pacific history ELENA GOVOR { Continued from front flap } Of related interest the tumultuous events of the Russians’ stay TRADING NATURE in Nuku Hiva; the course of the mutiny, its Tahitians, Europeans, and the Ecological Exchange resolution and aftermath; and the extent and nature of the contact between Nuku GOVOR Hivans and Russians. JENNY NEWELL Govor draws directly on the writings of 2010, est. 336 pages, illus. the participants themselves, many of whom Cloth: ISBN 978-0-8248-3281-0 left accounts of the voyage. Those by the ships’ captains, Krusenstern and Lisiansky, When Captain Samuel Wallis became the first European to land at Tahiti and the naturalist George Langsdorff are in June 1767, he left a British flag on shore along with three guinea hens, a T well known, but here for the first time, their pair of turkeys, a pregnant cat, and a garden planted with peas for the chief- W writings are juxtaposed with recently dis- ess Purea. Bougainville, Cook, Boenechea—all planted seeds of vegetables, E covered textual and visual evidence by vari- grains, and fruit from Europe and elsewhere and gave breeding pairs of cat- L in august 1803 two russian ships, V ous members of the expedition in Russian, tle, goats, sheep, and poultry to island chiefs. In turn, they were sent away the Nadezhda and the Neva, set off on E German, and Japanese—and by the Nuku with great quantities of important island resources, including valuable and a round-the-world voyage to carry out D Hivans themselves. Two sailor-beachcomb- spiritually significant pigs, trees, and fish. What did these exchanges mean? A 12 scientific exploration and collect artifacts Y ers, a Frenchman and an Englishman who What was their impact? The answers are often unexpected. They also reveal for Alexander I’s ethnographical museum S acted as guides and interpreters, later con- the ways islanders retained control over their societies and landscapes in in St. Petersburg. Russia’s strategic con- A tributed their own accounts, which feature an era of increasing European intervention. Trading Nature explores—from T cerns in the north Pacific, however, led the the words and opinions of islanders. Govor both the European and Tahitian perspective—the effects of “ecological ex- N Russian government to include as part of also relies on a myth about the Russian visit change” in Tahiti from the mid-eighteenth century to the present day. U the expedition an embassy to Japan, headed K recounted by Nuku Hivans to this day. by statesman Nikolai Rezanov, who was U TWELVE With its unique polyphonic histori- given authority over the ships’ command- H jacket illustrations cal approach, Twelve Days at Nuku Hiva I ers without their knowledge. Between them V presents an innovative cross-cultural Top, Johann Horner, Taiohae; bottom, Egor Skotnikov A the ships carried an ethnically and socially ethnohistory that uncovers new approaches and Ignaz Sebastian Klauber after Wilhelm Tilesius, disparate group of men: Russian educated DAYS to—and understandings of—what took ‘Man from Nuku Hiva Island’. elite, German naturalists, Siberian mer- place on Nuku Hiva more than two chants, Baltic naval officers, even Japanese hundred years ago. jacket design passengers. Upon reaching Nuku Hiva Julie Matsuo-Chun AT NUKU in the Marquesas archipelago on May 7, 1804, and for the next twelve days, the ELENA GOVOR is research fellow at the naval officers revolted against Rezanov’s ISBN 978-0-8248-3368-8 Division of Pacific and Asian History at the command while complex cross-cultural 90000 HIVA UNIVERSITY of Australian National University. encounters between Russians and islanders HAWAI‘I PRESS occurred. Elena Govor recounts the voy- 9 780824 833688 age, reconstructing and exploring in depth Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96822-1888 www.uhpress.hawaii.edu { Continued on back flap } RUSSIAN ENCOUNTERS AND MUTINY IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC Twelve Days at Nuku Hiva Twelve Days at Nuku Hiva Russian Encounters and Mutiny in the South Pacific Elena Govor University of Hawai‘i Press Honolulu © 2010 University of Hawai‘i Press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America 15 14 13 12 11 10 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Govor, Elena. Twelve days at Nuku Hiva : Russian encounters and mutiny in the South Pacific / Elena Govor. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8248-3368-8 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Nuka Hiva (French Polynesia)—Ethnic relations—History— 19th century. 2. Nuka Hiva (French Polynesia)—Social life and customs—19th century. 3. Acculturation—French Polynesia— Nuka Hiva—History—19th century. 4. Marquesans—French Polynesia—Nuka Hiva—History—19th century. 5. Russians— French Polynesia—Nuka Hiva—History—19th century. 6. Nuka Hiva (French Polynesia)—Discovery and exploration, Russian. 7. Marquesas Islands (French Polynesia)—Discovery and exploration, Russian. 8. Russia. Voennyi flot—History—19th century. 9. Mutiny—French Polynesia—Nuka Hiva— History—19th century. I. Title. DU701.N8G68 2010 996.3'1—dc22 2009028691 University of Hawai‘i Press books are printed on acid-free paper and meet the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Council on Library Resources. Designed by Santos Barbasa Jr. Printed by the Maple-Vail Book Manufacturing Group For Vladimir Kabo, my husband, friend, and teacher Contents Acknowledgments ix Note on Spelling and Translations xi Part I From Russia to Nuku Hiva 1 Part II Nuku Hiva 56 Day 1. Encounter. 25 April (7 May) 1804 64 Day 2. Discovery. 26 April (8 May) 1804 91 Day 3. Immersion. 27 April (9 May) 1804 115 Day 4. Tattooing. 28 April (10 May) 1804 137 Day 5. Heresy. 29 April (11 May) 1804 154 Day 6. Tension. 30 April (12 May) 1804 163 Day 7. Temptations. 1/13 May 1804 170 Day 8. Catharsis. 2/14 May 1804 195 Day 9. Dislocation. 3/15 May 1804 214 Days 10–12. Parting. 4/16–6/18 May 1804 227 Part III From Nuku Hiva to Russia 238 Epilogue Nuku Hiva Revisited 263 Notes 269 Bibliography 273 Index 289 Acknowledgments T his book emerged from a research project, ‘Tatau/tattoo: Embodied art and cultural exchange’, funded by the Getty Grant Program (2002–2004), which provided the initial support for the search for forgotten Russian documenta- tion on the first Russian expedition in the South Pacific. The discovery of abundant Russian textual and visual materials complementing the well-known published Russian accounts prompted the idea of drawing together all avail- able sources about the expedition, including Russian, German, Estonian, and French archival materials. The support and generosity of my colleagues further facilitated this research. I am grateful to Tamara Shafranovskaia, Olga Fedo- rova, and Alexey Kruzenshtern from Russia, Frieder Sondermann and Makiko Kuwahara from Japan, Achim and Renate von Rappard from Germany, Burgl Lichtenstein from Switzerland, and Robert Suggs and Victoria Moessner from the United States. My long-term cooperation with Olga Fedorova and Frieder Sondermann was particularly productive. Olga Fedorova shared with me her transcripts of Russian archival materials (Chichagov 1805; Kruzenshtern 1803; Ratmanov 1803–1805a, 1803–1805b, ca. 1808; Shemelin 1803–1806), and Frieder Son- dermann supplied transcripts of German archival documents (Espenberg 1805a; Horner 1807; Krusenstern 1804a, 1804d, 1810, 1813a; Löwenstern 1807; Tile- sius 1803–1804, 1804, 1819, n.d.) and articles (Espenberg 1805b; Depping 1813). My discussions with them, as well as with my husband, Vladimir Kabo, helped me to shape a number of issues examined in this book. Another source of inspiration and reflection was the research by scholars in the field of South Pacific studies—Bronwen Douglas, Nicholas Thomas, and Greg Dening. I am also grateful to Mgr Le Cléac’h, Eric Bastard, and Félicité and Sim- eon Kimitete, who assisted me during my visit to Nuku Hiva in 2003. ix