the story of the people who first inhabited Niutao: "The first inhabitants of Niutao were half spirit and half human beings who lived at Mulitefao. Their leader was Kulu who took the form of a woman. The first human settlers came from Samoa in a canoe captained by a man called Mataika. He settled at Tamana on the eastern side of the island, where winds swept the spray of the surf over the reef." In the 15th century warriors from Tonga were defeated in a battle on the reef of Niutao at a place known as Tāga A Kaupapa. Tongan warriors also invaded Niutao later in the 15th century and again were repelled. A third invasion of Tongan warriors occurred in the late 16th century; with a fourth following when the Tongans were defeated at a place called Tekamaitoga. During the 17th century warriors invaded from the islands of Kiribati on two occasions. These battles were fought on the reef; the I-Kiribati stood at Tuteatua and the Niutaoan warriors stood at Agaia; the sacred place named Teititapalua identifies the site of these battles. In the late 17th century fighting occurred in Niutao between competing leaders, with the followers of the defeated leaders being forced off Niutao and were allowed to settle on Nanumea. Niutao is part of a distinct linguistic area of Tuvalu, that includes the islands of Nanumea and Nanumaga as well. European contact and christianization There has been some debate as to the first European (Palagi) to visit Niutao, Keith S. Chambers and Doug Munro (1980) solved what Europeans described as The 'Mystery' of Gran Cocal and identified Spanish naval officer Francisco Mourelle de la Rúa as sailing past Niutao on May 5, 1781. Laumua Kofe (1983)<ref name="Laumua Kofe 1983">{{cite book | author= Laumua Kofe | title=Tuvalu: A History, Ch 15, 'Palagi and Pastors | year= 1983 | publisher= Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific and Government of Tuvalu}}</ref> accepted Chambers and Munro's conclusions, with Kofe describing Mourelle's ship La Princesa, as waiting beyond the reef, with Nuitaoans coming out in canoes, bringing some coconuts with them. La Princesa was short of supplies but Mourelle was forced to sail on — naming Niutao, El Gran Cocal ('The Great Coconut Plantation'). The next European recorded as sighting Niutao was Obed Starbuck, a whaling captain, who visited Niutao on the Loper in 1825, naming it 'Loper Island'.