Elekana

Elekana or Erikana was a Christian deacon in the London Missionary Society who brought Christianity to Tuvalu after being blown off course and travelling over 1,500 nautical miles from Manihiki to Nukulaelae in 1861. He was active in Tuvalu until being removed in 1870. Little else is known about his life.

Personal life

Elekana or Erikana[1] was from Manihiki.[2] The date of birth and death of Elekana is unknown and most of his biographical details are disputed.[3] Maretu, a missionary who arrived in the Cook Islands in 1839, made Elekana a deacon in the Cook Island London Missionary Society (LMS)[4][5]

Elekana was the father of a son named Tavita.[6] Tavita later worked as a Christian missionary before being murdered in the Gulf of Papua in 1887. Tavita's son Teina Materua was adopted by his missionary partner Ruatoka.[7]

Career

Initially travelling between Manihiki and Rakahanga,[8] the ship caring Elekana, Tavita, Tuitolu, Parana, Ninoko, and Larilari was blown off course by a storm and traversed the ocean for eight weeks. On 10 May 1861, their ship washed ashore on Matamotu, an islet of Nukulaelae,[6] after travelling over 1,500 nautical miles.[9]

Elekana started to proselytize to the Ellice Islands (now Tuvalu) and left to go for to the Malua Theological College in Samoa in order to properly minister[6][1] as he was not ordained yet.[10] He went to Funafuti on his way to Samoa and was well received. He received his training and reported to the LMS that he needed missionaries for these islands. Reverend A.W. Murray was assigned to go with Elekana[6] in May 1865.[10]

Murray and Elekana visited five islands[6] Elekana converted around 300 people on Nukulaelae.[11] The LMS replaced Elekana with Sapolu in 1870, due to Elekana interfering in local politics.[12] Celebrations were conducted for the anniversary of Elekana's arrival in 1961 and 1986.[13] As of 2020, there are 11,500 Christians in Tuvalu.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b Garrett 1982, p. 120.
  2. ^ Garrett 1982, p. 155.
  3. ^ Roberts 1958, p. 110.
  4. ^ Roberts 1958, p. 107.
  5. ^ Garrett 1982, p. 119.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Ross, Tahaafe-Williams & Johnson 2021, p. 59.
  7. ^ Garrett 1982, p. 210.
  8. ^ Goldsmith & Munro 1992, p. 45.
  9. ^ Besnier 2016, p. 80.
  10. ^ a b Goldsmith & Munro 1992, p. 46.
  11. ^ Newton 1967, p. 198.
  12. ^ Chambers, Chambers & Munro 1978, pp. 29–30.
  13. ^ Besnier 2009, p. 48.

Works cited

Books

  • Besnier, Niko (2009). Gossip and the Everyday Production of Politics. University of Hawai'i Press. ISBN 9780824862695.
  • Garrett, John (1982). To Live Among the Stars: Christian Origins in Oceania. University of the South Pacific. ISBN 2825406929.
  • Ross, Kenneth; Tahaafe-Williams, Katalina; Johnson, Todd (2021). The Torrid Zone: Caribbean Colonization and Cultural Interaction in the Long Seventeenth Century. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 9781474480109.

Journals

Further reading

  • Goldsmith, M. & Munro, D., The Accidental Missionary: Tales of Elekana, Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies, University of Canterbury (1950).
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