, Baiteke had all nine foreigners staying on Abemama killed. Several months later, he ordered the deaths of the 25 foreigners residing on Kuria and Aranuka. Maude wrote that Baiteke did not face any European retribution — or even any demands for reprisal — largely because of Richard Randell.

Richard Randell, married to an I-Kiribati woman, fluent in the Gilbertese language, advocated for them to Protestant missionaries led by Randell's close friend Hiram Bingham. Randell cast the foreigners as men who committed atrocities against I-Kiribati and influenced Baiteke against missionaries. According to Maude, he was largely why Baiteke did not face any calls of retribution for the massacre.

Legacy

In late 1878, Baiteke abdicated in favour of his eldest son, Binoka.

Bibliography

• Maude, H. E. (1970). "Baiteke and Binoka of Abemama: Arbiters of change in the Gilbert Islands". In Davidson, J. W.; Scarr, Deryck (eds.). Pacific Islands Portraits. Canberra: ANU Press. ISBN 0708101666.
• Garrett, John (1982). To Live Among the Stars: Christian Origins in Oceania. Geneva : Suva: World Council of Churches. ISBN 978-2-8254-0692-2.
• Roberts, R. G. (1953). "The Dynasty of Abemama". The Journal of the Polynesian Society. 62 (3). Polynesian Society: 267–278. JSTOR 20703382.
• Uriam, Kambati K. (1995). In Their Own Words: History and Society in Gilbertese Oral Tradition. Australian National University: The Journal of Pacific History. ISBN 0959547770.