Mehetia

Native name: Meheti'a
Coastal view of Osnaburg Island, now Mehetia
Geography
Location	Pacific Ocean
Coordinates	17°52′S 148°04′W / 17.867°S 148.067°W / -17.867; -148.067
Archipelago	Society Islands
Total islands	1
Major islands	Mehetia
Area	2.3 km2 (0.89 sq mi)
Highest elevation	435 m (1427 ft)
Highest point	Mont Fareura
Administration
France
Overseas collectivity	French Polynesia
Administrative subdivision	Windward Islands
Commune	Taiarapu-Est
Demographics
Population	uninhabited

Mont Fareura
NASA Geocover 2000 image
Highest point
Elevation	435 m (1,427 ft)
Prominence	435 m (1,427 ft)
Coordinates	17°52′S 148°4′W / 17.867°S 148.067°W / -17.867; -148.067
Geography
Location	Society Islands
Geology
Mountain type	Stratovolcano
Last eruption	Unknown

Meheti'a or Me'eti'a is a volcanic island in the Windward Islands, in the east of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is a very young active stratovolcano 110 kilometres (68 mi) east of the Taiarapu Peninsula of Tahiti. It belongs to the Teahiti'a-Mehetia hotspot.^[1]

The island has an area of 2.3 square kilometres (0.89 sq mi) and its highest point is 435 metres (1,427 ft). The peak is a well-defined volcanic crater. In 1981 the island was the centre of earthquakes.^[2][3]

History

Tahitian oral tradition holds that navigators stopped at Mehiti'a, which was regarded as sacred, on their long voyage to New Zealand.^[4] This oral history correlates with geological evidence found in southern New Zealand which can be traced back to Mehiti'a.^[5]

The early Polynesian voyagers commonly gave Polynesian ancestral names and symbolism to new places.^[6] The high point of Mehetia is Mount Hiurai (Hi’ura’i/Hikurangi)^[7] The name Hikurangi in Aotearoa / New Zealand probably came from Mehetia^[8] and the name Hi’ura’i probably has its origin in Si'ulagi (Si'ulangi) in Ta'u, Samoa.^[9]

The first European sighting was by the Spanish expedition of Pedro Fernández de Quirós on 9 February 1606, that charted it as Decena (ten in Spanish).^[10] Later on it was sighted by Samuel Wallis in HMS Dolphin 1767 and Louis Antoine de Bougainville in 1768.^[11] It was also sighted by Spanish navigator Domingo de Boenechea on November 6, 1772, on ship Aguila.^[11]: 241 He named this island San Cristóbal.

Administration

Meheti'a is administratively part of the commune (municipality) of Taiarapu-Est and of its easternmost commune associée Tautira. The island is uninhabited and does not have much vegetation but has a small coral reef on the underwater slopes.