MIXED BLESSINGS

CHRISTIANITY AND HISTORY IN WOMEN'S LIVES ON SIMBO, WESTERN

Christine May Dureau

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Behavioural Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, Australia. July, 1994. To

Esi Qoele pa Qago

Silas Keoto Barogoso

and to the memory of

Manusiu Hanikera Bazo Qoele, d. 1993

Zesi Iqupula Qoele, d. 1993

; Plate I: Tema sorting megapode eggs for sale at markets in Gizo. ABSTRACT

This thesis considers the ethnographic history of Simbo, a small island in the western Solomon Islands. The particular focus is upon the significance of conversion to Christianity and subsequent Christian practice, in shaping social and cultural issues and practices in the 1990s. Women's lives, in particular those aspects concerned with kinship, are the lens through which historical changes are viewed. By juxtaposing the structures suggested by indigenous lifecycle categories and the differentiation inherent in individual biographical material, I try to reflect the regularities and continuities within Simbo society as well as the variability and unpredictability of sociality at any given moment. At the same time, the mutability of structure is reflected in the transformed significance of institutions and ostensibly similar practices. The period under scrutiny is that between c. 1900-1990, which covers social practices and events from immediately prior to pacification and the Methodist Mission's establishment in the Group in 1902 up until the present. I argue that since pacification, the progressive development of indigenous Christianity has been the major determinant of Simbo responses to the world system. This is not to argue that pacification represented the first intrusion of Europe or the beginning of social transformations. Constructions of indigenous societies as having been static entities before contact with Europe are critiqued. Pacification, after more than a century of contact with Europe, had revolutionary implications because of its significance-^f- local worldviews, as much as for its demonstration of British political "legitimacy'. Christianity, then, cannot be divorced from the reality of political and economic subordination throughout the twentieth century. Nor, however, can it be simpHstically treated as merely the ideological face of expanding capitalism. Following J. Comaroff and J.L. Comaroff, I treat the non-material aspects of social life as being as significant as the material. From its earliest days, the Methodist Mission both facilitated and hampered the interests of government and traders. But it is not only mission personnel who are important here. Simbo people have consistently shaped and deployed their own Christian frameworks. If they never resisted it, they have certainly transformed what was imposed on them ninety years ago from ideology to lived hegemony. I declare that this work has not been submitted for a higher degree to any other university or institution. This work is entirely my own except where I indicate otherwise in the text.

^;^ 'UAiOCi

Christine Dureau. vi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I owe my deepest thanks to Margaret Jolly and Elizabeth Iqupula Beri. I find it difficult to express just how much it has meant to me to work with my academic supervisor, Margaret Jolly. Her commitment to seeing my work through to completion, despite our spending most of my candidature in separate institutions, has been much appreciated. So has her encouragement in the face of my various personal crises, problems with research permits and intellectual uncertainties. She has had, I think, a discernible influence on my work, without threatening my autonomy or encouraging dependence. Her own work has been exemplary and her intellectual generosity boundless. My sincere thanks are an inadequate return. Liza Beri, my dearest friend on Simbo, has had a bigger part in this work than she realizes. Her first approach to an obviously uncertain stranger was an act of pure kindness. Layers of generosity, hospitality and companionship have been added to that act. Liza was my first and best teacher of the vernacular, for which I can only thank her. She was never an informant in the classical anthropological sense. Of course, I gained understandings from her, but her greatest value to me lay in the way we laughed and talked, shared confidences and came to know each other as people, rather than as cultural representatives. I suppose I mean that she made Simbo home for me and my daughter. That, in turn, made fieldwork a far more joyous experience for me than for many anthropologists. Evanana zola, Liza, qua tasiqu, qua baere sosoto. There are many others to whom I owe thanks. Nick Modjeska, my Associate Supervisor, kindly agreed to take on the task only a year ago. He has been generous with his comments, advice and encouragement. His predecessor, the late Robin McKenzie was equally enabling. The late Roger Keesing was the epitome of encouragement and helpfulness. His practical assistance in narrowing the range of places suitable for research and helping to resolve the tangles of bureaucracy were much appreciated. I am sorry he was never made aware of the extent to which his writings about the Kwaio of has illuminated my own work on Simbo. Nicholas Thomas has helped in many ways, as both academic and employer. Apart from the value of his published works, he has been generous with his archival resources, facilitated contacts with other researchers and given valued comments on my own writing. As an employer he has found work compatible with my own interests and been remarkably patient with delays caused by concentration on my thesis. The encouragement of Gill Bottomley, lone Fett and Caroline Ralston has always been helpful. Bob Norton has given valued comments on my work on siblingship. Discussions with fellow postgraduates and friends—Wendy Cowling, Ruth Crowe, Janice Gentle and Grayson Gerard cannot go unacknowledged. Nor can Wendy's and Grayson's whimsical postcards and paperbacks to the field. Janice Gentle, a true friend, took on the thankless task of proofreading. My former husband, Graeme Whittaker, was instrumental in my commencing work on the PhD, for which I am grateful. Virginia Nickoll's committment to the task of organizing and word processing my motley collection of disks and manuscripts has been appreciated. Allan Nickoll's wonderful graphics have exceeded my initial hopes. In the Solomons, Barbara Riley, Maria Lane, Lionel and Violene Hong and Ian Kennedy provided happy companionship. Jebeth Solomon and John Naitoro were generous with their efforts on my behalf. On Simbo, I can only list those to whom I have debts of gratitude: Alesi and Beni Mala, Amos Loki, Aneta Samoila, Beri, Betisi Molo, Bevili Molo, Boazi Hong, Dente Lilo, Edi Keoto, Elisiva Hong, Erika Mazini, Eroni Tuke, Esi Qoele pa Qago, Esigeni Mazini, Esther Lodu, Esther Miu, Florence Nightingale, Flori, Francis Siso, George Alepio, Harolo Sai, Hilida Sotutu, Hilida Tumi, Homelo Tonga, Jennifer Edi, John Beti, John Goldie, John Zeqili, Keti Pasisi, Lavida Eli, Lena Hane, Liza Seke, Lupa Homelo, Manusiu Hanikera Bazo (d. 1993), Mari Edi, Masina Alepio, Meri Kevu, Miriam Zeridi, Mita Tutikera, Molo Unusu, Obed Runi, Osina Alepio, Palmer Bai, Pani Alepio, Rapoto Zeqili, Reuben Lilo, Rosi Dente, Saipio, Samoila Unusu, Samson Eli, Samuel Hong, Seke Bule, Sera Kevu, Silas Keoto Barogoso, Solini Kevu, Sua Kevu, Tuma Edi, Viada Solo, Xavier and Esi pa Tapurai, Zeremiah Mamu, Zeridi Tuke, Zesi Iqupula Qoele (d. 1993), Zizimali Goldie, Zoi Loki, Zoni Biti, everyone at Tapurai and Qago. vii

Finally, what does one say about a six year-old whose life has been largely determined by the demands of an anthropology thesis? My daughter, Astrid Whittaker-Dureau, has accompanied me on three fieldtrips and been obliged to undergo all the readjustments, separations and reunions that these have entailed. If she had the benefits of living in a warm and generous community on Simbo, she now has the sadness of missing those who were family and friends to her. In the last year she has been more understanding about the time constraints imposed by completing a thesis than should be expected of one of her age. Words could never convey her part in this work. viii

PREFACE

Christianity is ubiquitous in the Pacific. Yet we cannot posit a single cause for this development. There is a discernible logic in the response of diverse groups experiencing similar encounters with colonial agents, but no law can be predicted to explain each case of conversion (see Thompson, 1981: 9). Neither the nature of the encounter nor that of the response were everywhere the same. The particular historical, political and cultural circumstances of aboriginal and foreign agents were instrumental in moulding the precise nature of events and responses in each case (Biersack, 1991: 11-14). On Simbo, the historical relationship between Europeans and Islanders, the regional political configuration and local cultural understandings were all key factors in conversion (Chapter One, Two). Since shortly after the arrival of South Sea Islander missionaries of the Australian (and later New Zealand) based Methodist Mission in 1902, the vast majority of people on Simbo have been adherents. Conversion was an act of political and cultural capitulation in the wake of pacification, a culturally motivated response to a new order (Chapter Three). This is in contrast to Christianity today, which is the dominant way of knowing the world (Chapter Four). I jump ahead of myself at this point in order to sketch the structure of contemporary Christianity and introduce the key terms relating to Simbo Christianity.

Simbo Christianity

One of the first questions asked of a visitor to Simbo is "What is your lotuT Lotu is a Fijian term, introduced by Methodists, to name the new religion they brought to New Georgia. At its most general it means "religion" (although it is denied to indigenous pre-Christian religions). Thus Christianity, Hinduism and Islam are all kinds of lotu. Such usage is rare. Much more commonly, lotu refers to Christianity in opposition to other ways of seeing and acting in the world: it is thus contrasted to the paganism of ancestors and to the secularism attributed to Europeans. Lotu in this sense is a metaphysical force, a body of doctrines and a style of practice. In the sense conveyed by the question to visitors (above), lotu refers to denomination, to which everyone is presupposed to adhere. At its most particular, lotu refers to prayer or worship in a Christian context. Here it takes its final, verbal, form: to lotu is to pray or worship. The two major lotu (denominations) on Simbo are the majority United Church of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, which succeeded the Methodist Mission in 1968, and Lx

the Seventh Day Adventists, still a mission under Australian administration. They are referred to by their initials (UC and SDA, respectively) both on Simbo and in this work. So are their members. The other two lotu are the Christian Fellowship Church (CFC), the schismatic church of disaffected Methodists, and the South Sea Evangelical Church (SSEC), the Malaita- based church which developed from proselytizing among labour migrants in the Queensland canefields at the turn of the century. These two denominations have little place in the following chapters. SSEC numbers, a small enclave of in-marrying Malaitan men, are very limited—probably a maximum of twenty members at any time. The CFC community is larger, but prefers that no research be conducted in their local community. References to them are therefore made on the basis of knowledge gained from other sources. Differences between UCs and SDAs are not as great as their respective missionaries might have hoped: doctrinal differences stand but, except in regard to the vexed issue of inter-denominational marriage (Chapter Eight), these are of minor social significance. UC and SDA membership, however, assume notable significance in terms of identity within Simbo and the politics of cleavage loom large sixty years after the establishment of SDAs on Simbo. The United Church structure is founded on that of the Methodist Mission (Chapter Four). Its headquarters is in PNG, under die authority of a moderator who is selected, for a fixed term, from the bishops of the various divisions. The Solomon Islands forms one division and is under the authority of a bishop and his wife (maramar). Each division is divided into circuits under the authority of a minister and his wife (maramar). Simbo has been a separate circuit since the 1960s, prior to which it belonged to the Roviana circuit. Each circuit is divided into branches, each under the guidance of a pastor, who is elected by the branch members. On Simbo the branches correspond roughly with the pre-existing districts of traditional organization: X

UNITED CHURCH (Moderator)

DIVISIONS (Bishops/ Maramar)

CIRCUITS (Ministers/Maramar)

BRANCHES (Pastors)

The church administration follows these lines. Local Quarterly Meetings (QM), which all may attend, precede Circuit Meetings, at which officeholders and one or two representatives from each branch are the decision-makers. In turn, an annual synod meeting, with representatives from all circuits, is held at Munda, Roviana. The sanctity and potency attributed to office-holders increases with structural ascendancy. Pastors are seen as equivalent to ordinary people and, accordingly, have considerable difficulty in fulfilling their responsibilities. Ministers have greater scope for exercising authority, but must demonstrate, by strength of character, their right to do so. Bishops are recognized as special: the much- loved Bishop Leslie Boseto was perceived as able to channel the powers, as well as the love, of God (Tamasa). With the exception of pastors, all office-holders are addressed and referred to by title. The position of maramar deserves comment. The word is reputedly Fijian for "mother" and was initially applied to the wives of missionaries, who were expected to "parent" their communities by example, instruction and authority. The use of a parental term for female missionaries reflects the Methodist Mission's emphasis on women as ideally constrained within the structures of the patriarchal family: missionary maramar focused on teaching women to be good wives and mothers—their appropriate attitudes towards husbands and children, domestic crafts such as sewing, cooking and housekeeping, and so on. The maramar of the UC are somewhat different. Although definitively the wives of ordained churchmen, the couple are regarded as a unit. Both minister and maramar receive training at theological college. Although only the minister is ordained and able to perform baptisms, marriages and xi burials, both are accredited preachers and have joint responsibility for their circuit. The UC supports the ordination of women—to date only two Solomon Islands women have been ordained—and, in that case, the husband's and wife's responsibilities are reputedly exchanged. The structural equivalence of minister and maramar is reflected in their respective responsibilities for the men's and women's fellowships, neither of which formally dominates the other. The structure of the fellowships mirrors that of the church hierarchy. Each level is responsible, through its office holders, to the immediately higher level, although minister and maramar also affect these responsibilities by communicating church decisions and policies and by personal exertions to influence local activities. Each fellowship has office-holders, consisting of a President, Secretary, Vice-President and Treasurer. Decisions are made by vote of all members present. The minister or maramar may or may not hold one of these positions at either branch or circuit level. Branch meetings and services are held weekly, circuit meetings monthly. There are also annual meetings of each at church headquarters at Munda on Roviana. Although minister and maramar are ideally a team, the minister, as ordained party, holds greater authority in the community. Any male dominance that may be implied by this situation is balanced by the greater significance of the women's fellowship (UCWF) in all local affairs (see Chapter Nine). Transcending the church is God, or Tamasa. Tamasa is the Simbo and Roviana term for the creative beings who moulded the world long ago (Chapter Two). The constitution of the Christian Tamasa is vague. The Trinitarian godhead is virtually never discussed. In particular, I never came across any mention of the Holy Spirit in any form. When I asked, I was told that it was the tataru ("love", "compassion") of Tamasa. Generally, however, tataru requires no metaphysical binding to the Holy Spirit and I was under the distinct impression that it was a "logical answer" to an irrelevant question. Tamasa is ambiguously related to Zisu (Jesus), the "Leader on High" (Banara pana Ulu) and "Papa God" (God the Father). Zisu is known as the son of Tamasa and his story is well known through the gospels and proselytizing. Although Zisu's divinity is held to be unchallengable and he is known to be theologically part of Tamasa, he is never spoken of in that way. In terms of potency and direct involvement in human life he is, I think, less relevant than his father. His self-sacrifice and suffering are told, re-told and deeply appreciated. But when people need something— comfort, justice, fortune, strength—they turn to Tamasa the father. The Banara pana Ulu and Papa God are facets of Tamasa. Intriguingly, they are respectively named in the vernacular xtt

4 and in Pidgin. The Banara pana Ulu is the authoritative, vengeful aspect of Tamasa who, like ancestors and leaders in the past, watches over the lives of the living, punishing the bad and sometimes rewarding the good. Papa God is a more humane aspect—paternalistic, heeding the sadness of the living, forgiving transgressions, directly approachable on a personal level—itself another facet of earlier ancestors and leaders. The distinctiveness should not be overstated. The terms are more generally used when striving for a particular rhetorical effect. Both are Tamasa and the generic entity, implying the two of them with or without Zisu, is most spoken of in daily discourse. Simbo consists of two tiny adjoining islands surrounded by volatile currents on the far western side of the New Georgia Group in the Western Solomon Islands. The original name of the two islands is Mandegusu (or Mandegugusu), which means "four districts", each of which is said to have been associated with a discrete lineage. In fact, Simbo is traditionally the name of the smaller islet, one of the four districts of which Mandegusu is ideally composed. By the time of pacification, Mandegusu was widely known as Eddystone Island in European records, although this name was never adopted by islanders. In colonial and precolonial records, it is difficult to disentangle the meanings of references to "Simbo", that is to know whether they pertain to the smaller island of Nusa Simbo or to the group as a whole. From some time before independence, Mandegusu was known as Simbo, the name which it maintains officially and by which its people now identify themselves to outsiders. The half- European and half-indigenous name is strangely apposite for the society that has emerged during the last nine decades of engagement with Western ideological forces. It must be said that Simbo is not merely a Christian society. It is also characterized by higher levels of education than many parts of the Solomons, a monetized economy, involvement in wage-labour migration, discourse about the rest of the world. Its ties to the world metropoles are material rather than spiritual. Nonetheless, Christianity is central—as worldview, and thus foundation of practice, and as the means by which other links with the world system have been forged over the last ninety years. The world of Christianity is radically different to that of the earlier world. Simbo has moved from a significant position as entrepot-trade, for both indigenous and European interests throughout the nineteenth century, to a rather marginal pair of islands in the 1990s. That shift has been accompanied by a transformation from a society characterized by ancestor veneration and warfare to one marked by concerns dictated by the national and international economy and reference to a Christian worldview. I outline these transitions in Chapters One-Three. In Chapter Four, I sketch the xiii main features of contemporary Christianity. Subsequent chapters are concerned with the development and expression of Christian social practice over the last ninety years. xtv

NOTES

1: Pagans were tinoni rodomo—"people of darkness", Europeans are people who qari ke lotu— "they do not lotu".

2: The leading cleric of the SDAs is known as "pastor"; however, he is equivalent to the Ucs' minister.

3: The foundation of the CFC, however, was heavily dependent upon an ecstatic state, known as tataru, in which the Spirit was held to have entered the heart and minds of converts.

4: I tend to assume that the dual aspect represents a temporal development: moving from the authoritative figure of early ideological Christianity to a more compassionate figure in contemporary hegemonic Christianity.

5: Rivers refers, in 1909 (p.167), to "Simbo or Narovo [another district]". By 1922, he uses "Eddystone". It is "Eddystone Island" in Hocart's published texts. Interestingly, he uses "Mandegusu" in his manuscripts. The word was later systematically changed by hand to "Eddystone Island". XV

CONTENTS

Page Ac kno w ledgements v. Preface vii. List of Maps xvi. List of Figures xvi. List of Tables xvi. Plates xvi. Note on Orthography xvi. Abbreviations xviii. Glossary xix. Dramatis Personae xxiii.

Introduction 3 PART ONE MANDEGUSU 37 Chapter One Totoso Kame Rane—Time Long Ago 38 Chapter Two Totoso Rodomo—Time of Darkness 66 PART TWO EDDYSTONE ISLAND 104 Chapter Three Tataviti Bule—Pacification 105 Chapter Four Totoso Taqalo—Time of Light/Cleanliness 128 PART THREE SIMBO 158 Chapter Five Tinoa—Lives 159 Chapter Six Koburu—Child 197 Chapter Seven Tinana—Mother 233 Chapter Eight Vinarialava—Marri age 260 Chapter Nine Rereko Iviva—Significant Woman 287 Chapter Ten Qoele, Tomate—Aged Woman, Ancestor 323

Appendices I. Lt. Shortland Aboard "Alexander" 5/8/1788-7/8/1788. First recorded European encounter with New Georgians. 350 II. A.M. Hocart's Account of First Contact, Collected on Simbo, 1908. 353 in. Lodu Qoele's account of the arrival of the Methodist Mission. 355 Bibliography 357 xvi

Page List of Maps

Map I: The Solomon Islands 1 Map II: New Georgia Group, Western Solomon Islands 2 Map III: Ethnographically Recorded Exchange Routes, Solomon Islands 41 Map IV: Ethnographically Recorded Exchange Routes, New Georgia Group 55 List of Figures

2.1: Male or Female Ego's Tavitina 90 5.1: Neli-Bule Descendants 171 5.2: Relevant Kin and Affines of Zila and Mosesi 171 5.3: Simbo Population by Sex and Age, Census 1986 182 6.1: Movement of Birth from Forest to Clinic 203 6.2: Childhood Morbidity, Approx 1940s 205 6.3: Tina, Tama and Tasi Kinship Categories 207 6.4: Sentiments regarding Varitako Child 217 6.5: Neli-Bule Family—Adoptions 218 7.1: Premarital Pregnancy, Neli-Bule Offspring 252 List of Tables

5.1: Approximate Contemporary Lifecycle Phases 173 5.2: Approximate Pre-pacification Lifecycle Phases 174 5.3: Simbo Population by Age, 1930-1986 182 8.1: Major Exports and Producer by Sex c. 1900 261 Plates I: Tema sorting megapode eggs for sale to markets in Gizo. iii II: Members of the Simbo UCWF marching at the annual Simbo- Inter-Circuit Rally, Simbo, 1990. 127 HI: Members of the Nusa Simbo Branch UCWF practising a new hymn for performance during service. 127 IV: Vai, with third child, discussing upcoming UCWF activities with neighbours. 232 V: Qoele, bearing clamshell money in bag on head, kneels before bride and her senior female kin at tari binola. 259 VI: Lavida, sorting sweet potato she contributed to the wedding of the son of one of her affines. 286 VII: Manu Qoele, shelling canarium almonds, helped by Mita, her DHM. 322 VIII: SuzanaLodu Qoele, d. 1991. 344 Note on Orthography: I use the orthography introduced to the New Georgia Group by the Methodist Mission and now used by the majority of Tinoni Simbo. In general, pronunciation of characters is the same as their English equivalents. The following characters, however, differ. "b" has a prenazalized "m". Thus batu ("head") is pronounced mbatu "d" has a prenazalized "n". Thus doma ("look") is pronounced ndoma "e" is pronounced as a hard "a". Thus rane ("day") is pronounced ranae "n" is pronounced as "g" with a prenazalized "n". Thus boni ("night" is pronounced bongi xvii

"q" is pronounced "ngg" as in "penguin". Thus qetu ("happy") is pronounced nggetu "z" is pronounced as a "j" with a prenazalized "n". Thus zuke ("light") is pronounced njuke xviii

ABBREVIATIONS

BP: Before Present

BSIP: British Solomon Islands Protectorate

CFC: 1: Christian Fellowship Church 2: Christian Fellowship Church congregation

PMB: Pacific Manuscripts Bureau

PNG: Papua New Guinea

QM: Quarterly Meeting of the U.C.

RN: British Royal Navy

SBD: Solomon Island Dollars. Between 1990-1992, $2SBD was approximately equivalent to one Australian dollar.

SDA; I: Seventh Day Adventist Mission 2: Seventh Day Adventist congregation

SSEC: 1: South Seas Evangelical Church 2: South Seas Evangelical Church congregation

UC: 1: United Church of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands 2: United Church ... congregation

UCWF: United Church Women's Fellowship

WPHC: Western Pacific High Commission

WWI: World War One

WWH: World War Two xix

GLOSSARY

Baere: i) Friend; friendly discourse. ii) Premarital sexual relationship, iii) (Obsolete) An informal, non-kin exchange relationship.

Banara: Political leader of bubutu or bubutu section. Semi-hereditary but dependent upon achievement, personality and largess. Sometimes glossed "chief in academic and Pidgin-language commentaries on the New Georgia Group.

Banara Maqota (Obsolete) Female Banara.

Banara pana Ulu: "Leader on High". A title belonging to Tamasa.

Barogoso: Elderly man (Chapter Ten).

Bubutu: Lineage or lineage segment under guidance of banara. Glossed "line" or "tribe" in Pidgin. Membership determined cognatically.

Gizo: i) An island of the New Georgia Group ii) Town on Gizo Island: the administrative and commercial centre of Western Province.

Goldie College: Secondary School at Munda, Roviana. Established by Methodist Mission. Now under control of Solomon Islands government.

Hahanana "Behaviour of the Darkness". Pre-Christian social and cultural values Rodomo: and practices.

Hiva/Hiniva: "Want", "need", "desire". Opposed to "love" (tataru). lama: "Priest". Man responsible for i) preparation of ancestral skulls and ii) maintenance of ancestral shrines.

Kame Rane: "One day", i.e., long ago. The pre-Christian past.

Kastom: Pidgin: "Custom"; "tradition".

Kezo: i) Property taboo—pre-Christian, s/a: meke ii) Person with whom one has previously had a sexual relationship. All contact between, reference to, proximity to one's kezo is prohibited.

Koburu Ite: Small child.

Koburu Lavata: Big child.

Kokoburu: Small girls' game consisting of carrying discarded softdrink bottles like a child. Lotu: i) Christianity, ii) Denomination, iii) Prayer/Pray, iv) Religion.

Lulu/na: Opposite sex classificatory sibling, especially to second cousin degree. Reciprocal term.

Mama: i) Term of address: "Mother". Previously Ego's M, MM, FM, MZ, FZ. Now birth mother and/or adoptive M; other categories having been displaced by "aunty" or person's name, ii) Pre-Christian term of address: "Father". Ego's F, FF, MF, FB, MB.

Maramar: Title and form of address of wife of a minister of the United Church of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. Regarded as an officer of the Church who undergoes training in tandem with that of her husband.

Marane: v. male. n. man.

Meke: (Roviana: "do not"). A Christian property taboo introduced to Simbo in early 1990s.

Melalu: Neonate, infant.

Munda: Area of Roviana Lagoon, New Georgia Island. Methodist Mission headquarters. Now the administrative centre of Solomon Islands Division of the U.C.

Paile: "Communal house". Simbo's "men's houses", under ownership of banara or other rich persons, for reception of visitors to community, celibate preparation for headhunting and bonito hunting. Sleeping quarters for unmarried males. Now obsolete.

Pamana: Shame. Respect.

Pastor: i) SDA cleric. Analogous to UC Minister. ii) UC unordained woman or man elected to provide spiritual guidance to a congregation and assist minister with administration.

Qoele: Elderly woman (Chapter Ten).

Rane Turn Taviti: "Day of Standing Work"— "Thursday". Day on which Methodist converts confessed to aberrations and attested to value of lotu. Now obsolete.

Ranepodo: "Day [of] Birth", first birthday celebration. Rerege: A congregation of tomate travelling through the forest, especially along gullies. More frequent in sunshowers.

Rereko: v. female. n. woman.

Savo: Postnatal hut in forest. Later, birthing hut on outskirts of village.

Ta/taru: "Love". Empathy, pity, romantic love.

Tabe: Arranged marriage. Obsolete.

Tabuna: i) Forbidden place, ii) Ancestral shrine, iii) Any place associated with pre-Christian religion.

Tama/na: "Father". Ego's F, FF, MF, FB, MB.

Tamasa: i) generic—the gods of pre-Christianity. (Italicized, lower case), ii) the Christian God. (Non-italicized, capitalized).

Tamatasi: The sibling group, natal or classificatory (Fig 2.1).

Tapa: Bark cloth. Pan-Pacific term.

Tari Binola: First ceremonial associated with marriage.

Tari Pipiro: Confirmatory exchange ceremony of established marriage.

Tasina: Sibling, either sex. Opposed to luluna.

Taviti/na: Ego-centred, cognatic, non-corporate kin group. Kindred (Fig 2.1).

Tina/na: "Mother". Ego's M, MM, FM, MZ, FZ.

Tinoni hoboro: "Person/s without particular purpose", commoners.

Tinoni iviva: "Significant person/s", the term for married (and therefore adult) persons.

Tinoni kikerena: "Rotten person/s", the term for anti-social persons or "rubbish wo/men". The strongest term of censure available.

Tinoni lavata: "Big person/s", very influential people, whether banara or not.

Tinoni Rodomo: "Person/s [of] darkness", i) ancestors (ambivalent valuation), ii) pagans (negative valuation). xxii

Tomate kikerena: Spirit of a woman who died in childbirth.

Tomate: i) Corpse. ii) The spirit of a dead person. Now more generally used in the negative sense of those who haunt the forest because of a bad death.

Totoso Rodomo: "Time of Darkness". The pre-Christian era.

Totoso Taqalo: "Time of Light/Cleanliness". The Christian era.

Tuku: "Closed". SDA village

Tu/na: "Offspring". Tuqu: "my offspring". Formal and affective term of address.

Vaiaia: "Make it place": Share, redistribute. Tinoni vaiaia—a generous person.

Vamade: The most important vinaroroqu kept for the dead on the fourth day after death. Characterized by chief mourners remaining quiet in the house and thinking of the dead person while other family members cook food, the smoke of which carries their remembrance to the dead person.

Varialava Lotu: Church marriage.

Varitako: Child whose behaviour is overly juvenile because its proper relationship with its mother is disrupted by the precipitate birth of a sibling.

Varivatozomo: "Collectively make straight". A bubutu meeting to approve new relationships or resolve tensions between members.

Vilea: "Choose". Descriptive term attached to marriage to freely chosen partner. Opposed to tabe.

Vinaroroqu: Day of remembrance for the dead. The most significant occurs on the fourth day when the other spirits come out to guide the dead person away from their village environs. Previously carried out at prescribed intervals for up to 1000 days. Now on fourth and, sometimes, tenth days.

• DRAMATIS PERSONAE Persons directly referred to on more than one occasion. All names, other than those marked *, are pseudonyms. Page Page Aivi 171 (Fig); 252; 265; 267; 276 Mosesi 171 (Fig); 208; 303-4; 314; 317; 329 Ali 6; 208 (Fig); 275; Muke 171 (Fig); 330; 335-6; 337 Ana 6; 208 (Fig); 219; 264; 275; 300 Nell Qoele 159; 163-4; 171 (Fig); 200; 217; 240; Aneta 156, n.20; 171 (Fig); 186; 227; 267; 331; 250; 252; 255; 311-2; 325 336-7 Nenisi 239; 242 Aseri 171 (Fig); 265; 284, n.5; Nola 171 (Fig); 208; 307; 325; 329-31 Ata 167; 240; 245; 257, n.12; 277 Paola 245; 318, n.10; 320, n.25; Basi (Minister) 213; 311 Pati 208 (Fig); 264 Bela 167; 335-6 Pilipi Barogoso 330, 336-7 Beni 164; 171 (Fig); 187, 203 (Fig); 311 Pita 156; 171 (Fig); 208; 295; 334 BiH 136; 141-2; 152; 240 Pita Noso 205; 278 *Boseto, Leslie (Bishop) 34; 135; 152,156, Pula 147; 237; 272; 301-2 n.21; 285, n.19; Robi 171 (Fig); 208; 320, n.25; 331 Bule 167; 171 (Fig); 217; 252 Rona 141-2; 158; 343 Davi 171, (Fig); 208 Rupi 171 (Fig); 300; 329 Edi 171, (Fig); 308; 329 Salome 235-6; 256; 257, n.5 Emi 277; 335 Sera 156, n.22; 190; 244; 247-8; 254; 258, n.14; Emoni 171, (Fig); 300; 329 301 *Goldie, John Francis 22; 79,112-5; 120-1, Silivia 325; 335-6 125, n.9; 135; 143; 145; 155, n.10; 234 Somo 141; 171 (Fig); 185; 203 (Fig); 218 (Fig); Gure 141; 147; 171 (Fig); 186-8; 203 (Fig); 209; 229,230, n.10; 266 218 (Fig); 252-3; 301 *Suzana Lodu Qoele 34; H3,139,175,177, Hilida 149; 326; 347, n.4 194, n.3; 323; 325; 327; 342-6; 348, n.21 Iqu 138; 224-5; 237; 253; 266; 327-8; 346 Timote 156, n.20; 169; 227; 253; 264; 267; 327 Kali 170; 211; 236; 243; 249-50; 325; 332-3; 347, Tina 171 (Fig); 217; 218 (Fig); 229; 266-7 n.10; *Woodford, Charles Morris 107; 112; 119 Keana (Minister) 134; 152-4; 213; 241; 313; Zebedi 167; 243; 326 315; 321,n.34 Zila 149; 168; 171 (Fig); 185; 208; 239-40; 295; Kera 138; 143; 338-9 300; 302-4; 307; 314-5; 317; 319, n.19; 326; 329- Keti 171 (Fig); 185; 203 (Fig); 208; 231, n.26; 255- 31; 334,336 6; 311; 320, n.30 Zoana 299; 301-2 Kini 171 (Fig); 337 Zoi 171 (Fig); 208 Lena 171 (Fig); 208; 231, n.26; 264; 311 •Zonaton 34; 145; 150; 156, n.15 Leoke 71; 73; 78; 84-5; 167; 328-9; 346; 348, n.24 Zoni 156, n.20; 171 (Fig); 267; 331; 336-7 Lidia 159; 164; 171 (Fig); 203 (Fig); 208; 218 Zosi 240; 250; 304 (Fig); 221; 250; 320, n.25; 331 Zulian (Maramar) 153-4; 157, n.23; 241; 263; LHa 171 (Fig); 302; 336; 347, n.14 284, n.4; 313; 315 Lili 253; 255; 337 Lina 149; 168; 171 (Fig); 208; 329-30; 331; 334; 347, n.6 Lise315;333 Lupa 140-1; 171 (Fig); 203 (Fig); 217; 218 (Fig); 255-6 Maga 171 (Fig); 203 (Fig); 209; 250; 311 Mari 159; 171 (Fig); 163-4; 200; 208; 221 Mata 171 (Fig); 327; 335-6 Miri 156, n.21; 169; 186; 227; 253; 267; 337 anr

MAP I: The Solomon Islands. MAP II: The New Georgia Group, Western Solomon Islands.