ʻAta is a depopulated island in the far southern end of the Tonga archipelago, situated approximately 160 kilometres (99 mi) south-southwest of Tongatapu.

It is distinct from ʻAtā, an uninhabited, low coral island in the string of small atolls along the Piha passage along the north side of Tongatapu.

[2]: 279 Most of ʻAta's land is a high plateau 60 to 100 metres (200 to 330 ft) above sea level, with steep cliffs and rocky beaches ringing the shoreline of the entire island.

Archaeologist Atholl Anderson spent 18 days exploring the abandoned village of Kolomaile in 1977,[6] which is accessible via a steep trail from the island's cobbled northern beach.

[10] Because of its remote location from the main islands of Tonga, ʻAta was largely self-governed; the Official Report on Central Polynesia by Charles St Julian stated its population was 150 in 1857.

The captain there induced a large party of natives to come on board to trade, and while they were dining on the 'tween decks, closed the hatches upon them, men, women and children to the number of about 130, and sailed with them for the Peruvian coast.

A fleet of ships spread out over the Pacific, ostensibly to find willing migrants, but they quickly switched to plain kidnapping tactics instead.

[14] In 1929, anthropologist Edward Winslow Gifford interviewed two former residents of Kolomaile who were schoolchildren when the Grecian took its slaves; they said that "[Paul] Vehi [Mayor of ʻAta] went aboard and presumably arranged the kidnapping.

Because Grecian never obtained a labour licence from Peru, General Prim was more than willing to take the 174 Tongans back to port,[12]: 87  where it arrived on 19 July.

In addition, Captain Escurra of the Adelante, which had been one of the most successful slavers before the licenses were revoked, had no intention to take them home after being paid $30 per head.

[13] Meanwhile, in Tonga, King George Tupou I, having heard of the kidnappings, sent three schooners to ʻAta to evacuate and to resettle the remaining population of Kolomaile (about 200 people) to ʻEua, where they would be safe against future attacks.

[16] In June 1965, a group of six Tongan youths were stranded on the island after running away from their strict Anglican boarding school in Nukuʻalofa on Tongatapu.

[17] The descendants of the original ʻAta island dwellers still live in the southern village of Haʻatuʻa on ʻEua, of which a part has received the name Kolomaile.

[14] Their wish to return to ʻAta was still alive in the mid-20th century, but it is considered unlikely to happen, as the island does not have a harbour, making shipping to it a dangerous and uneconomical adventure.