View source for Baiteke

{{more citations needed|date=July 2024}}
[[File:TemBaiteke.png|thumb|"Tem Baiteke, King of Apemama". Handley Bathurst Sterndale, {{Circa|1860|1871}}]]
'''Baiteke'''{{Efn|Also '''Tem Baiteke''',{{Sfn|Maude|1970|p=205}} ''Tem'' being a male [[honorific]] in the [[Gilbertese language]].{{Sfn|Maude|1970|p=203}}}} ({{Reign|1850|1878}}) was the second ''uea'' of [[Abemama]] and its [[Tributary|tributaries]], [[Kuria (atoll)|Kuria]] and [[Aranuka]], in the [[Gilbert Islands]]. The other islands were quickly falling under European influence, so Baiteke ordered every foreigner on his lands killed. He then monopolised trade with the Europeans and restricting them to one port, exporting [[copra]]. Buying [[Firearm|firearms]], Baiteke easily suppressed every rebellion under his reign. He established a heirarchal social structure with his family at the top. Binoka was succeeded by [[Binoka]], his eldest son.
== Ancestors and early life ==
[[File:8 Map of Abemama, Kiribati.jpg|thumb|Map of [[Abemama]], where Baiteke and his family reigned]]
While sojourning in [[Abemama]] in 1948, one of the [[Gilbert Islands]], R. G. Roberts questioned I-Kiribati people about the [[royal family]]'s history. He published a paper on this in 1953.{{Sfn|Roberts|1953|p=267}}
Karotu was the grandson of Tetabo, the first [[supreme leader]] to unify [[Abemama]]. Karotu's father, Namoriki, led a conquest which reduced [[Kuria (atoll)|Kuria]] and [[Aranuka]] to Abemama's [[Tributary|tributaries]], while Karotu consolidated absolute power over the three islands.{{Sfn|Maude|1970|p=204}} Karotu and his first wife had a son named Tewaia. When Karotu abdicated his position in favour of Tewaia, he gave him the title of ''uea''. Karotu's second wife, Teaa, fell pregnant, and so Karotu, Teaa, and Tewaia agreed that her child should become the next ''uea''. Teaa and Tewaia had sex four times to establish the child's royal claim.{{Sfn|Roberts|1953|p=271}} The child was born around 1810;{{Sfn|Uriam|1995|p=170}} he was announced as Teaa and Tewaia's son and was named Baiteke.{{Efn|
Roberts translated ''Baiteke'' as "(to) hit things",{{Sfn|Roberts|1953|p=271}} while ''A Combined Kiribati-English Dictionary'' defines the word as "dexterity" when used as a [[noun]], and "having a sure aim" as a [[verb]].<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |year=2003 |title=baiteke |encyclopedia=A Combined Kiribati-English Dictionary |url=https://www.trussel.com/kir/dic/dic_b.htm#baiteke |access-date=July 18, 2024 |last1=Trussel |first1=Stephen |orig-date=1978 |last2=Groves |first2=Gordon W.}}</ref>
}} Roberts wrote that Baiteke was actually Karotu's son,{{Sfn|Roberts|1953|p=271}} but the distinguished [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]] historian, [[H.E. Maude|H. E. Maude]], wrote in 1970 that it was ultimately impossible to know if Baiteke was Tewaia's son or stepbrother.{{Sfn|Roberts|1953|p=271}}
By Karotu's reign, Kuria and Aranuka had been discovered by two ships in the [[First Fleet]], and Captain [[Charles Bishop (captain)|Charles Bishop]] sighted Abemama in 1799. [[Whaling|Whalers]] began to visit the area in 1821; relations were initially hostile, but friendly trade was established in the 1830s. Baiteke's reign would be characterized by the constant threat of European influence on traditional [[I-Kiribati]] life.{{Sfn|Maude|1970|p=205}}
== Reign ==
=== Foreign relations ===
Baiteke became the second ''uea'' {{Circa|1850}} following his father's brief reign. Back then, a number of [[Beachcombing|beachcombers]] were enroaching on the island realm. The Abemamans [[Prostitution|prostituted]] female [[Serfdom|serfs]] to whalers, who started [[Barter|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 {{Emdash}} or even any demands for reprisal {{Emdash}} largely because of Richard Randell.{{Sfnm|1a1=Maude|1y=1970|1p=206{{endash}}207|2a1=Garrett|2y=1982|2p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=b7HYexAnWCoC&pg=PA153 153]}}
Richard Randell, married to an I-Kiribati woman, fluent in the [[Gilbertese language]], advocated for them to [[Protestantism|Protestant]] missionaries led by Randell's close friend [[Hiram Bingham I|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 ==
He retired in late 1878.
Baiteke was succeeded by [[Binoka]], his eldest son.
== Notes ==
{{notelist}}
== Citations ==
<references />
== Bibliography ==
* {{Cite book |last=Maude |first=H. E. |author-link=Henry Evans Maude |url=https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/114784 |title=Pacific Islands Portraits |publisher=[[ANU Press]] |year=1970 |isbn=0708101666 |editor-last=Davidson |editor-first=J. W. |editor-link=James Wightman Davidson |location=Canberra |chapter=Baiteke and Binoka of Abemama: Arbiters of change in the Gilbert Islands |editor-last2=Scarr |editor-first2=Deryck}}
* {{Cite book |last=Garrett |first=John |title=To Live Among the Stars: Christian Origins in Oceania |date=1982 |publisher=[[World Council of Churches]] |isbn=978-2-8254-0692-2 |location=Geneva : Suva}}
* {{cite journal |author=Roberts |first=R. G. |year=1953 |title=The Dynasty of Abemama |url= |journal=The Journal of the Polynesian Society |publisher=[[Polynesian Society]] |volume=62 |issue=3 |pages=267–278 |jstor=20703382}}
* {{Cite book |last=Uriam |first=Kambati K. |url=https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/items/e0752718-2b70-45ba-85ba-192fc115c1f4 |title=In Their Own Words: History and Society in Gilbertese Oral Tradition |publisher=The Journal of Pacific History |year=1995 |isbn=0959547770 |location=[[Australian National University]] |language=en}}
[[Category:Gilbert Islands]]
[[Category:People from the Gilbert Islands]]
[[Category:19th-century monarchs in Oceania]]