I just don’t know. It is interesting to me as a pet-rat fancier, how Nauru apparently had indigenous rats, unlike Hawaii, where they were introduced by white men and their ships. Nauru - Nauru - History: The origin of the first inhabitants of Nauru and when they reached the island remain unknown.

It does, however preserve the knowledge. And now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go eat my daily coconut. Save The biggest Nauru holidays are Independence Day, the day Nauru was officially declared a free republic, and Constitution Day, the day the island’s constitution was signed. Was this a tale to explain child abuse? Education is compulsory from 4 to 16, in all the schools on the island.

The traditions of arts and crafts are lost nearly completely. Its closest neighbors include the island of Banaba, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu.

This section is non-fiction about the lifestyles of the Nauruans–appearances and dress, food storage, fighting, leadership, fishing, houses, childbirth, death, etc. Nauru … Context required, if you aren’t from Nauru. The men then stand on the beach ready to throw their lasso. Nauru is the world’s third smallest country by land area, with only 21 square kilometers. That men should listen to their wives, the dummies? Germany annexed the island as a colony during the … The rat goes off to gather women’s things and leaves the crab and the baby alone on the beach.

Their blog concept is “Following Folktales Around the World.”, 38 years old and love to read and write The current stadia are: A traditional 'sport' is catching birds when they return from foraging at sea to the island towards sunset. The Nauruan words of the national anthem were written by Margaret Hendrie and adopted in 1968 upon the Republic of Nauru's independence. A long period of relative isolation is believed to account for the distinctiveness of the indigenous language. A Nauruan fisherman hauls in … It was in this section that I learned that edano is a food made from pounded pandanus root. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. The only stadium is in Yaren, but it is obsolete and fails to meet international standards. Radio Nauru has collected numerous recordings of local people's music. Volleyball, tug of war and a relay race around the Nauru International Airport airstrip are just some of the competitions held during this vibrant festival. Elixir of life, you know! After the original Angam baby became one of approximately 500 Nauruans who perished during a WWII evacuation to the island of Chuuk, a second Angam baby was born in 1949. In Nauru, the Nauru Congregational Church is the largest religion, encompassing 35.71% of the population as of the 2011 census.

Photo by D-Online. Discover Nauru Holidays, Festivals and Traditions. Ironically, if you Google “edano”, you will get pages of results for Yukio Edano, a Japanese politician. Nauru has competed internationally in Australian rules football at the Arafura Games, Australian Football International Cup and Barassi International Youth Tournament. Coconut should be eaten at least twice a day, and it has always been recommended that it should be either taken or mixed with other food such as edano, etam, ebaba, edeto, and fish.”. The crab attempts to play with the baby, but in trying to pick her up, cuts off all her fingers with his pincers. Also the wood of the kokospalme is used for the production of arts and crafts.

That mixed marriages are hard on the kids? Traditional Culture of Nauru. Thank you Chief Detudamo, for making sure it would not be lost. Another important holiday is Angam Day, when the population mark hit 1,500, required to continue the survival of its people. This slim volume doesn’t say. Something to ponder, as I have a lot of health problems–is it because I am deprived of the elixir of life? Weightlifting is also one of the more traditional sports in Nauru. 16. ( Log Out /  Nauruans also play soccer, softball, tennis, sailing, swimming and golf. The word angam translates roughly to "celebration" or "homecoming" in English. I particularly enjoyed the legend of the coconut, which concludes: “Since the appearance of this strange tree on Nauru, its fruit, the coconut, has become the elixir of life. Some appear to be teaching tales, like The Clumsy Father Crab, in which a crab and a rat have a human baby. Did he know his home island was about to be overrun by invading Japanese? Maps, drawings, photographs, and an improved Glossary and footnotes would also have been nice. While many other countries worry about overpopulation, Nauru must maintain a number of at least 1,500 residents in order for its people to survive for generations to come. (The publishers at the University of the South Pacific, publishing this book in English, should have known better.) If you’re the kind of lost soul who loves isolation, knowing your neighbors, and an ocean breeze, then Nauru is for you. This is important cultural knowledge from the smallest island nation on earth (and the 3rd smallest nation period, if you count Vatican City as a nation, which I don’t, and Monaco, which I do). Asian websites (pandanus is popular in Southeast Asia as well) have this to say: It is: I’m not sure why this is a separate section, since these tales seem no different in story content or purpose from the first section, Legends. By Sasha Martin. Sports competitions take place throughout the island to mark this important event in its history, and the day begins with a colorful team parade.

The custom of fishing by trained frigatebirds has been preserved. If you don't have an account yet, make one here. The last day is the national track and field championships, where athletes run on a crushed coral track that coincides with Constitution Day. List of resources about traditional arts and culture of Oceania, Learn how and when to remove this template message, tapa ["masi" (Fiji), "ngatu" (Tonga), "siapo" (Sāmoa), " ʻuha" (Rotuma)], Asian American and Pacific Islander Policy Research Consortium, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Culture_of_Nauru&oldid=960506426, Articles lacking sources from December 2009, Use Australian English from February 2016, All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 3 June 2020, at 09:59. With only 11,347 inhabitants, it is regarded as Oceania’s least populated nation.

They include the origins of Nauru and the South Pacific, how the world was created by 7 giants out of a giant bivalve; how tribal divisions happened, how the first canoe and the first coconut tree were born, etc. Both of these historic events took place in 1968. View all posts by 365bookworm. For a while, the economy of the island nation was nearly completely dependent … craftsmen make articles of clothing and fans of Kokosfasern and the sheets of the screw tree and use geometrical samples, which resemble those of the Indonesian culture. Island ring road in Nauru Arts and crafts. The language of Nauru, Dorerin Naoero, is a Micronesian language. An Armchair Journey Around The World In 365 Days, courtesy of a special order from Auntie’s Bookstore. When a bird comes over they throw their lasso up, it hits and or drapes itself over the bird, which then falls down and is seized and are roosted as pets. But even old Nauruans can rarely understand the contents of these songs. The inhabitants оf Nauru wear the usual tropical clothes: short trousers аnd light shirts. 88.9% of the population comprises of indigenous Nauruans who belong to a variety of tribes and clans. tastes like sugar cane/mango if you suck on the raw stalk, kinda banana-leafy, sorta grassy, a little bit nutty, and a lot like Jasmine rice–all at the same time. The most popular in Nauru is Australian rules football. Each January 31, the people of Nauru celebrate the anniversary of the day the island officially became the tiniest independent republic on Earth by hoisting flags, singing the national anthem and speeches made by local politicians. The displacement of the traditional culture of Nauru by contemporary western influences is very clearly visible on the island. As the title suggests, the book is split into 3 sections: This section gives what could be read as creation myths or literal truth (religion), depending on your viewpoint. According to the 2002 census, approximately two-thirds of Christians are Protestant, and the remainder are Catholic. The University of the South Pacific has a centre in Nauru located in the Aiwo District and offers pre-school teacher education, nutrition and disability studies and will offer the Community Workers Certificate. Nauru Holidays and Festivals. Another tale, Bagewa, is subtitled “How the Lizards, Insects and Fish Came to Nauru”–again, very similar to the first section in which we learn how many other animals came to Nauru (though not the crabs nor the rats). The island’s population plummeted to barely over 1,000 people following dysentery and influenza epidemics during the first two decades of the 20th century. I know I was supposed to learn something there, but I wasn’t sure what it was.

Food Culture by Country, Nauru, Oceania. Change ), as a shameful off-shore warehouse for refugees, Mary Roach Mars – Diary of a Cosmonaut – do SPACE for final. That, to borrow a Western concept, the road to Hell is paved with good intentions? Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. The inhabitants of Nauru wear the usual tropical clothes: short trousers and light shirts. The biggest Nauru holidays are Independence Day, the day Nauru was officially declared a free republic, and Constitution Day, the day the island’s constitution was signed. Only little remains preserved from the old customs. Freedom of religion is a constitutional right, and the country's laws and society uphold this right without any significant breaches. Nauru’s average citizen has a BMI of between 34 and 35. In 1938, just as WWII was heating up around the globe, in a tiny island nation to the northeast of Australia, Nauru Head Chief Timothy Detudamo became concerned that the traditional oral stories of his people would be lost. I certainly don’t eat coconut twice a day. The pandanus tree is apparently very useful for fibers…it makes clothing and huts and weapons and all sorts of things.

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A 12-team senior league operates in the country, see Australian rules football in Nauru and it is a popular spectator sport. During its prosperous years these children were sent to Australia but now were sent to Fiji. And what are these Polynesian-language foods that aren’t translated in the book? I still have no idea what it tastes like, although I’m imagining it as maybe a bit like the poi that native Hawaiians make from the taro root?

Nauruans had their own traditional cosmology with beliefs in spirits and gods such as Tabuarik, who was represented in a stone now removed by mining activities. Sporting competitions play important parts in several island festivals.

The mother rat comes back and scolds him and he never touches the baby again. Whilst the traditional culture rapidly gives way to the contemporary, as elsewhere in Micronesia, music and dance still rank among the most popular art forms.