View source for Mauatua

{{Short description|Tahitian tapa weaver}}
{{Infobox person
| birth_date = {{circa}} 1764
| birth_place = [[Tahiti]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1841|9|19|1764|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Pitcairn Islands]]
| occupation = [[Tapa cloth|Tapa maker]]
}}
[[File:Tapa_cloth_woven_by_Mauatua.jpg|thumb|Tapa cloth made by Mauatua]]'''Mauatua,''' also '''Maimiti''' or '''Isabella Christian,''' also known as '''Mainmast''',<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Mauatua|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128111839/https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG142231 |url-status=live |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG142231 |archive-date=28 November 2021 |access-date=27 November 2021|website=British Museum}}</ref> ({{circa}} 1764 – 19 September 1841) was a [[Tahitians|Tahitian]] [[Tapa cloth|tapa maker]], who settled on [[Pitcairn Islands|Pitcairn Island]] with the [[Mutiny on the Bounty|''Bounty'' mutineers]]. She married both [[Fletcher Christian]] and [[Complement of HMS Bounty#Ned Young|Ned Young]], and had children with both men. Fine white tapa, which was her specialty, is held in the collections of the [[British Museum]] and the [[Pitt Rivers Museum]], amongst others.
== Biography ==
While the date of Mauatua's birth is not historically recorded, in later life she claimed to have witnessed the arrival of [[James Cook]] in [[Tahiti]] in 1769.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=2021-10-01|title=Pitcairn Islands Study Center|url=https://library.puc.edu/pitcairn/pitcairn/encyclopedia3.shtml|access-date=2021-11-28|website=Pacific Union College Library|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211001134757/https://library.puc.edu/pitcairn/pitcairn/encyclopedia3.shtml|archive-date=2021-10-01}}</ref> This information, combined with an estimate that she was 23 or 24 years old in 1788 when [[HMS Bounty|HMS ''Bounty'']] arrived, suggests that she was born circa 1764.<ref name=":1" /> She was reputedly the daughter of a chief,<ref name=":0" /> or at least was born in a high social group.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Langdon |first1=Robert |title='Dusky Damsels': Pitcairn Island's Neglected Matriarchs of the Bounty Saga |journal=The Journal of Pacific History |date=June 2000 |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=29–47 |doi=10.1080/713682826 |jstor=25169464 |pmid=18286752 |s2cid=38078038 }}</ref> The suffix ''-atua'' means 'for god/gods' and indicates a position within nobility.<ref name=":3">{{cite book |last1=Mesenhöller |first1=Peter |last2=Stauffer |first2=Annemarie |title=Made in Oceania: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Social and Cultural Meanings and Presentation of Oceanic Tapa |date=2016 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-4438-8772-4 |page=33 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3wr5DAAAQBAJ&dq=Mauatua&pg=PA33 }}</ref>
[[File:Fletcher_Christian2.jpg|thumb|Fletcher Christian]]
Mauatua left Tahiti with [[Fletcher Christian]] and the mutineers; before they reached [[History of the Pitcairn Islands|Pitcairn Island]], they attempted to begin a new settlement at [[Tubuai]].<ref>{{cite thesis |last1=Erskine |first1=Nigel |title=The historical archaeology of settlement at Pitcairn Island 1790–1856 |date=2004 |url=https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/1259/ }}</ref> She was the oldest woman to travel with the mutineers, and became a matriarch of the new society that was ultimately founded by them on Pitcairn Island.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|date=2021-04-17|title=The Women of Pitcairn and their Descendants – History Matters|url=https://historymatters.sydney.edu.au/2017/05/the-women-of-pitcairn-and-their-descendants/|access-date=2021-11-28|website=History Matters {{spaced ndash}}University of Sydney|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417072704/https://historymatters.sydney.edu.au/2017/05/the-women-of-pitcairn-and-their-descendants/|archive-date=2021-04-17}}</ref> She married Fletcher Christian, and they had two sons and a daughter.<ref name=":1" /> Their sons were [[Thursday October Christian I|Thursday October]] and Charles Christian; their daughter was called Mary Anne and she was born after her father was murdered on 20 September 1793.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Albert |first1=Donald Patrick |title=The Bounty ̓s Primogeniture and the Thursday-Friday Conundrum |journal=Athens Journal of Humanities & Arts |date=April 2020 |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=105–120 |doi=10.30958/ajha.7-2-1 |hdl=20.500.11875/2934 |s2cid=218828235 |doi-access=free }}</ref> After Christian's death, Mauatua became the partner of [[Complement of HMS Bounty|Edward Young]], with whom she had three children:  Edward, Polly, and Dorothea.<ref name=":1" />
Along with the other Polynesian women, Mauatua brought the practice of beating [[tapa cloth]] to Pitcairn.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Young |first1=Adrian |last2=Amoamo |first2=Maria |last3=Gibbs |first3=Martin |last4=Mawyer |first4=Alexander |last5=Nash |first5=Joshua |last6=Nechtman |first6=Tillman W. |last7=Reynolds |first7=Pauline |title=When Margins Are Centres: De-ranging Pitcairn Island's Place in Pacific Scholarship |journal=Journal of the Polynesian Society |date=30 September 2021 |volume=130 |issue=3 |pages=197–226 |doi=10.15286/jps.130.3.197-226 |s2cid=243795926 |url=https://thepolynesiansociety.org/jps/index.php/JPS/article/view/533 }}</ref> They adapted the process to reflect the natural materials they had access to.<ref name=":2" /> During her lifetime, she gave tapa that she had made as gifts, including a bale of the cloth to Frances Heywood, wife of naval officer and mutineer, [[Peter Heywood]].<ref name=":3" /> From surviving examples and contemporary observations, it appears that Mauatua specialised in making a fine white tapa.<ref name=":3" />
In 1831 Mauatua was part of the group who returned to Tahiti, landing there, according to historian [[Henry Evans Maude|Henry Maude]], on 23 March 1831.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=MAUDE |first1=H. E. |title=TAHITIAN INTERLUDE: The Migration of the Pitcairn Islanders to the Motherland in 1831 |journal=The Journal of the Polynesian Society |date=1959 |volume=68 |issue=2 |pages=115–140 |jstor=20703726 }}</ref> Many of the group were killed by infectious diseases they had no immunity to – this included her son Thursday October.<ref name=":1" /> She returned to Pitcairn Island the same year.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Albert |first=Donald Patrick |date=2021 |title=Teehuteatuaonoa aka 'Jenny', the most traveled woman on the Bounty: Chronicling female agency and island movements with Google Earth |hdl=20.500.11875/2933 |journal=Island Studies Journal |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=190–208 |language=en-US |doi=10.24043/isj.153 |s2cid=234260181 |doi-access=free }}</ref> According to her descendant, [[Glyn Christian]], Mauatua was instrumental in having the right to vote for women on Pitcairn made into law in 1838.<ref name=":4">{{cite book |last1=Morrison |first1=James |title=After the Bounty: A Sailor's Account of the Mutiny, and Life in the South Seas |date=2010 |publisher=Potomac Books |isbn=978-1-59797-371-7 }}{{pn|date=December 2022}}</ref>
Mauatua died on 19 September 1841 after catching [[influenza]].<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /> After her death, [[Teraura]] remained as the only survivor of the original settlers and the island's oldest inhabitant.<ref name=":1" />
== Legacy ==
Many of the families living on [[Pitcairn Islands|Pitcairn Island]]  and [[Norfolk Island]] can trace their ancestry back to Mauatua.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Norfolk Island Council of Elders {{!}} NI People for Democracy|url=https://www.nipeoplefordemocracy.com/council-of-elders|access-date=2021-11-28|website=NIPD|language=en}}</ref>
Three examples of [[tapa cloth]] made by Mauatua are held in the collections of the [[British Museum]] and at [[Kew Gardens]] in London.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" /> Examples made by her daughters Polly and Dorothea (Dolly) are found in collections of the [[National Library of New Zealand|Turnbull Library]] in New Zealand and the [[Pitt Rivers Museum]] in Oxford, respectively.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":5">{{cite journal |last1=Reynolds |first1=Pauline |title=Tapa Cloths and Beaters: Tradition, Innovation and the Agency of the Bounty Women in Shaping a New Culture on Pitcairn Island from 1790 to 1850 |journal=Textile History |date=2 July 2016 |volume=47 |issue=2 |pages=190–207 |doi=10.1080/00404969.2016.1211435 |s2cid=163849896 }}</ref> Cloth made by her great-granddaughter, Helena Beatrice Young, is also held at both the British Museum and the Pitt Rivers Museum.<ref name=":5" />
Mauatua's craft as a tapa beater inspires the work of her descendant [[Jean Clarkson]], whose work is held in the collection of [[Te Papa]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-11-28|title=Cloak (Prince of Peace)|url=https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/796931|url-status=live|access-date=2021-11-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128124003/https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/796931|archive-date=2021-11-28}}</ref>
=== In popular culture ===
Mauatua is portrayed by:
* [[Mamo Clark]] (1935) ''[[Mutiny on the Bounty (1935 film)|Mutiny on the Bounty]]''<ref>{{cite news |title=Mamo Clark; She Played Gable's Wife in 'Mutiny' |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-12-20-fi-4370-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |date=20 December 1986 }}</ref>
* [[Tarita Teriipaia]] (1962) ''[[Mutiny on the Bounty (1962 film)|Mutiny on the Bounty]]''<ref>{{cite web|title=Golden Globe Awards: Winners & Nominees 1963|url=http://www.goldenglobes.com/winners-nominees/1963|publisher=GoldenGlobes.com|accessdate=10 March 2016}}</ref>
* [[Tevaite Vernette]] (1984) ''[[The Bounty (1984 film)|The Bounty]]''<ref>{{Cite news|last=Kempey|first=Rita|date=4 May 1984|title=Bounty's Good Captain Bligh Finally Gets His Just Deserts|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1984/05/04/bountys-good-captain-bligh-finally-gets-his-just-deserts/0d3bbd82-ce7c-4457-b7f7-5bb9a1d3b5f8/ |access-date=27 November 2021}}</ref> In this film, the romance between her and Christian is portrayed as a cause of the mutiny.<ref>{{cite journal |id={{ProQuest|1306156401}} |last1=van Trigt |first1=Judith |title=Reflecting on the Pacific: Representations of the Pacific and Pacific Island Women in Five Dominant Cinematic Texts |journal=Women's Studies Journal |volume=12 |issue=1 |date=1996 |pages=99–114 }}</ref>
Mauatua is the subject of several books, including a biography of her and Fletcher Christian by her great-great-great-great-grandson [[Glyn Christian]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-01-27|title=Pen and Sword Books: Titles by Glynn Christian|url=https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Glynn-Christian/a/4109|access-date=2021-11-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127050015/https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Glynn-Christian/a/4109|archive-date=2021-01-27}}</ref><ref name=":4" /> He also wrote a work of historical fiction based on her life.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Christian|first=Glynn |title=Mrs Christian : 'Bounty' mutineer|date=2011|publisher=The Long Riders' Guild Press|isbn=978-1-59048-050-2 |oclc=795137574}}</ref> A novelisation of her life, and that of the other Polynesian women to live on Pitcairn, entitled ''Transit of Venus,'' was written by another descendant, [[Rowan Metcalfe]], and published posthumously.<ref name="Transit">{{cite book|last1=Metcalfe|first1=Rowan|title=Transit of Venus|date=2004|publisher=Huia Publishers|isbn=1869690834|location=Wellington, N.Z.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=18 September 2004|title=What I'm reading|page=10|work=Dominion Post}}</ref>
The artist [[Pauline Thompson]], who was also a descendant, created several paintings inspired by Mauatua's life and those of other [[Pitcairn Islanders|Pitcairn Islander]] women.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kelly |first1=Emma |title=Mainmast Speaks: The paintings of Pauline Thompson |journal=Back Story Journal of New Zealand Art, Media & Design History |date=1 December 2020 |issue=8 |pages=49–68 |doi=10.24135/backstory.vi8.57 |s2cid=239184316 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
== See also ==
* [[Teraura]]
* [[Teio]]
== References ==
<references />
== External links ==
* [[IMDb|IMDB]]: [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086993/characters/nm0894573 Tevaite Vernette: Mauatua]
* [[YouTube]]: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nye_bfaknV0 The Bounty (movie 1984) – Fletcher follows Mauatua on the beach]
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:1760s births]]
[[Category:1841 deaths]]
[[Category:Weavers]]
[[Category:Pitcairn Islands people of Polynesian descent]]
[[Category:Tahitian women]]
[[Category:Suffragists]]
[[Category:Deaths from influenza]]