Category: THETIKOPIAN

I had the chance to go back to the village in September 2019 after seven long years. A lot has definitely changed over the years I have been  away. 

The bushes surrounding our home have grown into big tall trees. I had to walk through a forest to reach home. It was great seeing and appreciating the natural beauty around, most of which is still well preserved.

My cousin, Hon. Rangitia provided his boat for my trip to see my mom. I managed to spend a few days at home before returning to Honiara. I went on my own while my family stayed back in Honiara.

I thank God for the opportunity to visit my mother in the village before her passing. My short stay was quite exciting. I had missed home for a long time. Time stops whenever I go back to the village. It is the only time I get to experience the basic simplicity of life, without worry or rush. It is an experience of a lifetime for the townsfolk. 

A significant custom in Tikopia is the Maro or Te Maro. Literally ‘te maro’ refers to cover for body or clothes but its purpose is to cover someone from the ailments or to show that they are well taken care of by their uncles or aunties. It is a practice whereby a Tikopian gives traditional mats, tapa and raw food to their ‘tama tapu’ who is usually a nephew or niece(i.e child of a sister). When a girl marries out, her brothers become responsible for her children and are required to make maros from time to time for them. The usual time a maro takes place is when a tama tapu is injured or sick, had recovered from illness, had returned or is leaving on a journey to a far away place.

The tama tapu is informed by the uncles prior to the day of the maro so he or she would be prepared. Usually food is prepared to feed the uncles as well. The tama tapu has to pay for the maro. Nowadays people pay in the form of money. An estimate of the value of the items given in the maro guides the tama tapu on how much to pay for it, however he or she is free to pay more or in other forms if so desired. In some instances the uncles would give maros freely however mostly something is given in return for a maro. Some uncles even request for certain kinds of payments such as cash or items that they need.

When the uncles take the maros to their tama tapus, they have to paint them with tumeric mixed with coconut oil as a symbol of protection. During this ritual the uncle would speak to the tama tapu words of protection against the elements. These words have been spoken for over many generations. This would also show the community that a maro has been done. The tama tapu has to go out in public with the tumeric in place. Nowadays the tumeric is judiciously applied to certain areas of the body only such as the cheeks for those who have to travel far instead of the usual practice of painting the whole chest, shoulders, arms and neck.

In return for the service the uncles have been providing to the tama tapus in terms of maros, when a tama tapu dies, his or her punefu would go to the uncle’s house. A punefu will be discussed in another post.

As in many societies, death of a loved one is proceeded by a series of traditional events. In the Tikopian culture various activities occur at different stages following a death. Immediately after a death, wailing begins at the home by family members. Close relatives are quietly informed by the grieving immediate family. News of the death spreads to the neighbors by actually hearing the commotion then by word of mouth from person to person within a village. Sympathizers and well wishers would then flock in to join in the wailing during which they would sing laments in the Tikopian language depending on their relationships towards the deceased.

One of the landmarks in a Tikopian’s life is marriage. Young men and women are free to court each other till such a time when the young couple decide to marry. Previously courtship was a secret thing not to be known by both families. At a time of the man’s choosing, he would take the young woman to his house and claim her as his wife. His family would then sort things out with the woman’s family by way of presentation of traditional mats and tapa and other items collectively known as ‘torofanga’ to them. The man’s representatives, usually the uncles, would try to convince the young woman’s family to agree. They would go to the young woman’s house that night or early the next day crawling on all fours as a show of respect, as they approach the parents or guardians, and greet them by kissing the father’s knee as well as greeting the rest of the family members present with a ‘songi’ or traditional kiss.. If the woman’s family agree, they would accept the traditional items as bride price or representation of the latter. If they don’t agree with their daughter’s match they would dispute it but would seldom resort to violent measures.

Once agreed upon, a date for the wedding ceremony is set by the man’s family. There is some input from the woman’s family but most of the arrangement is done by the man and his family. On the night before the wedding, the young woman would be taken to the man’s house(if she still lives with her parents) where her sister-inlaws would dress her up in traditional attire.  On the day of the wedding, a big umu(earth oven) and feast is organised. The man may participate in the work but the woman spends most of the day chanting traditional farewell laments to each of her family members and relatives as she would be taken away to be part of another family for the rest of her life.

The young woman usually brings with her to her new home fine mats and traditional items she had created herself as a show of her skills and capabilities as a wife towards her husband and his family.

Nowadays marriages occur in churches and is followed suit by feasting and dancing. As part of the wedding feast, traditional singing and dances are performed by young men and women as the newly wed couple look on. The couple may also participate in the dance.

The new couple are given a new family name usually by the man’s family. In most situations where the young man is the eldest son, he would inherit the name of his parents as his new family name while his parents would adopt another appropriate name from their ‘paito’ or household. Once a man or woman gets married he or she is no longer called upon or referred to using his or her real name. As a sign of respect, other Tikopians would call them by their family name; for example the man’s suffix would be ‘Pae’ while the woman’s suffix would be ‘Nau’.i.e Pae Avariki and Nau Avariki.

I would only mention a few of our cultural traditions because it would take volumes to describe our culture in entirety. The Tikopian society had survived the test of time for several centuries through harsh environmental and socieconomic conditions but our culture had little changed over time. The Tikopian people continue to maintain their cultural norms, unifying them despite their widely scattered abodes away from their island.

A masi(fermented breadfruit) pit

Brother Nukureosia(named after our grandpa John Reosia Avariki) and nephew Niu’i

The exchanges that occur, their timing and details depend on the nature of the occasion. Most of the time it involves use of koroa, which consist of traditional finely woven yet tough pandanas mats, maro or fakamaru'(male tapa), mami(female tapa), kafa(woven coconut husk), carved wooden elements such as fe’e(paddles) and kumete(bowls), raw  and cooked food. Koroa, like money, are the Tikopian medium of exchange in all traditional ceremonies.

Circumcision

One of the first traditional ceremonies all Tikopian children undergo is the pungaumu(circumcision). A lot of planning and preparation is required prior to the event. The parents would accumulate enough koroa for use during the ceremony. Close relatives are informed including the maternal uncles so they would also prepare. Families would ensure the harvest would be ready during that time. Nowadays, the holiday season is chosen as the kids are on school breaks. This often occurs during mid year or Christmas holidays.

Both male and female children undergo this ceremony which marks their transition into adulthood. The average age for circumcision is 10 with a range from 8 to 18 years. The timing is up to the family and maternal uncles of the children. Only the males get circumcised but the girls are also included in the ceremony. The circumcision itself is performed by the maternal uncles. The boys are dressed in marotafi(male tapa dyed with tumeric) and wear a lavalava(loin cloth) over it. The lavalava often gets replaced by their maternal aunties during the day in exchange for new ones up to the time the circumcision is carried out. During the procedure no girls are allowed to watch. Some of the maternal uncles and aunties gather around and sing known laments throughout the procedure. One of the uncles sits behind the boy and closes the boy’s eyes so he does not see the procedure. In the past sharp stones and shells were used as blades. Scalpel blades and modern antiseptic and dressing is used nowadays. The tufunga(uncle performing the procedure) yells “katoa” to signal that the procedure is complete. The aunties then continue to lament over the blood and foreskin which they wrap up while the boy is carried away into the house by the uncle sitting behind him. The boys do not bath till the third day when they would bath in the sea. The dressing would often come off by the end of the week.

Later in the evening on the day after the ritual, the kids are made to sleep on several layers of fine mats with more layers of tapa over them. Families and relatives would be calling out names as they hand over mats  and mami to be placed under and over the kids respectively. Early the next morning the uncles come and take their bedding to their homes where they would begin weeks of moving from house to house in the village, spending up to three nights at each home. They get treated like princes and princesses. They are not allowed to do any work during that period and only eat and sleep. That period also allows them to heal and learn from each home about the Tikopian way. After that they become mature in their way of thinking and doing things the Tikopian way.

NUKUFERO
Ngangea pelapela is what it used to be called by many visiting kinsfolk decades ago yet today it is considered te ngangea vakivaki(the place of happiness) as it becomes the center of attraction for many incoming Tikopians for various reasons.

Little heard of and hidden within a deep bay lined with green mangroves and separated by a crocodile infested river which flows from a waterfall deep in the rainforest, lies one of the biggest Tikopian settlements in the Solomon Islands with a local population of around five hundred.  Half of the villagers live on sea level where the first landing of Tikopians occurred over fifty years ago while the other half built their houses on a flat elevation further inland.

Nukufero was the older name of the current Tikopia island which the newer settlement on Russell Islands was named after. According to the old folks Nuku means place or settlement and fero refers to the brownish color of the Tikopians. The village was established and registered in the mid to late 1950s to cater for Tikopian families working for Levers Solomons Ltd(LSL). It was formally registered under the British Solomon Islands protectorate government. During that period waste land belonged to the state as unused land while most of the coastal land was left to the indigenous Russell Islanders as customary land. This was of course not without dispute from the original land owners as the company was of little benefit to them and most of the workers had to be recruited from other Islands such as Malaita and Temotu province.

Early Life

I was born and raised at Nukufero village and the former Levers Solomons Limited(LSL) Pepesala estate. Nukufero, Pepesala and Somata are all located on the west end of Pavuvu Island in the Russell Islands. I have a younger brother and two older sisters, all grown now. My parents travelled as young adults from Tikopia and got married at Nukufero. My dad, among other young Tikopian men, had come from Tikopia Island to work during the 1950s at Somata, an estate of the LSL. He decided not to live amongst the other fellow Tikopians in the allocated community land but decided to build his home, our current home some distance away, outside at the Northern end of the village, within the waste land of the LSL where we live to this day. However we have our registered plot of land where we do our farming at the Southeastern end of the village and have to travel through the village and through other farms for about 10 kilometers to get to our gardens.

Growing up as a child at Nukufero and Pepesala was quite challenging yet not without exciting and memorable experiences. I had lived with my Aunt( Rangimotu) at Pepesala from infancy till just before I started school. My uncle used to be an overseer for the then more modern copra dryer located at Point Six on Pepesala, which eventually got burnt to the ground in the early 1990s. I moved back to Nukufero to live with my family when I started school while my aunt and uncle remained on Pepesala.

I attended Waterpump School a.ka. Nukufero Primary school(now known as Nukufero Community High School) from 1983 to 1988 and did my high school at Waimapuru National Secondary School from 1989 to 1994. I had to board at primary school with other boys since grade 3. Life as a youngster at Nukufero was very harsh and challenging as my parents had very little income from copra cutting for the LSL to support my siblings and I in our education. After leaving primary school I had to travel miles to live away from my family at the age of 11.

Waimapuru NSS is a government-run high school located on Makira Island so my dad had to drop me off in Honiara town to live with my aunt and uncle pama Rotopurotu before I travelled for the first time to attend Form 1(Grade 12). Then I had to travel overnight by boat for about 18 hours to get to Waimapuru.

Hardships of growing up

During my school semester holidays I would help my family with copra cutting in the coconut plantations at Nukufero, Pepesala and Somata and often had to get up as early as 3AM to 4 AM to travel to work. Usually there would be a tractor to catch but sometimes we would walk miles or paddle by outrigger canoe to get to our location of copra cutting.

When copra was not in season we had to cut brushes for hours in the heat or rain with long brush knives. Sometimes we would go with very little to eat during those long hours at work. Malaria was common as the plantations were heavily infested with blood-sucking mosquitoes. We would return home late in the evening or get home at night only to wake up early the next morning to the same routine. Occasionally I would return home with blisters on my palms from the knife handles caused by unrelenting thick bushes or some other injuries.
On weekends we would paddle in our outrigger canoe for three hours or so to sell our produce of pineapples, bananas, breadfruit, betel nuts, cut nuts and swamp taro(pilaka) at Pepesala and occasionally at Somata stations. We would use a little money to buy sugar, salt, tea and rice at the society store at the other end of Pepesala then travel the same route back later in the evening. The rest of the money was saved for tuition and travel expenses or pocket money. We had to wait till late afternoon or evening when its less hot and sunny to paddle back to our village.

Thetikopian is a website about myself and just about anything to do with a Tikopian from the most intimate personal issue to the most famous event there is relating to any Tikopian. Thank you for joining me today. Keep checking this site for updates on interesting stuff. Hope you will enjoy following me.
Firstly, Tikopia is a tiny tropical island located Southeast of the Solomon Islands. It is inhabitated by some 1300+ polynesians with a strong yet unique culture which had been well preserved over the ages. It is this culture that makes Tikopian culture one of the most well preserved cultures in Polynesia. The island had been discovered in the early 1600s by Spanish explorers.  To this day it remains uncertain which type of people were the original inhabitants who were killed by recent settlers leaving just women and children, the latter party whom became the predominant race on the island. People who originate from Tikopia are called Tikopians.
There are currently more Tikopians living outside Tikopia Island in Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands, and in various settlements, than on Tikopia island itself. The current total Tikopian population in the Solomons would be estimated to be 3500 to 4000, making up part of the 3% Polynesian ethinicity. Solomon Islands is predominantly Melanesian (94%) in ethnicity, 3% Polynesian, 1% Micronesian and 1% others.
The history of Tikopia had been passed from generation to generation through word of mouth, songs, art and cultural traditions. Thus little is documented until the era of exposure to European explorers and missionaries. The famous late ethnologist Sir Raymond Firth had lived on the island of Tikopia  in the mid 21st century and studied Tikopia as a society, its people and culture and had published several books about Tikopia and other Polynesian groups within the Pacific. He brought to light a mostly secretive society embedded deep within the most remote and barely accessible parts of the Solomon Islands.