Blackbirding: Difference between revisions

The Rev. A. W. Murray, the earliest European missionary in Tuvalu,<ref>Murray A.W., 1876. ''Forty Years' Mission Work''. London: Nisbet</ref> described the practices of blackbirders in the [[Tuvalu|Ellice Islands]]. He said they promised islanders that they would be taught about God while working in coconut oil production, but the slavers' intended destination was the [[Chincha Islands]] in Peru. Rev. Murray reported that in 1863, about 180 people<ref>the figure of 171 taken from Funafuti is given by Laumua Kofe, Palagi and Pastors, ''Tuvalu: A History'', Ch. 15, Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific and Government of Tuvalu, 1983</ref> were taken from [[Funafuti]] and about 200 were taken from [[Nukulaelae]],<ref>the figure of 250 taken from Nukulaelae is given by Laumua Kofe, Palagi and Pastors, ''Tuvalu: A History'', Ch. 15, U.S.P./Tuvalu (1983)</ref> leaving fewer than 100 of the 300 recorded in 1861 as living on Nukulaelae.<ref>W.F. Newton, ''The Early Population of the Ellice Islands'', 76(2) (1967) ''The Journal of the Polynesian Society,'' 197–204.</ref><ref>the figure of 250 taken from Nukulaelae is stated by Richard Bedford, Barrie Macdonald & Doug Monro, ''Population Estimates for Kiribati and Tuvalu'' (1980) 89(1) Journal of the Polynesian Society 199</ref> On Funafuti and Nukulaelae, the resident traders facilitated the recruiting of the islanders by the "blackbirders".<ref name="Doug Munro 1987">Doug Munro, ''The Lives and Times of Resident Traders in Tuvalu: An Exercise in History from Below'', (1987) 10(2) Pacific Studies 73</ref>