Pukapuka – A thousand years of culture on a Polynesian crossroads
People have lived on Pukapuka for about a thousand years. Oral tradition says the atoll was discovered by Tamayei, a god from Tonga, and settled by Tongan ancestors. Pukapuka served as a link between West and East Polynesia, and its language – Samoic with Tokelauan influence – still reflects this. Traditions recall voyages to Tuvalu, Tokelau, Niue, Tonga, Rarotonga and Tahiti, as well as a devastating flood in which only a handful of people survived.
The Spanish explorer Álvaro de Mendaña sighted the atoll in 1595, and in 1765 John Byron named it the “Islands of Danger” because of its reefs. Today around 400 people keep its ancient culture and language alive. Share your Pukapuka stories and memories with us!