| Subject: |
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Re: Re: Re: Re: True Story(Cont.#10) |
| Name: |
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Troy |
| Date Posted: |
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Sep 12, 05 - 12:45 PM |
| Email: |
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tulroy09@yahoo.com |
| Message: |
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The land owner, the King, now living on Kosrae Island and his two sisters were never told the truth in regards to land claims. They were never written to nor read in English language. They were living under German, Kosraen rule and spoke Gilbertes and Kosraen. From 1900 until they died in the 1920s, the two sisters lived in Ooma village and were respected by custom as Te’Moi, Royal Family Princesses. Te’Moi Tinterunga with his wife Sepe Katinluk came to the island many times a year as transportation was available. They would travel from Kosrae to Nauru, where they would stay with William Harris, Tinterunga’s first cousin. Then they would catch a boat to Banapa/Ocean Island as it was now called. Tinterunga did not speak any English, he spoke Kiribati, Kosraen, German and by 1918 some Japanese. Kosrae Island was under German influence until WWI, then mandated to the Japanese after WWI through WWII, where as Nauru, Gilbert and Ellis Islands remained under British rule. After WWI, about 1918, the British took over control of Nauru and this mining company made an agreement with Nauru to mine their phosphate. Thus Tinterunga and Sepe had a difficult time traveling to Banapa, as they now called it from Japan controlled to British controlled areas. The sister collected money from the so called council of leaders and did not concern themselves with men’s business. They used the money an script (IOU’s) to purchase food and goods at the mining company’s stores. They gave their brother, Te’Moi some money and lot of can goods. Tinterunga and Sepe living under Japanese currency system had no use for Australian Dollars so they would purchase more goods on Nauru and take a big load of goods to Kosrae. Needless to say, this made the poor Kosraeans very jealous of the Puakonakai King. This traveling back and forth went on every year sometimes several times a year until 1940. On one these trips, while on Nauru, waiting for a boat, Sepe became very ill. She died there and is buried under what is now an airplane parking ramp on Nauru. This was in 1920. Tinterunga’s two sisters died in the mid 1920s in Ooma village and are buried there on Puakonakai. The adopted daughter of Karianna II with her husband, took over collecting the King’s share of monies and gave him what they didn’t use on his successive trips up to 1939. This was Iremia and her husband Karebakona. Karianna II and her husband Karpaku Initarwa had no children so they adopted a Kiribati young girl. Tekoniti, the older sister never married and never adopted any children. She was a disgrace to the family as she was a lover of women not men. People to day living on Rabi Island, calling themselves Banapans, have tried to claim that Tikoniti had adopted their parents, if they only knew the truth about her. There was only one adoption in the family and that was Karianna II. Neither of the girls ever owned Puakonakai land. Only Te’Moi owned land and he, in the he interest of his followers, had no problem with them claiming the west half of Puakonakai Island. However, they were not satisfied with half of the land, and later divided up more of Puakonakai adding a Bukinterike land. The King gave them half of the island, no more, thus the entire eastern half with Ooma village is still private Royal Crown land and belongs to the head of the Royal Family today, namely Tonna Timirik Tinterunga (Te’Moi Wahine), head of the island by custom and tradition of 200 years. Adopted children did not own land. Iremia was given permission from Tinterunga to collect royalties and leases for Puakonakai, using some for her to live on. The balance was to be kept for him to collect on his trips to the island until 1939. He never knew how much she was collecting as she gave him little of it, using most of it for her family. After WWII, his son was to go and start collecting royalties. The problem was that his son, the now Te’Moi (Mesasarik) did not speak English, the Banapans in 1946 were moved to Fiji to Rabi Island and the Kosraean government under the now USA administration with a local Chief Magistrate would not allow Mesasrik to get on a ship to leave Kosrae. He was never able to go to Fiji. |
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