The Marquesas Islands group is one of the most remote in the world, lying about 852 mi (1,370 km) northeast of Tahiti and about 3,000 mi (4,800 km) away from the west coast of Mexico, the nearest continental land mass.
The rich environment of the islands supported a large population that lived by fishing, collecting shellfish, hunting birds and gardening. They relied heavily on breadfruit but raised at least 32 other introduced crops. link
The Marquesas are a house, the name for each island has the meaning for a part of the house:
(others know this story better than I do)
Reference:
Doug Gorgoni
Revised: June 13, 1996
Copyright © 1996 Daniel (Taniera) Longstaff