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Sapwuahfik, formerly Ngatik, or the Raven Islands "F.S.M. Airports & Civil Airfields--Sapwuahfik Civil Airfield" is a atoll in Pohnpei state of the Federated States of Micronesia. It is a village and municipality of roughly 430 people on a land area of . It is mostly known in history as the site of the Ngatik massacre.
The atoll is long and up to wide. The lagoon measures in area, and the total area is . The aggregate land area of the 10 islands is , of which the main island Ngatik is , or more than half. While Ngatik is the only inhabited island, the six larger of the remaining islands are used by the population for harvesting coconuts and growing taro, and animal husbandry (pigs and chickens). There are 12 buildings for temporary shelter on those islands.
The islands, clockwise, starting at Ngatik in the west:
| western end |
| north |
| northeast |
| east |
| east |
| east |
| eastern end |
| eastern end |
| southeast |
| south |
| fringing reef |
The local creole, Ngatik Men's Creole, developed as a result of the 1837 Ngatik massacre, during which the island's male population was wiped out by the crew of captain C. H. Hart and Pohnpeian warriors. Some of the Europeans and Pohnpeians settled and repopulated the island, taking the local women as wives. The island formed a new culture and language, a mixture of English and Ngatikese (a Pohnpeic language). In addition to the creole, which is only spoken by men, all of the residents speak Ngatikese, a Pohnpeic language closely related to the Pohnpeian language.
Solomon Sumner, Seventh-day Adventist Missionary, was buried on the island in 1990.
History
The atoll was first discovered by Westerners on 6 April 1773 by the Spanish naval officer Felipe Tompson when sailing from Manila to San Blas in New Spain on board of the vessel Nuestra Señora de la Consolación also called in short Buen Fin. Tompson charted the island as Los Valientes (the island of the bold in Spanish).Riesenberg, Saul H. "Six Pacific island discoveries" The American neptune Vol. 34; Salem, Mass. 1974, p.250 At some point between 1793 and 1796, William Raven, captain of Britannia gave a firm sighting to the island.
Education
Pohnpei State Department of Education operates public schools:
Transportation
Just east of the Sapwuahfik is an Sapwuahfik Airfield with a paved runway.
See also
Notes
External links
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