page_title: Teuruarii IV
section_title: Annexation and later life
hierarchical_section_title: Teuruarii IV / Annexation and later life
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Gustave Pierre Théodore Gallet (1850-1926).
context_page_description: Teuruarii IV, born Epatiana a Teuruarii, was the last King of Rurutu, an island within the larger Austral Islands archipelago, who ruled from around 1886 until the annexation of the island to France in 1900. Proclaimed king upon his father's abdication while still a child, his mother ruled as regent. During this regency the Church of Moerari was consecrated and the death penalty was abolished.
  Teuruarii's reign was disrupted by ongoing French expansionism in the Pacific. Teuruarii entreated the British to place Rurutu under a British protectorate, which the islanders deemed more favorable due to their predominant adherence to Protestantism. These efforts failed and Rurutu was proclaimed a protectorate of the French Third Republic on 27 March 1889. Teuruarii was allowed to continue ruling as king until the annexation of the island to the territory of French Oceania in 1900, today part of the overseas country of French Polynesia. Living out the remainder of his life as a village chief, Teuruarii left many descendants who would have a strong influence in the islands to the modern day.
context_section_description: The protectorate status had a negative effect on the island's trade with Tahiti. Ships from Rurutu, as from other protectorates, were considered foreign vessels at the ports of France and its overseas territories such as the Tahitian port capital of Papeete, Rurutu's nearest significant trading partner. Consequently, Rurutu's agricultural exports were subject to tariffs from which the exports of annexed territories were exempted. The economic disadvantages of the protectorate status became even more evident when France closed the Tahitian ports to all foreigners in 1899, including merchants from Rurutu, in response to an outbreak of bubonic plague in San Francisco. This disruption of trade between the two islands occurred in a period during which Rurutu became increasingly reliant economically on Tahiti. The growing prominence of Tahiti was evidenced in the activities of Teuruarii, who regularly visited Papeete for trade and entertainment. Teuruarii incurred much debt during these trips, and the need to pay off his creditors along with the restriction on trade prompted him to consider formal annexation to France.
  In May 1900, Teuruarii journeyed with a few island dignitaries to Papeete on the invitation of Gustave Gallet, the French governor, to discuss the possibility of annexing the island. On May 11, Teuruarii signed a statement of annexation, officially bringing Rurutu under French control. Months later, the L'Aube brought Gallet to Rurutu, where he officially took possession of the island. On August 25, in a formal ceremony witnessed by Governor Gallet, the officers of the L'Aube, the French officials aboard, the former king and the native population, the flag of the protectorate was lowered and the French tricolor raised in its place; this moment, like the ceremony of 1888, was celebrated by a 21-gun salute from the French vessel.
  The French government gave the former king an annual pension of eight hundred francs to pay off his debts. He was also given the task of administering over native affairs alongside the French commissioners assigned to the island. Laws that punished adultery and violation of the Sabbath, enacted during the kingdom's Protestant period, were revoked, and the royal monopoly on turtle meat was abolished.
  Under French rule, Teuruarii was initially allowed to serve as the village chief of Moerai, the main village and former capital in the northeast corner of the island. On 27 June 1934, the French named him honorary chief of Rurutu and his son Rooteatauira as chief of Moerai.
  In 1925, Scottish artist William Alister Macdonald (1861-1948) painted a portrait of the former King in later life. According to most sources, Teuruarii IV died in 1933, although his appointment as honorary chief of Rurutu was dated one year after.
caption: Governor Gustave Gallet, who helped bring about the annexation of Rurutu
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