Matunga (Penrhyn)

Matunga, also known as Morokai, is an islet in Penrhyn Atoll (Tongareva) in the Cook Islands.[1] The islet is in the northwest of the atoll, just south of Tekasi. The islet contains the ruins of a marae, Kirihuri, as well as a ruined church. It was one of the missionary villages depopulated by Peruvian slavers.[2]

Map of Penrhyn Atoll

In 1890 after an outbreak of leprosy the island was used as a leper colony and was renamed "morokai".[3] The remaining lepers were evacuated to Fiji in 1929.[4]

References
  1. Liu Chuang; Shi Ruixiang; Chen Lijun (January 2019). "Penrhyn Atoll". Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  2. Te Rangi Hiroa (April 1932). Ethnology of Tongareva. Honolulu: Bernice P. Bishop Museum. p. 159. Retrieved 21 August 2020 – via NZETC.
  3. Benjamin Kingsbury (2019). The Dark Island: Leprosy in New Zealand and the Quail Island Colony. Wellington: Bridget Williams Books. p. 11.
  4. Hiroa (1932), p. 82


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