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23/12/2004: "NUKUORO ATOLL . TEENAGE BEAUTY"
Speaking very little English - the girls of Nukuoro Atoll were however, familiar with Playboy magazine and western male fasination of bare breasts. Therefore they were not dressing topless as per traditional Polynesian custom. This teenage girl I considered most photogenic.
Off the Beaten Track: Nukuoro Atoll
Nukuoro is a real haven. One of Pohnpei's outer atolls, it comprises 42 tiny islets formed in a near-perfect circle around a lagoon 4 miles (6km) in diameter. The Polynesian inhabitants are very welcoming, making this a fine place to spend some time just lazing around on beaches, picking up seashells and playing with island children. There is a guesthouse on the pier. There's no airport on Nukuoro; an irregular passenger boat passes about once a month. (Lonely Planet)
July 2, 2005. From: www.mahamahaarts.com
The people of Kapingamarangi and Nukuoro speak dialects of the Polynesian language. Some estimated they settled on these islands between 800 and 900 years ago. Although they have become part of Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), they continued to maintain their Polynesian cultural values.
Like many other Polynesian and Micronesian groups, they are very quite and live simple lives on their islands. Few have gained employment with the FSM and the Pohnpei State governments but most people make their living off fishing, carving and weaving.
Developments on their islands are much different compare to the 1800s or earlier when the whalers and explorers roamed the region. In their early settlement, their houses were built on the lagoon side, facing west. Perhaps they have chosen the west side of the island for two main reasons: It is more calm and accessible to the lagoon. Since much of their living is substantiated by fishing, having canoe houses built on the beaches is much more suitable.
Nukuoro and Kapingamarangi are both atolls which mean they have lagoons. Nukuoro has forty-six (46) tiny islands that sit on a ring of reef with a lagoon of four miles in diameter. It is known to be one of the deepest lagoon in the Pacific. When Nukuoro is sighted from a ship on a calm day, the islands appeared like a set of mores code on the horizon.
Kapinga has 30 islets that sit around an egg-shaped lagoon. Most people live on this island called, Souhou. I had a very impressive memory of this little island and how the huts were build systematically around this little tiny island.
