Ua Pou (, North Marquesan: ’uapou) is the third largest of the Marquesas Islands, in French Polynesia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. History Pre-European history Ua Pou is the only major island that was unified under a single monarch prior to the arrival of European explorers. Prior to the island's unification, reportedly about 1585, there is evidence that the tribes of Ua Pou were sometimes united in war with the tribes of Te I'i on Nuku Hiva against those of Tai Pi Vai. Despite the fact that tribes from both the eastern and western halves of Ua Pou were often united in war against each other, however, it appears that such differences among them were not considered when members of tribes from either side of the island sought refuge among the tribes of Te I'i on Nuku Hiva. The early Polynesian settlers of Ua Pou lived under rock overhangs, as excavations from 1982 onwards at the Anapua rock shelter, not far from the village of Hakatao in the south of the island, have shown. Their main diet was fish. In the following centuries, independent tribal principalities arose in the valley incisions, still recognizable today by the location of the villages. At first, only coastal regions with access to the important food source, the sea, were settled; with increasing population density, settlements grew in the valleys. Little research has been done on the tribal society of Ua Pous; the German ethnologist Karl von den Steinen did pioneering work there in 1897/98. Important tribal principalities were located in the Hakamoui and Paumea valleys, whose architectural legacies are still visible today. The islanders built their houses and ritual structures on stone platforms (paepae) up to 3 m high. The actual houses were made of perishable materials and had a steep gabled roof made of palm fronds, the back panel of which reached the ground. The façade was open and the roof was supported by profusely decorated and beautifully carved poles. Exploration and Colonization In 1791, American Joseph Ingraham passed through the northwest group of the Marquesas on his way to China, but without setting foot there. He gave the island of Ua Pou, visible in the distance, the name "Adam" or "Adams Island" after Vice President John Adams. It was also formerly known as Trevenen Island. The name Ua Pou means "two pillars" and perfectly reflects its orography. It