Rennell Island - Culture

Culture

Due to the tropical climate and thinly soiled coralline substrate, sheep and cattle do not thrive here. Villagers wishing to harvest seafood have the arduous task of climbing the surrounding 120-150m cliffs for the return journey to the coast. Once at the coast, they are bound to harvest only finned and scaled seafood, not shellfish, lobsters or other marine creatures. The serious deficiency in diet prompted the Solomon Islands government to seed Lake Nggano with tilapia fish. These seem to have thrived in the brackish conditions and are now a staple part of the diet. While coconut crabs are crustaceans, and use the sea to spawn, the Seventh-day Adventists do not eat it in accordance with Hebrew laws, but a few are tempted to its taste, and also enjoying harvesting it.

The locals also talk about a condition they refer to as “The Cold”. They believe that this ailment is responsible for the onset of a debilitating mental illness. Adults who have no history of mental illnesses or drug abuse have been known to slide into a state of melancholy, requiring weeks of intensive treatment.

The wantok system creates huge pressures on the people of Renbel, more so than many other provinces. You will often hear the locals remark “Oh, that’s the Avaiki way”. This refers to the intrinsic behaviour associated with the wantok system and translates to “What is yours, is mine”

The locals play sport most days of the week in the afternoons. Soccer, rugby, volleyball & netball are the sports of choice.

The natives call Rennell “MUGAVA” and they call Bellona “MUNGIKI”. They then combine the last three letters of each Island and come up with a word called AVAIKI. If someone local does something silly you might hear someone say ‘That’s the Avaiki way’. They also have a Rugby and Net ball team called Avaiki.

The locals don’t have much respect for chiefs but most respect the Church leaders. They don’t like the politicians much because, as soon as they get elected, they move to Honiara and only show up again when it’s time to get re-elected.

When an outsider enters a village there appears to be no apparent hierarchy and it is acceptable to talk to either men or women. The people who hold important jobs here are the Religious leaders and teachers. The chiefs are not really respected here and are said to wield no real power. This view of chiefs are powerless is spark by grandchildren of the commoners, who are now well educated this days and wants to retaliate for their ancestors held traditional view.