Malaita

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Malaita
Malaita Island seen from space (false color)
Geography
Location	Pacific Ocean
Coordinates	9° S 161° E
Archipelago	Solomon Islands
Area	4307 km²
Highest point	Mt. Kalourat (1435 m (4,705 ft)[1])
Administration
Solomon Islands
Province	Malaita
Largest city	Auki
Demographics
Population	140,000
Density	32.5 people/km²
Indigenous people	See text

Malaita Island is the largest island of the Malaita Province in the Solomon Islands. A tropical and mountainous island, Malaita's pristine river systems and tropical forests have not been exploited. Malaita is the most populous island of the Solomon Islands, with 140,000^[2] people or more than a third of the entire national population. The largest city and provincial capital is Auki, on the northwest coast.

Contents 1 Geography 2 Biota 2.1 List of mammals by scientific name 3 Demographics and culture 4 History 5 Notes 6 References

[edit] Geography

Malaita is a thin island, about 102 miles long and 23 miles wide at its widest point. Its length is in a northwest-to-southeast direction, but local custom and official use generally rotate it to straight north-south orientation, and generally refer to the "east coast" or "northern end," when northeast or northwest would be more accurate.^[3] To the southwest is the Indispensable Strait, which separates it from Guadalcanal and the Florida Islands. To the northeast and east is open Pacific Ocean, except for the small Sikaiana, part of the province 212 km northeast. To the northwest of the island is Santa Isabel Island. To the immediate southwest is South Malaita Island (also called Small Malaita or Maramasike), separated by the narrow Maramasike Passage. Beyond that is Makira, the southernmost large island in the Solomon archipelago.

Malaita's climate is extremely wet. It is located in the Intertropical Convergence Zone ("Doldrums"), with its fickle weather patterns. The sun is at zenith over Malaita, and thus the effect is most pronounced, in November and February. Trade winds come during the southern hemisphere's winter, and from about April to August they blow from the southeast fairly steadily. During the summer, fringes of monsoon blow over the island. Because of the surrounding sea, air temperatures are fairly consistent, with a difference between daily highs and lows averaging to 13.6°F. However, across the year, the difference is much less; the mean daily temperature in the warmest month is only 3.4°F warmer than that of the coolest. Rainfall is heavy and there is constant high humidity. The most common daily pattern follows an adiabatic process, with a calm, clear morning, followed by a breeze blowing in from higher pressures over the sea, culminating in a cloudy and drizzly afternoon. At night, the weather pattern reverses, and drizzle and heavy dew dissipate the cloud cover for the morning. Tropical cyclones are the only violent weather, but they can be destructive.^[4]

Like the other islands in the archipelago, Malaita is near the Andesite line and thus forms part of the Pacific Ring of Fire. Earthquakes are common on the island, but there is little evidence of current volcanic activity. The main structural feature of Malaita is the central ridge which runs along the length of the island, with flanking ridges and a few outlying hills. There is a central hilly country, between Auki and the Kwai Harbor, which separates the central ridge into northern and southern halves, the latter being somewhat longer. The northern ridge reaches a height of about 3,200 feet, while the southern goes up to 4,700 feet. Geologically, Malaita has a basaltic intrusive core, covered in most places by strata of sedimentary rock, especially limestone and chert, and littered with fossils. The limestone provides numerous sinkholes and caverns.^[5]

Malaitan hydrology includes thousands of small springs, rivulets, and streams, characteristic of a young drainage pattern. At higher altitudes waterfalls are common, and in some places canyons have been cut through the limestone. Nearer the coasts, rivers are slower and deeper, and form mangrove swamps of brackish water, along with alluvial deposits of gravel, sand, or mud. The coastal plain is very narrow. Inland soils are of three types, wet black, dry black, and red. The wet black soil, too poorly drained for most horticulture except taro, is found in valleys or at the foot of slopes. Dry black makes the best gardening sites. The red soil, probably laterite, does not absorb runoff and forms a hard crust, and is preferred for settlement sites.^[6]

[edit] Biota

There are several different vegetation zones, based on altitude. Along the coast is either a rocky or sandy beach, where pandanus, coconuts, and vines predominate, or a swamp, supporting mangrove and sago palms. Terminalia grows in some drier areas. The lower slopes, up to about 2,500 feet, have a hardwood forest of banyans, Canarium, Indo-Malayan hardwoods, and, at higher altitudes, bamboo. In forested groves, there is relatively little undergrowth. In this zone is also the most intense human cultivation, which, when abandoned, a dense secondary forest grows, which is nearly impassibly thick with shrubs and softwoods. Above about 2,500 feet is a cloud forest, with a dense carpeting of mosses, lichens, and liverworts, with cycads as the dominant tall plant.

Like most Pacific islands, there are not large numbers of mammals. Apart from several species of bats, there are introduced species of pig, cuscus, and rodent. There are also dugong in the mangrove swamps, and sometimes porpoises in the lagoon. However, there are a great number and variety of birds. Almost every family of avifauna were found in Ernst Mayr's 1931 survey.^[7]Several species of parrots, cockatoos, and owls are kept as pets.

Reptiles and amphibians are common as well, especially skinks and geckos. Crocodiles were once common, but have been so frequently hunted for their hides that they are nearly extinct. There are venomous sea snakes and one venomous land snake, probably in the krait family. Some snakes are sacred to certain clans, and people do not ordinarily kill snakes as they are thought to communicate with the ancestors. There are also numerous species of toads and frogs of various sizes.

Fish and aquatic invertebrae are typical of the Indo-Pacific region. There are a few species of freshwater fish, including mudskippers, mangrove crabs, teleost, and coconut crabs. On land, centipedes, scorpions, spiders, and especially insects are very common. All common orders of insects are represented, including some spectacular butterflies. The common Anopheles mosquito ensures that vivax malaria is endemic.

[edit] List of mammals by scientific name

• Sus scrofa (Wild Boar)
• Phalanger orientalis (Northern Common Cuscus; introduced)
• Rattus exulans (Polynesian Rat; introduced)
• Rattus rattus (Black Rat; introduced)
• Solomys sp. (Naked-tailed rats; may be extinct)
• Dobsonia inermis (Bare-backed fruit bat)
• Melonycteris fardoulisi
• Macroglossus minimus (Long-tongued Nectar Bat)
• Nyctimene bougainville
• Nyctimene major
• Pteropus admiralitatum
• Pteropus rayneri
• Pteropus tonganus
• Pteropus woodfordi
• Rousettus amplexicaudatus (Geoffroy's Rousette)
• Emballonura dianae
• Emballonura nigrescens
• Emballonura raffrayana
• Aselliscus tricuspidatus
• Hipposideros calcaratus
• Hipposideros cervinus
• Hipposideros diadema
• Hipposideros dinops
• Miniopterus australis

[edit] Demographics and culture

Malaitans are of a varying phenotype. The skin varies from rich chocolate to tawny, most clearly darker than Polynesians, but not generally as dark as the peoples of Bougainville or the western Solomons, who Malaitans refer to as "black men".^[8] Most have dark brown or black bushy hair, but it varies in color from reddish blond to ebony black, and in texture from frizzled to merely wavy. Hair is sometimes bleached, either by peroxide or by the sun and water, but natural reddish-blond color occurs even in adults. Male-pattern baldness is widespread, but not as common as among Europeans. Most have smooth skin, but some grow hair on their arms, legs, and chest, and have beards. Most Malaitans are shorter than average Europeans, though not as short as Negritos. Relatively robust physiques are more common among coastal populations, while people from higher altitudes tend to be leaner.^[9]

Malaitans speak a variety of languages within the Malaitan language family, a subbranch of the Malayo-Polynesian languages. The diversity is not as great as once thought, and some of the groups are mutually intelligible. Some of the exaggeration in the number of languages may be due to the inappropriateness of lexicostatistical techniques and glottochronological analysis, given the widespread use of word taboo and metathesis as wordplay. According to Harold M. Ross, from north to south along the island's axis, the linguistic groups are roughly the Northern Malaita languages (more properly a collection of dialects without a standard name, generally To'abaita, Baelelea, Baegu, Fataleka, and Lau), Kwara'e in the hilly area between the ridges, Kwaio in about the geographic center of the island, and 'Are'are to the south. Each of these spreads across the width of the island. In addition, there is the Langalanga in a lagoon on the west coast between the Kwara'ae and Kwaio regions, and Kwarekwareo on the western coast between the Kwaio and 'Are'are regions, whcih may be a dialect of Kwaio. Sa'a, spoken on South Malaita, is also a member of the family.^[10] Mutual intelligibility is also aided by the large degree of trade and intermarriage among the groups.

The peoples of Malaita share many aspects of their culture, although they are generally divided into ethnic groups along linguistic lines. In pre-colonial times, settlements were small and moved frequently. Both agnatic descent (patrilineal lines from a founding ancestor) and cognatic descent (through links of outmarrying women) are important. These lineages determine rights of residence and land use in a complex way. In the northern area, local descent groups, united in ritual hierarchies, are largely autonomous, but conceptualize their relationship as a phratry in a manner similar to certain groups in highland New Guinea. In the central area, local descent groups are fully autonomous, though still linked by ritual. In the south, the 'Are'are people developed a more hierarchical organization and more outward orientation, a cultural tradition that reaches its peak on the hereditary chiefs and rituals of Small Malaita to the south.^[11]

The traditional religion of the island is ancestor worship. Congregations of local descent groups propitiate their ancestors at shrines, led by ritual officiants (fataabu in northern Malaita).^[12] With European contact, Catholic and Anglican spread their gospels, and many missionaries were killed. The South Seas Evangelical Mission, a fundamentalist Protestant church originally based in Queensland, made considerable inroads by following the imported workers home to their native islands. More recently, Jehovah's Witnesses and the Seventh-day Adventist Church have converted many.^[13] The Kwaio people have been the most resistant to Christianity.^[14]

For the most part, the Malaitans survive by subsistence agriculture, with taro and sweet potatoes as the most important crops. After the establishment of government control, a plantation was established on the west coast, near Baunani. However, many Malaitans work on plantations on other islands in the archipelago, for most the only way to buy prestigious Western goods. Retail trade was largely conducted by Chinese merchants, with headquarters in Honiara, and dispatching goods to remote locations on the island, where they are sometimes purchased by middlemen who keep "stores" (usually of suitcase side) in remote places. ^[15]

The Malaitans are famous for their music and dance, which are sometimes associated with rituals. Several of the groups, including the 'Are'are, are famous for their panpipe ensembles. Secular dancing is similar to widespread patterns in the Solomons, following patterns learned from plantation labor gangs or moves learned at the cinema in Honiara. Sacred dances follow strict formal patterns, and incorporate panpipers in the group.^[16]

[edit] History

Malaita was first known to Europeans by the Spaniard Alvaro de Mendaña de Neira in 1568, which resulted in considerable violence. They suffered harsh treatment from whaling boat crews, and considerable blackbirding. The earliest missionaries, both Catholic and Protestant, were killed, including Bishop Patteson and Bishop Epalle. The violent reputation survives in the name of Cape Arsacides, the eastward bulge of the northern part of the island, meaning Cape of the Assassins.^[17] Missionizing continued, with the Anglican and Catholic churches, while converted Melanesian workers spread the South Seas Evangelican Mission. At this time, there was no central power among the groups on Malaita, and there were numerous blood feuds, exacerbated by the introduction of Western guns, and steel tools which meant less time constraints for gardening.^[18] Central government control of Malaita began in 1893, with the proclamation of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate, claiming to regulat the local warfare and unfair labor trade, although it coincided with the German acquisition of territories to the west and French interest in those to the east.^[19]

Auki was established as a government station in 1909, as headquarters of the administrative district of Malaita. The government began to pacify the island, registering or confiscating firearms, collecting a head tax, and breaking the power of unscrupulous war leaders. One important figure in the process was District Commissioner W. R. Bell (d. 1927, by the Kwaio). World War II, which played a major role in Solomons history, did not have a major impact upon Malaita. Auki became the temporary capital when Tulagi was seized by the Japanese, and it too was briefly raided by Japan, but little fighting happened on the island. Malaitans who fought in battalions, however, brought a new movement for self-determination known as Maasina Ruru (or "Marching Rule"), which spread quickly across the island. Participants lived in fortified nontraditional villages, and refused to cooperate with the British. The British retaliated firmly, while reforming to appease some members.^[20]

The Solomon Islands were granted independence in 1978. The first prime minster was an 'Are'are, trained as a South Seas Evangelical Mission teacher. The provinces were re-organized in 1981, and Malaita became the main island of Malaita Province. Malaitans who had emigrated to Guadalcanal became a focus of the civil war which broke out in 1999, and the Malaita Eagle Force (MEF), led by Jimmy Rasta, was organized to protect their interest, both on Guadalcanal and on their home island. The organization of Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) has contributed to the infrastructure development of the island.^[21]

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Roger Keesing, Kwaio Religion: The Living and the Dead in a Solomon Island Society. New York: Columbia University Press, 1982.
• Harold M. Ross. Baegu: Social and Ecological Organization in Malaita, Solomon Islands. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1973.
• James S. Page. 'Education and Acculturation on Malaita: An Ethnography of Intraethnic and Interethnic Affinities'.The Journal of Intercultural Studies. 1988. #15/16:74-81; available on-line at http://eprints.qut.edu.au/archive/00003566/.