Baiteke

Tem Baiteke was the third high chief of Abemama, Kuria and Aranuka in the Gilbert Islands (in modern-day Kiribati). He succeeded Tawaia, who reigned during the 1840s.

In 1851, Baiteke had the 34 foreigners living on Abemama, Kuria and Aranuka killed. He proceeded to restrict all visiting ships to a single port on , Abemama. On that isolated islet, Baiteke could oversee everything that went in and out of his territoryincluding guns. In 1863, he and his warriors sailed to Kuria and Aranuka after the people of Kuria refused to send him their annual tribute of virgins. Over 1,000 people lived on each island. After the expedition, their respective populations were reduced to 100 and Baiteke went unchallenged.

The despotism of the State of Abemama was unprecedented in any of the Gilbert Islands. Baiteke took over the village meeting houses , where the old men traditionally made decisions in council, and became the sole lawmaker. He divided the people into social classes. This act centralized power through the creation of a loyal class of minor chiefs, who owned their land and status to the high chief and no one else. In 1878, Baiteke abdicated in favour of Binoka, his firstborn child.

Background alt=A map of three of the Gilbert Islands. Abemama is the largest. Kuria and Aranuka lie to the southwest. The State of Abemama consisted of Abemama, Kuria and Aranuka, in the Gilbert Islands. According to oral tradition, Tetabo was the founder of the (family) of Tuangaona, to which Baiteke belonged. In the 18th century, Tetabo united Abemama against invaders from the north. For his exploits, Tetabo was titled , but he ultimately fell out of favour with the people and spent time in exile. His sons won battles on Abemama and the smaller atolls of Kuria and Aranuka, which lay to the southwest, leading to the preeminence of Tuangaona on those islands and the exaction of tribute. The State of Abemama was one of three stable chiefdoms in the Gilbert Islands; the others were on Butaritari–Makin and Abaiang.

Tawaia was the son of Kabubuarengana, the first wife of Karotu. After Teaanother wife of Karotufell pregnant, she and Tawaia had sex "on four apparently well publicised occasions". The period between the announcement of Tea and Tawaia having sex and the birth of Baiteke was rather short, but popular gossip held that Tea's affair was longstanding. R. G. Roberts states that Karotu was the real father of Baiteke, but he and Tea asked Tawaia to claim Baiteke as his own son so that their child was eligible to succeed Tawaia. After a reign that Maude described as "brief and uneventful", Tawaia died about 1850 and was succeeded by Baiteke.

Tea and Karotu had another son named Binatake, who grew up to be a reputedly merciless warrior.

Reign 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.

In January 1851, Baiteke ordered all nine foreigners on Abemama killed. All 25 foreigners on Kuria and Aranuka were executed several months later.

Richard Randell, the most influential trader in the Gilbert Islands, justified the massacre to outsiders. Randell claimed that the beachcombers had made unmitigated nuisances to themselves and some had committed atrocities against locals, provoking the wrath of Baiteke. Although his defense of Baiteke was consistent with his broader pro-Gilbertese stance, H. E. Maude pointed out that after the massacres Richard Randell effectively held a monopoly on trade with Abemama, Kuria and Aranuka. Brief notices of the massacres on Abemama, Kuria and Aranuka appeared in the few periodicals interested in news from the Gilberts, but there were no calls for European retribution.

Afterwards, Baiteke restricted all visiting ships to a single port on , an isolated islet of Abemama. On Abatiku, he could oversee everything that went in and out of his territoryincluding guns.

Society

According to H. E. Maude, the despotic power that Baiteke held was unprecedented in the Gilbert Islands. Traditionally, each village was governed through their respective (meeting house), where the old men gathered in an informal council, making decisions and arbitrating local disputes.

Baiteke divided the people into hereditary social classes. According to H. E. Maude, the social stratification of Abemama, Kuria and Aranuka represented a "social revolution", replacing "a slave-owning but otherwise democratic and egalitarian community" with a feudal society. He suggested that the social hierarchy was based on that of Butaritari–Makin, where a dynasty of had ruled since legendary times.

The (family of the ), headed by the and his eldest son, was at the apex of the social hierarchy. The or were minor chiefs drawn mainly from the ranks of the and selected for their prior service to the , or because they were related to him or his wives. The subsumed the functions of the in the , and Baiteke chose some to serve on his supreme council. The creation of this class, who owed their land and status to the alone, centralized power and ensured that Baiteke had loyalists he could rely on to help him govern. The were also a landed class, but they were less wealthy and distinguished than the .

The last two classes did not own land. The had to work the land of others to make a living, but were not enslaved and could choose who they worked for. Enslaved people were known as or . In 1972, some disagreed on whether or not the and classes should be distinguished.

Rebellions In 1863, the people of Kuria refused to send Baiteke their annual tribute of virgins. In response, Baiteke organized a punitive expedition to Kuria led by Binatake. According to Charles Morris Woodford, the ship that carried Baiteke, Binatake and their warriors was owned by Smith, Randell, and Fairclough.

The rebelswho had a few guns and some powder, but no shotwere mainly relying on the spells of their chief priest, Tenu. After Tenu was killed by a shot fired from the ship, the rebels fled in canoes.

Over 1,000 people lived on each island. After the expedition, their respective populations were reduced to 100 and Baiteke went unchallenged.

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