Akakio Tematereikura
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Akakio Tematereikura (died 1869) was the Prince Regent of the Polynesian island of
Mangareva Mangareva is the central and largest island of the Gambier Islands in French Polynesia. It is surrounded by smaller islands: Taravai in the southwest, Aukena and Akamaru in the southeast, and islands in the north. Mangareva has a permanent p ...
and other territories of the
Gambier Islands The Gambier Islands ( or ) are an archipelago in French Polynesia, located at the southeast terminus of the Tuamotu archipelago. They cover an area of , and are made up of the Mangareva Islands, a group of high islands remnants of a caldera alo ...
, including Akamaru,
Aukena Aukena is the 5th largest of the Gambier Islands in French Polynesia. Aukena is located about halfway between Mangareva Mangareva is the central and largest island of the Gambier Islands in French Polynesia. It is surrounded by smaller islan ...
,
Taravai Taravai is the second largest island in the Gambier Islands archipelago of French Polynesia, at 5.7 km2. Taravai is about 1.5 km southwest of Mangareva, the largest island of the whole Gambier group, and about 300 m north of the island ...
and
Temoe Temoe, or Te Moe, is a small atoll of the Gambier Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the far southeast of the Tuamotu group archipelago. It lies about 37 km southeast from the Gambier Islands and more than southeast from Mataiva, ...
, in 1869. He served as regent and de facto monarch during the interregnum period when the royal succession of Mangareva was in doubt. His name is also written as Akakio Matereikura in some French sources.


Biography

Akakio Tematereikura was the son of Matua, the high priest of
Mangareva Mangareva is the central and largest island of the Gambier Islands in French Polynesia. It is surrounded by smaller islands: Taravai in the southwest, Aukena and Akamaru in the southeast, and islands in the north. Mangareva has a permanent p ...
, and his wife Toa-Matui. He was also a cousin of King
Maputeoa Te Maputeoa (baptized Gregorio Stanislas; reigned as Gregorio I; born c. 1814 – 20 June 1857) was a monarch of the Polynesian island of Mangareva and the other Gambier Islands. He was the King or ''ʻAkariki'' (paramount chief), as well as ...
. He and his family were members of the royal ''togoʻiti'' class of chiefs of the island of Mangareva in the
Gambier Islands The Gambier Islands ( or ) are an archipelago in French Polynesia, located at the southeast terminus of the Tuamotu archipelago. They cover an area of , and are made up of the Mangareva Islands, a group of high islands remnants of a caldera alo ...
. Christianity was introduced to the Gambier Islands in the 1830s by French Picpus priests,
Honoré Laval Honoré Laval, SS.CC., (born ''Louis-Jacques Laval''; 5/6 February 1808 – 1 November 1880) was a French people, French Catholic priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (also known as the Picpus Fathers), a religious ins ...
and
François Caret François d'Assise Caret, SS.CC., (born François Toussaint Caret; 4 July 1802 – 26 October 1844) was a French Catholic priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, a religious institute of the Roman Catholic Church. Life ...
with the support of King Maputeoa and his father Matua. When King Maputeoa died on 20 June 1857. he was succeeded as King of Mangareva by his young son,
Joseph Gregorio II Joseph Gregorio II (; born 26 April 1847 – 21 November 1868) was the last List of monarchs of Mangareva, King or ''ʻAkariki'' (paramount chief) of the island of Mangareva, and other Gambier Islands including Akamaru Island, Akamaru, Aukena, T ...
, with his widow Queen Maria Eutokia Toaputeitou as regent. Akakio's daughter Agapa was chosen as the consort of the new king from a list of three noblewomen. However, she died young and King Joseph later died childless after an eleven-year reign. Akakio married Agnès Toamani and had three known children. His daughter Agapa married King Joseph Gregorio II. He also had two sons: the youngest unnamed son was studying to be a priest before his father's death while his eldest son Maria-Tepano Teikatoara married Agnus Tepaïru, the sister of the king and eldest surviving child of King Maputeoa. After the untimely death of the king without issue in 1868, the succession of the throne was thrown into doubt. Traditionally only male heirs could ascend to the throne of Mangareva, so a regency was installed pending the birth of an heir from one of the king's two surviving sisters: Agnès (his daughter-in-law) and Philomèle. A series of regents ruled in the name of these two royal sisters. Initially, the queen dowager served as regent while Akakio presided as president of the regency council. In a report dated to 4 April 1869, French Lieutenant Xavier Caillet noted that Queen Maria Eutokia Toaputeito had resigned and retired to Rouru Convent, on
Mount Duff Mount Duff, also called Auorotini in the Mangarevan language, is the highest peak on the island of Mangareva in the Gambier Islands, French Polynesia. It has an elevation of 441 m. The peak was named by James Wilson after the ship '' Duff' ...
, and Akakio had been chosen as her successor to the regency. Akakio died on 24 August 1869, after receiving all the sacraments of the Catholic Church administered the French missionaries in Mangareva. The former queen regent had to come out of her religious retirement to attend to the political affair left by his death. She considered choosing Father Laval, the head of the Catholic mission, as the new regent and ''turu'' (guardian) of her two daughters but the French priest refused the offer. Instead, she selected
Arone Teikatoara Arone Teikatoara (died 30 October 1881) was the penultimate Prince Regent of the island of Mangareva, and other Gambier Islands including Akamaru, Aukena, Taravai and Temoe from 1869 to 1873. He served as regent and de facto monarch during the ...
(the paternal uncles of her daughters) as Akakio's successor with the chiefs Bernardo Teoaiti, Agapito and
Bernardo Putairi Bernardo Putairi (died 1 January or 7 January 1889) was the Prince Regent of the island of Mangareva, and other Gambier Islands including Akamaru, Aukena, Taravai and Temoe from 1873 to 1881. He served as regent and de facto monarch during th ...
serving as his assistants. After the appointment, Queen Maria Eutokia Toaputeito returned to the Rouru convent and died there as a novice on 27 August 1869. The Gambier Islands steadily fell under colonial influence, becoming a French protectorate in 1871 and fully annexed to the territory of French Oceania in 1881, today part of the overseas country of
French Polynesia French Polynesia ( ; ; ) is an overseas collectivity of France and its sole #Governance, overseas country. It comprises 121 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over more than in the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. The t ...
.


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Tematereikura, Akakio History of French Polynesia Gambier Islands Year of birth unknown 1869 deaths French Polynesian royalty 19th-century regents Roman Catholic monarchs