Binoka

Binoka^[a] (c. 1840 – 10 November 1891) was the third uea of the State of Abemama, which encompassed Abemama, Aranuka, and Kuria in the Gilbert Islands. Born and raised in Abemama, Binoka inherited his father's autocratic position in his thirties. He openly traded with most European sailors and amassed a collection of foreign items, which he actively sought out. Copra was his main export, coveted by sly European merchants.

When other islands had succumbed to colonial influence, Binoka carefully guarded his realm's boundaries and exiled most foreigners who he felt overly cheated him or threatened his rule. Binoka let the Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson and his companions stay on Abemama for nine months, as Stevenson recounted in In The South Seas (1896).

Binoka was the last completely independent I-Kiribati ruler. In 1892 after his death, the Gilbert Islands was declared a British protectorate on Abemama. Most European writers characterized Binoka as a tyrannical, arrogant despot. When questioned decades afterward, some of his former subjects had a mostly positive view of Binoka. They also claimed that anecdotes of his cruelty were fictitious or exaggerated.^[7]

The Gilbert Islands are a chain of 16 atolls in Micronesia. In the 17th century, Kaitu and Uekira, two warriors of Karongoa, a clan from Beru, conquered most of the other islands. On these islands, Karongoa established the unimwaane, a gerontocratic council of elders; and the maneaba, a communal meeting house where clans could discuss and decide important decisions. The uea (supreme leader) of Makin and Butaritari successfully petitioned to be left alone.

Abemama, like the other subjugated atolls, was divided between Kaitu and Uekira's followers. The unimwaane were ineffective in settling disputes between Abemama's clans, who were engaged in strife and violence. After Kaitu and Uekira died, a number of insecure and disputed chieftainships took control of the maneaba. Tetabo was the first leader to unify Abemama. His sons turned Aranuka and Kuria into tributaries, while his grandson Karotu consolidated absolute power under his reign.^[8] He gave his eldest son Tewaia the title of uea. Baiteke, who was either Tewaia's son or half-brother, became the second uea c. 1850.^[9]

Baiteke faced a new issue: European influence.

Binoka was born around the 1840s,^[10] the eldest son of Baiteke, who also had another son and two daughters.^[11] Binoka was doted on by Baiteke and was raised in privilege by his father's royal harem and favourites. The British historian H. E. Maude thought that Binoka's upbringing made him arrogant, egocentric, probably having never been taught self-discipline. According to Maude, "Binoka became an expert marksman at the expense of defenceless slaves, and lacked the physical courage and aggressiveness of his forbears."^[12]

Binoka was the last truly independent and influential king of parts of the Gilbert islands, at a time when the Gilberts were being increasingly influenced by white settlers and traders. Binoka resided on Abemama, and, unlike the rulers of neighbouring islands, did not allow outsiders to establish a permanent presence there. Binoka controlled access to the atolls under his control and jealously guarded his revenue and his prerogatives as monarch. He briefly accepted the presence on Abemama of Tuppoti, a Christian missionary, then deported him for attempting to set up a copra trading business.

In 1888, he granted Robert Louis Stevenson, Fanny Vandegrift Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne the right to live temporarily on Abemama, on the condition that they did not give or sell money, liquor or tobacco to his subjects.^[13] They returned to Abemama in July 1890 during their cruise on the trading steamer the Janet Nicoll.^[14]

Binoka was immortalised by Robert Louis Stevenson's description of him in his book In the South Seas. Stevenson spent two months on Abemama in 1889. Stevenson described Binoka as the "one great personage in the Gilberts … and the last tyrant".^[13] Stevenson described the ambitions of Binoka as an embryonic "empire of the archipelago" and established his importance in the Gilbert Islands as "Binoka figures in the patriotic war-songs of the Gilberts like Napoleon in those of our grandfathers."^[13]

Stevenson describes Binoka, in years before his visit, as attempting to extend his rule over a number of islands and atolls; he compelled Maiana to pay tribute, and seized Nonouti, before being driven out by a British warship and being forbidden to expand his kingdom further.^[13] Stevenson does not date these events. At this time Royal Navy ships served on the Australia Station, and operated in the South Pacific.

Binoka owned trade ships which would travel to Australia and New Zealand. His commercial ventures, however, ended in failure with the loss of his ship the Coronet.^[13][15]

He found a Scotsman, George McGhee Murdoch, who organized production and marketing on Binoka's several thousand acres of heritable land. Murdoch also maintained good relationships with the New Bedford whalers who used Abemama as a base, and he persuaded Binoka to allow Stevenson's party to settle ashore.^[16] George Murdoch did not reveal Binoka’s murderous habits to Stephenson - Binoka would shoot his own subjects down from tree-tops for the amusement of watching them fall sprawling - and Stevenson did not name Murdoch in his book.^[17]

Binoka was also a merchant king, controlling his kingdom's commerce.^[18] He enforced the allocation of produce; such that the taro went to the chiefs of each village to allocate among their various subjects; certain fish and turtles and the whole of the produce of the coco-palm, the source of copra belonged to Binoka. He would trade the copra with visiting trading ships. He was, according to Stevenson:

greedy of things new and foreign. House after house, chest after chest, in the palace precinct, is already crammed with clocks, musical boxes, blue spectacles, umbrellas, knitted waistcoats, bolts of stuff, tools, rifles, fowling-pieces, medicines, European foods, sewing-machines, and, what is more extraordinary, stoves.^[13]

While the captains and supercargos of trading ships could expect to sell such novelties at a great profit, Binoka controlled access to his islands and would refuse to deal with those whom he considered to take advantage of him. Stevenson describes Binoka as classing captains and supercargoes in three categories: "He cheat a little"—"He cheat plenty"—and "I think he cheat too much”.^[13]

Binoka gave his many wives a share of the copra, which they would use to trade for hats, ribbons, dresses and other produce available on the trading ships. However sticks of tobacco were the main product they purchased, which Stevenson described as being "island currency, tantamount to minted gold".^[13] Stevenson described a notable feature of life with Binoka as being that evenings were spent with Binoka playing card games with his wives with the currency being tobacco sticks. He had developed his own version of poker in which he could play either of two hands dealt to him. By this strategy Binoka would win most of the tobacco, so that Binoka ended up with effective control of the tobacco, which he would allocate to his wives and other subjects, so that he was, as described by Stevenson "the sole fount of all indulgences".^[19]

While Stevenson refers to Binoka as "the last tyrant",^[13] Stevenson's account of his time with Binoka is much more sympathetic that given to Nakaeia, the ruler of Butaritari and Makin atolls in the Gilbert Islands. Nakaeia allowed two San Francisco trading firms to operate, Messrs. Crawford and Messrs. Wightman Brothers, with up to 12 Europeans resident on various of the atolls. The presence of the Europeans, and the alcohol they traded to the islanders, resulted in periodic alcoholic binges that only ended with Nakaeia making tapu (forbidding) the sale of alcohol. During the 15 or so days Stevenson spent on Butaritari the islanders were engaged in a drunken spree that threatened the safety of Stevenson and his family. Stevenson adopted the strategy of describing himself as the son of Queen Victoria so as to ensure that he would be treated as a person who should not be threatened or harmed.^[20]

Three years after the Stevensons left, the Gilbert and Ellice Islands were proclaimed a British protectorate. Murdoch transferred his service from Binoka to Queen Victoria, but Binoka remained his friend. Murdoch became the District Agent and Tax Collector, setting up local courts and administration that brought peace and order to the lagoon villages and controlled (often with strong measures) the European beachcombers; he retired as a Resident Commissioner in 1912. Murdoch reported that "I ordered myself a belt with a big crown on the buckle, and I stuck another crown in front of my helmet. Solid silver, they were. I told him the Queen herself had sent them to me for a present. Whenever a new law came out, I invented a special message from the Queen requesting his pairsonal collaboration in the matter. He was impressed and pleased. I made a by-ordinary good citizen of the old reprobate before he died."^[21]

Binoka died from an infected abscess on 10 November 1891.^[22] In 2014, Don, a descendant of Binoka, said that he died of syphilis, brought to Abemama by the whalers.^[23] He was succeeded as uea by his adopted son, Bauro. Timon acted as regent until Bauro came of age and reigned briefly and uneventfully.^[24]

• Crowley, Terry (1990). "King Binoka of Abemama and the Pacific Pidgin lineage" (PDF). Te Reo. 33 (1900). Linguistic Society of New Zealand: 25–42.
• Maude, H. E. (1970). "Baiteke and Binoka of Abemama: Arbiters of change in the Gilbert Islands". In Davidson, J. W.; Scarr, Deryck (eds.). Pacific Islands Portraits. Canberra: ANU Press. ISBN 0708101666.
• Roberts, R. G. (1953). "The Dynasty of Abemama". The Journal of the Polynesian Society. 62 (3). Polynesian Society: 267–278. JSTOR 20703382.
• Stevenson, Fanny (2016) [1914]. The Cruise of the Janet Nichol among the South Sea Islands – via Project Gutenburg.
• Stevenson, Robert Louis (1896). In the South Seas. Scribner.
• Uriam, Kambati K. (1995). In Their Own Words: History and Society in Gilbertese Oral Tradition. Australian National University: The Journal of Pacific History. ISBN 0959547770.

• "Literary Notes: A long way from Treasure Island", Neil Rennie, The Independent, 9 November 1998