Editing Kiribati (section)

=== Early history ===
The area now called Kiribati has been inhabited by [[Austronesian peoples]] speaking the same [[Oceanic languages|Oceanic language]], from north to south, including the southernmost [[Nui (atoll)|Nui]], since sometime between 3000&nbsp;BC<ref name=cind>Macdonald, Barrie (2001) ''Cinderellas of the Empire: towards a history of Kiribati and Tuvalu'', Institute of Pacific Studies, [[University of the South Pacific]], Suva, Fiji, {{ISBN|982-02-0335-X}}, p. 1</ref> and 1300&nbsp;AD.{{sfn|Thomas|2003|p=5}} The area was not completely isolated; later, voyagers from [[Samoa]], [[Tonga]], and [[Fiji]] introduced some [[Polynesia]]n and [[Melanesia]]n cultural aspects, respectively. Intermarriage and intense navigation between the islands tended to blur cultural differences and resulted in a significant degree of cultural homogenization.<ref name=brit/><ref>{{cite web |title=Background Note: Kiribati |url=http://www.mfep.gov.ki/Facts%20and%20Background.htm |website=Ministry of Finance and Economic Development |access-date=23 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091014051525/http://www.mfep.gov.ki/Facts%20and%20Background.htm |archive-date=14 October 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Local oral historians chiefly in the form of lore keepers suggest that the area was first inhabited by a group of seafaring people from [[Melanesia]], who were described as being dark-skinned, frizzy-haired, and short in stature. These [[indigenous peoples]] were then visited by early [[Austronesian peoples|Austronesian]] seafarers from the west, a place called Matang, orally described as being tall and fair-skinned. 
[[Image:Makin Islander.jpg|thumb|Portrait of a native of the [[Makin (islands)|Makin]] Islands, drawn by [[Alfred Thomas Agate]] (1841)]]

Around AD 1300, a mass departure occurred from [[Samoa]] leading to the addition of Polynesian ancestry into the mix of most Gilbertese people.<ref>{{cite web |title=DNA offers a new look at how Polynesia was settled |url=https://www.sciencenews.org/article/dna-genetics-how-polynesia-settled-migration-islands-pacific-ocean |website=ScienceNews |language=en |access-date=8 May 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Study gives Polynesia migrations new timelines |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/194538/study-gives-polynesia-migrations-new-timelinesn |website=rnz.co.nz |language=en |access-date=8 May 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Evolutionary history of modern Samoans |url=https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7196816/ |website=National Library of Medecine |language=en |access-date=8 May 2025}}</ref> These Samoans later brought strong features of [[Polynesian languages]] and culture, creating clans based on their own Samoan traditions and slowly intertwining with the indigenous clans and powers already dominant in Kiribati. 

Around the 15th century, starkly contrasting systems of governance arose between the northern islands, primarily under chiefly rule (''uea''), and the central and southern islands, primarily under the rule of their council of elders (''unimwaane''). [[Tabiteuea]] could be an exception as the sole island that is known as maintaining a traditional [[Egalitarianism|egalitarian]] society.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tabiteuea Island |url=https://www.kiribatitourism.gov.ki/islands-to-explore/tabiteuea-island/ |website=kiribatitourism.gov.ki |language=en |access-date=8 May 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Tabiteuea North: its Social and Economic Organisation |url=https://ir.wgtn.ac.nz/items/7f332ba9-c7b3-4ed4-b00c-1a2a3409a418 |website=Victoria University of Wellington |language=en |access-date=8 May 2025}}</ref>  

The name Tabiteuea stems from the root phrase ''Tabu-te-Uea'', meaning "chiefs are forbidden".<ref>But the organization of the political decisions was far more complex as described by Jean-Paul Latouche, in ''Qui veut prendre la parole ?'' (2003) by [[Marcel Detienne]].</ref> Civil war soon became a factor, with acquisition of land being the main form of conquest. Clans and chiefs began fighting over resources, stimulated by hatred and reignited blood feuds, which had their origins months, years, or even decades before.
The turmoil lasted well into the European visitation and colonial era, which led to certain islands decimating their foes with the help of guns and cannon-equipped ships that Europeans provided to some I-Kiribati leaders.<ref name="jps.auckland.ac.nz"/> 

The typical military arms of the I-Kiribati at this time were shark tooth-embedded wooden spears,<ref>{{cite web |title=At Harms Length: Shark Tooth Spears of the Gilbert Islands |url=https://www.bowers.org/index.php/collections-blog/at-harms-length-shark-tooth-spears-of-the-gilbert-islands |website=bowers.og |language=en |date=16 May 2019 |access-date=8 May 2025}}</ref> knives, and swords, and garbs of armour fashioned from dense coconut fibre.<ref>{{cite web |title=The art of armour in Kiribati |url=https://www.fg-art.org/en/artwork-of-the-month-archives/the-art-of-armour-in-kiribati |website=fg-art.org |language=en |date=November 2020 |access-date=8 May 2025}}</ref> They chiefly used these instead of the gunpowder and weapons of steel available at the time, because of the strong sentimental value of the equipment handed down through generations. Ranged weapons, such as bows, slings, and javelins, were seldom used; [[Culture of Kiribati#Kiribati traditional martial arts|hand-to-hand combat]] was a prominent skill still practised today, though seldom mentioned because of various taboos associated with it, secrecy being the primary one. [[Abemama]]'s High Chief [[Tembinok']] was the last of the dozens of expansionist chiefs of Gilbert Islands of this period,<ref>{{cite web |title=In Their Words: History and Society in Gilbertese Oral Tradition |url=https://fr.scribd.com/document/687185479/21221 |author=Kambati K. Urian |website=bowers.og |language=en |date=1995 |access-date=8 May 2025}}</ref> despite Abemama historically conforming to the traditional southern islands' governance of their respective ''unimwaane''. He was immortalised in [[Robert Louis Stevenson]]'s book ''In the South Seas'', which delved into the high chief's character and method of rule during Stevenson's stay in Abemama. The 90th anniversary of his arrival in the Gilbert Islands was chosen to celebrate the independence of Kiribati on 12 July 1979.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/464/464-h/464-h.htm|title = In the South Seas, by Robert Louis Stevenson}}</ref>