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SOLOMON EILANDE
| BBP (2008): $ 1,078 miljoen. Jaarlikse groeikoers 7.35 Inkomste per capita (2008): $ 1,900. Gem. inflasiekoers (2007): 6,3%. Begroting: Inkomste .............. $ 49,7 miljoen Uitgawes ... $ 75,1 miljoen |
| NASIONALE BNP |
| Die BBP per capita van $ 340 is die Salomonseilande as 'n minder ontwikkelde land, en meer as 75% van sy arbeidsmag is besig met bestaansboerdery en visvang. Tot 1998, toe die wêreldpryse vir tropiese hout skerp gedaal het, was hout die belangrikste uitvoerproduk van die Salomonseilande, en die woude van die Salomonseilande was die afgelope paar jaar gevaarlik oorbenut. Ander belangrike kontantgewasse en uitvoere sluit in copra en palmolie. In 1998 begin Ross Mining van Australië goud produseer by Gold Ridge op Guadalcanal. Die verkenning van minerale in ander gebiede het voortgegaan. Na die etniese geweld in Junie 2000 het die uitvoer van palmolie en goud egter opgehou terwyl die uitvoer van hout gedaal het. Uitbuiting van die ryk visserye op die Salomonseilande bied die beste vooruitsig vir verdere uitvoer en binnelandse ekonomiese uitbreiding. 'N Japannese gesamentlike onderneming, Solomon Taiyo Ltd., wat die enigste vissery in die land bedryf het, het egter middel 2000 gesluit as gevolg van die etniese versteurings. Alhoewel die aanleg onder plaaslike bestuur heropen is, is die uitvoer van tuna nie hervat nie. Onderhandelinge is aan die gang, wat kan lei tot die heropening van die Gold Ridge-myn en die groot oliepalmplantasie, maar dit kan jare duur. Toerisme, veral duik, is 'n belangrike diensbedryf vir die Salomonseilande. Die groei in die bedryf word egter belemmer deur 'n gebrek aan infrastruktuur en beperkings op vervoer. Solomon-eilande is veral swaar getref deur die Asiatiese ekonomiese krisis nog voor die etniese geweld van Junie 2000. Die Asiatiese Ontwikkelingsbank skat dat die ineenstorting van die mark vir tropiese hout die BBP van Solomon-eiland met tussen 15%-25%verminder het. Ongeveer die helfte van alle werkgeleenthede in die houtbedryf het verlore gegaan. Die regering het gesê dat dit die beleid vir die oes van hout sal hervorm met die doel om houtkap op 'n meer volhoubare basis te hervat. Die regering van die Salomonseilande was teen 2002 insolvent. Sedert die ingryping van RAMSI in 2003, het die regering sy begroting hersien, die prioriteite deeglik ondersoek en probeer hy nou die oorhangende skuldlas aanpak. Baie werk moet nog gedoen word. Die belangrikste donateurs is Australië, Nieu -Seeland, die Europese Unie, Japan en die Republiek van China. |
- Streek: Stille Oseaan
- Bevolking: 652.860 (2018)
- Oppervlakte: 30 407 vierkante kilometer
- Hoofstad: Honiara
- Aangesluit by die Statebond: 1978, na onafhanklikheid van Brittanje
- Statebond se jeugindeks: 26 uit 49 lande
Verkiesingsondersteuning
Die Statebond het 'n missie gestuur om besprekings op Salomonseilande te bevorder oor hoe die land die deelname van vroue aan die politiek kan verbeter.
In April 2019 het die Statebond die algemene verkiesings van die Salomonseilande waargeneem en daaroor berig.
In September 2019 het Solomon -eilande 'n opleiding van die Commonwealth Election Professionals (CEP) aangebied. Deelnemers het ervaring en goeie praktyk oor personeel vir verkiesings gedeel.
Jeug
Die sekretariaat help Solomon -eilande om jeugwerkersverenigings op te rig en te versterk.
Onderwys
As deel van die Learning for Life -projek het die Sekretariaat die Salomonseilande gehelp om ongelykhede in die onderwys te verminder en die resultate te verbeter.
Handel
Tydens die plaaslike konsultasie vir Asië-Stille Oseaan in Singapoer in Mei 2019 het die sekretariaat die Salomonseilande ondersteun om sy handel met ander lande van die Statebond uit te brei.
Konsep: ekonomie
In die 2010's woon 84 persent van die inwoners van Salomo nog steeds in landelike gebiede. Ongeveer 87 persent van die grond op die Salomonseilande is in gemeenskaplike besit, 9 persent is in die staat se besit en 4 persent is onder individuele titel. Die basiese ekonomiese eenheid is die gesinshuishouding, grootliks onderhou deur bestaansproduksie van landbougewasse. Patats (Ipomea batatas) en kassava is die belangrikste stapelgewasse in die meeste dorpstuine, aangevul deur baie variëteite jams, taro (Colocasia esculenta, en ook Xanthosoma en Cyrtosperma), pana (Dioscorea spp.), piesangs en suikerriet, asook betelnoot en tabak. Vee bestaan uit varke en pluimvee, met beeste wat onlangs bekendgestel is. Vis en skulpvis is ook belangrike voedselitems in die meeste huishoudings. Ruilhandel was eens algemeen, maar meer onlangs vind kontantruilings plaas op weeklikse of tweeweeklikse markte in landelike gebiede en op daaglikse markte in stedelike gebiede. Daar is geen voedseltekort nie, behalwe as dit deur droogtes en vloede veroorsaak word.
Toe C. M. Woodford, die eerste inwonende kommissaris, in 1896 aankom, was die Europese uitvoerekonomie gebaseer op pêrelskulp- en skilpaddop, bêche-de-mer en 'n klein hoeveelheid kopra (q.v.). 'N Aansienlike handel in walvisolie (q.v.) het tussen die 1790's en die 1860's ontwikkel, wat tot in die laat 1880's verloop het, hoofsaaklik in die noordelike en sentrale dele van die Solomons. Tabak (q.v.) was die belangrikste invoeritem en word as geldeenheid gebruik om vir arbeid te betaal. Die volgende belangrikste invoeritems was klein bote vir Europese en inheemse gebruik, en steenkool vir Gavutu, waar handelaar Lars Neilson 'n voorraad van 1 000 ton vir die Britse vloot gehou het. (AR 1898-1899, 8-9)
Die koloniale ekonomie van die Solomons was eers gebaseer op lone wat terugbetaal is en teruggebring is deur mans wat as arbeiders in Queensland, Fidji, Samoa en Nieu -Caledonië gewerk het. Die volgende geldbron was rookgedroogde copra-produksie en ondanks skade aan siklone in die vroeë sewentigerjare was copra by onafhanklikheid in 1978 steeds 'n kwart van die nuwe land se uitvoerverdienste. Die vroeë kommersiële ekonomie van die Protektoraat was oorwegend gebaseer op die produksie en uitvoer van copra op plantasies wat deur individue of groot ondernemings besit word. Aan die einde van die 1870's het die Duitsers in Samoa 'n warmlugmetode ingestel om die kopra vir uitvoer maklik te droog, om die vroeë moeisame en duur verwerking van klapperolie te vervang. Hierdie bedryf het in die 1900's in die Protektoraat begin, gevorm deur Woodford, wat in 1905 met twee groot maatskappye, Levers Pacific Plantations Ltd. (qv) en die Malayta Company (qv) in Queensland, 'n ooreenkoms aangegaan het om groot- plantasies op skaal. In 1913 was daar drie-en-twintig maatskappye met beperkte aanspreeklikheid wat op die Salomonseilande bedrywig was, meestal in die koprabedryf, en meestal geregistreer in Sydney en Brisbane. Sommige maatskappye konsentreer eerder op vervoer en kleinhandel as op plantasies. Die uitvoer van Copra het toegeneem van 2 817 ton in 1903-1904 tot 4 196 ton in 1912-1913. (AR 1913, 12) Die stimulus vir die copra -industrie het verseker dat die Protektoraat -administrasie in 1906 deur interne inkomste gefinansier word en dat die BSIP in 1910 vir die eerste keer 'n klein oorskot in die begroting gehad het. Die Salomonseilande copra was van swak gehalte en die pryse het gedurende die dertigerjare dramaties gedaal, na aanleiding van wêreldneigings. Baie van die kleiner planters het hul verbande verloor by groot maatskappye soos W. R. Carpenter, Levers en Burns Philp (almal q.v.). (Solomon Islands Planters 'and Settler's Association, 1920-1923)
Onmiddellik voor die Tweede Wêreldoorlog het die bedryf ongeveer 22 000 ton kopra per jaar uitgevoer. Die klapperplantasies is tydens die oorlog erg beskadig en die rehabilitasie was stadig, eers volledig voltooi in die laat veertigerjare en vroeë vyftigerjare. Tydens die oorlog het klapperplantasies ook erg met onkruid besmet geraak en andersins onder verwaarlosing gely. Geboue en kopdroërs het verlate geraak. Na die oorlog het die Britse koloniale beleid verander van die eis van interne selfvoorsiening vir sy kolonies en protektorate na eksterne ondersteuning vir langtermynontwikkelingskemas, veral in die landbou en die nywerheid. Dit is bereik onder die Wet op Koloniale Ontwikkeling en Welsyn, 1940 en 1945, 'n poging om koloniale mense na selfbestuur te lok deur praktiese ervarings, sonder om inheemse samelewings te blootstel aan die gevare van die skielike ontwrigting van tradisionele maniere.
Die belangrikste na -oorlogse ekonomiese taak was rehabilitasie van die koprabedryf. Vanaf die einde van die oorlog tot 1947 is slegs 700 ton kopra gemaak. In 1948 het die syfer gestyg tot 4 450 ton, in 1949 tot 8 500 ton en in 1950 tot 10 000 ton. Die uitvoer van Copra het tred gehou met hierdie toename. In 1950 word veertigduisend hektaar klapperpalms bewerk, alhoewel vier-en-twintigduisend hektaar nog steeds ledig was. Alle copra wat in die Protektoraat vervaardig is, was onderhewig aan ooreenkoms om deur die Copra Board aan die Ministerie van Voedsel in die Verenigde Koninkryk verkoop te word. Slegs Levers Pacific Plantations Pty. Ltd. het 'n private uitvoerlisensie gehad, en selfs die kopra is onder leiding van die Copra Board gestuur.
Daar was min geleenthede vir inheemse sake (q.v.) en die meeste inwoners van Solomon Island het slegs as arbeiders aan die ekonomie deelgeneem (q.v.). Sommige van die vooroorlogse aanplantings is egter deur vaste arbeidsmagte bewerk, en sommige deur inheemse kontrakteurs teen 'n vaste produksieprys per ton. Sulke reëlings het begin as gevolg van arbeidstekorte, maar het voortgegaan omdat dit wedersyds winsgewend was. Solomon -eilandbewoners het ook hul eie klapperpalms begin plant. Teen 1950 is die grootste deel van die kopra in die Westerse Solomons vervaardig deur inheemse gemeenskappe, wat dikwels deur Chinese handelaars vervoer is. Chinese (q.v.) handelaars vestig hulle eers in die 1910's in die Protektoraat en versprei vanaf Tulagi na die distrikte, en skepe in Chinese besit het wyd versprei, kopra gekoop en goedere verkoop. Die regering het dorpsbewoners aangemoedig om kokospalms te plant en het gewerk om die doeltreffendheid van droërs te verbeter en voortydige neute wat deur die plaag veroorsaak word, te bestry Ambypelta Cocophaga. Teen 1978 is 60 persent van die kopra deur inheemse kleinboere vervaardig.
Om die ekonomie verder te diversifiseer, het die regering in die vyftigerjare aangemoedig om kakaobome (kw.v.) op beide Europese beheerde plantasies en inheemse landgoedere te plant. Ander pogings tot ekonomiese diversifikasie het rissies, oliepalms en kleinvee-veeteelt veroorsaak. Hout en in 'n baie mindere mate Trochus -dop het ook tot die uitvoerekonomie bygedra. Kweek van rys is ook aangemoedig, maar te koop binne die protektoraat. Hierdie kommersiële boerdery -ondernemings is soms deur hele gemeenskappe uitgevoer, maar meer gereeld deur uitgebreide gesinne. Formele koöperasies (q.v.) is eers in die vyftigerjare bekendgestel, maar lank daarvoor het gemeenskappe winkels oopgemaak en koperkoperslisensies gekoop. (AR 1949-1950, 20-22 hefboom 1973)
Die volgende belangrikste bedryf aan die begin van die vyftigerjare was hout (q.v.): 1,181,289 supervoet daarvan, grootliks kauri -denne, is in 1949 uitgevoer en ongeveer 1,500,000 die volgende jaar. Dit is alles uitgevoer deur die Vanikoro (sic.) Kauri Timber Company (q.v.) wat in hierdie stadium deur sy moedermaatskappy, Kauri Timber Company, op Vanikolo Island bedryf is. Die protektoraat het ook klein hoeveelhede trochus -dop en ivoorneute uitgevoer.
Die regering was deeglik bewus van die gevaar van oorweldigende afhanklikheid van die copra -industrie en het dus voortgegaan met eksperimenteer met nuwe gewasse en vee. Dit begin by Ilu Farm (q.v.) op Guadalcanal Plains (q.v.) en verhuis dan na Kukum, nader aan Honiara. In die vroeë 1960's, met beter kommunikasie, die uitbreiding van staatsdienste en 'n reeks ontwikkelingsplanne (q.v.), het vertroue in die ekonomiese toekoms van die Protektoraat gegroei. Maksimum moeite is aangewend om die ekonomie te diversifiseer. In samewerking met die regering het die Statebond -ontwikkelingskorporasie veldproewe begin met oliepalms, rys, groente, sojabone, mielies, sonneblom, sorghum, sesam, pluimvee en beeste op die Guadalcanal -vlaktes. (AR 1949-1959, 22-23) Daarbenewens het drie buitelandse houtondernemings grootskaalse ontginning van tropiese hardehoute begin, wat die grondslag vorm van die moderne industrie. In Desember 1964 keur die Wetgewende Raad 'n Witskrif oor Landbou- en Visseryebeleid goed wat die regering se breë doelwitte en beleide omskryf.
In die 1950's het nat rysgewasse kommersieel begin verbou word op die Guadalcanal -vlaktes en Solomon -eilandbewoners in Makira, Malaita en Guadalcanal het 'n paar heuwelsrys verbou wat hulle met klein masjiene in besit geneem het van plaaslike rade en dorpsgroepe. (AR 1959-1960, 63) Die Commonwealth Development Corporation het saam met die regering veldproewe van besproeiings- en droë rys, sojabone en oliepalms uitgevoer en 'n gedetailleerde ondersoek gedoen na die landboupotensiaal van drie duisend hektaar grond.
Kommersiële kweek van nat rys is die eerste keer op die Guadalcanal -vlaktes bekendgestel deur 'n Australiese onderneming, Guadalcanal Plains Ltd. In Desember 1965 het hierdie onderneming agt honderd hektaar onder bewerking gehad en droë rys, sorghum en sojaboon suksesvol gekweek. (AR, 1965, 4) In 1971 het die boerdery van droë rys 2 600 hektaar beslaan en 1 450 ton opgelewer. Besproeide rys beslaan 220 hektaar met 'n opbrengs van 330 ton gepoleerde rys. Besproeide rys het die groter opbrengs en was minder geneig om deur die weermagwurm aan te val.
'N Amerikaanse onderneming, Mindoro International Corporation, het die produksie van nat rys op die Guadalcanal Plains oorgeneem en in 1975 uitverkoop aan Hawaiian Agronomics (International), 'n volfiliaal van die in Hawaii gevestigde multinasionale C. Brewer and Company Ltd. In 1978 was 405 hektaar verbou, genoeg rys is geproduseer om die binnelandse mark te bevredig en uitvoer het begin. Brewers Solomons Agriculture Ltd. het 'n gesamentlike onderneming geword met 45 % in besit van die regering, maar later het die onderneming ineengestort.
Geologiese opnames (q.v.) het ongeveer 1950 begin, met die klem op die kartering van die hele protektoraat. Die gevolg was dat dit teen die laat vyftigerjare moontlik was om ontwikkelingspogings op belowende ekonomiese gebiede te konsentreer, waarvan sommige mynmaatskappye (kwv.) Aangetrek het om vooruitsigte te beoordeel. (AR 1957-1958, 58)
Die bou van klein bote is in baie dele van die protektoraat uitgevoer, maar is gekonsentreer in die Langalanga -strandmeer op Malaita, waar die protektoraatregering in samewerking met die Suid -Stille Oseaan -kommissie en die Verenigde Nasies 'n opleidingsentrum vir bootbou by die Auki Boatbuilding School gestig het wat die hele diens bedien het Suid-Stille Oseaan. (AR 1959-1960, 63)
Twee groot ondernemings is in die vroeë sewentigerjare gestig as deel van die planne om die Salomonseilande meer ekonomies selfonderhoudend te maak. In 1971 is Solomon Islands Plantation Ltd. (SIPL) (qv) gestig op 'n aanvanklike 1,478 hektaar oliepalms op die vlaktes, tussen die Ngalimbiu- en Metapona -riviere, wat bekend gestaan het as CDC I (na die Commonwealth Development Corporation wat die begin van die operasie). (Moore, 2004b, 73-74) Teen 1974 was bykans vyfduisend hektaar aangeplant by Ngalimbiu en Tetere, met kwekerye vir nog 1,800 hektaar oos van die Mbalisunarivier in 1975. Die meule het in 1976 in werking getree. (AR 1974, 43 Parsonson 1969)
Ook in 1971 is Taiyo Fisheries Co gestig as 'n gesamentlike onderneming tussen die protektoraatregering en Taiyo Gyogyo van Japan. Die Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) het vangbote en koelskepe toegelaat om agtien maande lank voorrangsregte te hê (later tot vyftien verminder) en om die visseryhulpbronne te ondersoek. Die eerste blikkie is in Tulagi gestig (Meltzoff en LiPuma 1986 AR 1971, 40), en in 1978 begin die ontwikkeling van Noro as 'n nuwe blikkie en hawe in die Westelike Provinsie. (SND (Februarie 17, 1978) Honiara. Nog 'n belangrike vorm van hulp wat dit hulle gebied het, was toegang tot ys. (SND 27 Januarie 1978 Smith 2011, 59-70 Barclay en Yoshikazu Barclay 2005, 2007)
Die houtbedryf het ook gegroei en hout was die tweede waardevolste uitvoer van die Protektoraat. In 1971 het die uitvoer van hout met nog 12,5 persent toegeneem en die houtproduksie was 9 miljoen kubieke voet, ter waarde van byna $ 3,25 miljoen, nie ver onder die uitvoerwaarde van copra nie. (AR 1971, 4, 40 Bennett 2000)
Teen 1974 was daar 21 048 beeste in die protektoraat en 2300 is geslag vir huishoudelike verbruik. Die oorgrote meerderheid van die diere was op plantasies in besit van uitgewekenes, met die grootste kuddes in die Sentrale Distrik. Klein houers het ook tabasco, lang rooi rissies en borrie verbou. (AR 1971, 4, 40, 44)
Probleme
Die gety kom
Die klimaatsverandering verander ook die Salomonseilande. Die seewater vreet al hoe verder die land in en vat dit. Baie mense voel alleen gelaat omdat hulle bad in waarvoor ander, veral die geïndustrialiseerde nasies, verantwoordelik is. Daar is altyd vloedgolwe en orkane. In 2014 was daar 'n groot vloed in die Salomonseilande wat baie vernietig het. Sommige mense het ook hul lewens verloor.
Hier is 'n lokprent vir 'n film genaamd “ After the Flood ” wat wys hoe moeilik die lewe vir mense is as die vloed hul land oorstroom. Baie Stille Oseaan -eilande sowel as die Salomonseilande word blootgestel aan hierdie gevare. Mense moet vlug en op een of ander manier probeer oorleef.
Die Monetêre Owerheid van die Salomonseilande
Die Solomon Island Monetary Authority (SIMA) is gestig toe die nasionale parlement die verordening van die SI Monetary Authority in Junie 1976 aanvaar het. Voor dit is al die geldvereistes van die land deur die ministerie van finansies in samewerking met die Commonwealth Trading Bank hanteer. van Australië. Voordat hulle vroeg in 1977 in 'n nuwe perseel by Rove ingetrek het, het die Owerheid vanuit 'n kantoor by die Ministerie van Finansies opgetree.
SIMA se belangrikste funksies was die administrasie van die land se valuta- en valutabeheerregulasies, maar vir die eerste jaar van sy bedrywighede was die meeste pogings gerig op die bekendstelling van 'n geldeenheid wat die Salomonseilande sy eie kan noem.
Die dollar van die Salomonseilande is eintlik in Oktober 1977 bekendgestel, sodat SIMA namens die regering kon fokus op die administrasie van valutabeheerregulasies. Dit het vanaf Maart 1977 diskrete verantwoordelikheid hiervoor gehou, met die werwing van toegewyde personeel wat in Februarie daardie jaar begin is.
Tot vroeg in 1977 het SIMA nie sy eie perseel gehad nie. Die eerste kantoor was in die Police Head Quarters in Rove. Die gebou bevat die kluis- en valuta -operasie op grondvlak, met administrasie bo. Dit het later 'n perseel op Mud Alley verkry, waar dit sy bank- en valutabedryfsadministrasie van valutabeheerraad en algemene administrasie oorgedra het.
Die bekendstelling van die nuwe geldeenheid het verdere verantwoordelikhede meegebring, en in die volgende paar jaar het die Owerheid sterk betrokke geraak by die omskakeling van Australiese dollar 
note en munte na die nuwe SI -dollar, en stuur dan die Australiese geldeenheid na Australië.
Die eerste SIMA -raad is in 1976 deur die destydse minister van finansies, mnr. Benedict Kinika, aangestel. Die eerste raad het uit vyf direkteure bestaan:
DIE POS AANBEVELE
ADB KANSELLEERDE USD15 MILJOEN DOLLAR FIU RIVER HYDRO PROJEK
Die Fiu River-mini-hidrokragprojek van $ 15 miljoen dollar in die provinsie Malaita is gekanselleer weens grondgeskille oor die ontwikkeling. Die projek se. Lees meer
Robertson Galokale het petisie -saak verloor
Leier van die Independent Group, Hon Robertson Galokale | Foto verskaf. Voormalige parlementslid vir South Choiseul en leier van die parlementêre onafhanklike groep, Hon Robertson Galokale. Lees meer
Miljoen dollar kwila besending beslag gelê
Bosboubeampte wat die kwila -besending ondersoek. Die Ministerie van Bosbou en Navorsing het beslag gelê op 20 houers met ronde houthakkie Kwila by die Solomon Ports -houers. Lees meer
Ekonomie van die Salomonseilande - Geskiedenis
Uitvoer - vennote:
China 64,5%, Italië 6,2%, Switserland 4,6%, Filippyne 4,4%(2017)
Uitvoer - kommoditeite:
hout, vis, kopra, palmolie, kakao, klapperolie
Invoer - kommoditeite:
voedsel, aanleg en toerusting, vervaardigde goedere, brandstof, chemikalieë
Invoer - vennote:
China 21,9%, Australië 19,6%, Singapoer 10,7%, Viëtnam 7,5%, NZ 6,2%, Papoea -Nieu -Guinee 5%, Suid -Korea 4,7%(2017)
Wisselkoerse:
Solomon Islands dollar (SBD) per Amerikaanse dollar -
7,9 (raming van 2017)
7,94 (raming van 2016)
7,94 (raming van 2015)
7.9147 (geskatte 2014)
7.3754 (geskatte 2013)
OPMERKING: 1) Die inligting rakende die Salomonseilande op hierdie bladsy word weer gepubliseer uit die 2020 World Fact Book van die United States Central Intelligence Agency en ander bronne. Daar word geen aansprake gemaak oor die akkuraatheid van die inligting oor die Salomo -eilande se ekonomie 2020 wat hier vervat is nie. Alle voorstelle vir die regstelling van foute rakende die Solomon Islands Economy 2020 moet gerig word aan die CIA of die bron wat op elke bladsy aangehaal word.
2) Die rang wat u sien, is die CIA -gerapporteerde rang, wat die volgende probleme kan hê:
a) Hulle ken al hoe meer ranglyste toe, alfabeties vir lande met dieselfde waarde as die ranglys, terwyl ons hulle dieselfde rang toeken.
b) Die CIA ken soms teen -intuïtiewe geledere toe. Byvoorbeeld, dit gee werkloosheidskoerse in toenemende volgorde toe, terwyl ons dit in afnemende volgorde rangskik.
Konsep: materiële kultuur
Die oudste kunsvorme op die Salomonseilande is rotstekeninge wat op Guadalcanal, Vella Lavella en Suid -Malaita voorkom. Dekoratiewe erdewerk is duisende jare lank op baie eilande vervaardig, maar bestaan nou hoofsaaklik op die eiland Choiseul.
Net soos elke man en vrou 'n tuinier was, het elkeen ook vaardighede in verskillende kunsvlyt ontwikkel. Solomon -eilandbewoners het nog altyd uitgebreide versierings gemaak op sierkamme, halssnoere, sakke, houers vir kalk vir koue betelneute, geweefde gordels en armbande, mandjies, kosbakke, dansstokke, huise en kano's. Hierdie patrone word herhaal op tatoeëermerke, waarvan die mees uitgebreide afkomstig is van die Polinesiese Eilande. (Sien Body Art) Houtsnywerk op Solomon Island, met pêrelmoer en ander skulp-inlegsels, is een van die mooiste in die Stille Oseaan, en verskillende tradisionele ontwerpe het alomteenwoordig geword in moderne toeristekuns. Klipsnywerk van ornamente is meestal beperk tot die Westerse Solomons, veral die Ranongga- en Choiseul -eilande. Die Nasionale Museum van die Salomonseilande (q.v.) beskik oor 'n manjifieke klip -sarkofaag van Choiseul.
Die museum huisves 'n aansienlike versameling materiaalkultuuritems, en ander groot versamelings kuns op die Salomonseilande word gehou deur die Museum of Mankind in Londen, die Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, the Museum of the Völkerkunde in Berlin, the Field Museum in Chicago , die Australian Museum in Sydney, Queensland Museum, die Auckland War Memorial Museum in Auckland, die Bishop Museum in Honolulu en Otago Museum in Dunedin. Baie van die volgende kom uit verklarende materiaal wat deur die Solomon Islands National Museum vervaardig is.
Star Harbour aan die ooskus van Santa Ana is bekend vir sy kerwers, wat gespesialiseer het in gesnyde huispale, en kano's en kosbakke versier het. Argeologiese opgrawings het trochus ontdek (Trochidae) skulpfragmente en ander versierde items, soortgelyk aan dié van die nabygeleë Ugi -eiland, wat minstens vyfhonderd jaar terug dateer.
Mortiere en stamper is gemaak van hout en klip en word gebruik om taro- en neutpoedings voor te berei. Klipmortels is gemaak van rivierklippe op die Nggatokae -eiland in die Wes -Solomons. Rolle van verskillende ontwerpe word regdeur die Solomons gemaak. Die uitgebreide skulp ingelê seremoniële potte van die Eastern Solomons is bekend. Kokosdop en pêrelskulp word gebruik op die buitenste eilande waar hout skaars is. Mandjies en matte word op alle eilande gemaak van pandanus en klapperblare, dikwels geweef met ingewikkelde patrone. Net en geweefde sakke word geweef of gevleg uit basvesels en ander plantmateriaal, en dit kan ook fyn gevorm word. Bamboesvoedsel en kalkhouers is op sommige eilande gemaak met swartgemaakte geëtste ontwerpe. Groot beeldhouwerke sluit in die daksteunpale in geboue by Star Harbour aan die oostelike punt van Makira, wat gebruik is om bonito -vis kano's en oorblyfsels van voorouers te beskerm. Die Eastern Solomons het ook groot, uitgebreide gesnyde en dop-ingelegde kosbakke vervaardig wat by groot feeste gebruik is. Gedeeltes word ingelê met nautilus in die kamer en ander skulpe wat in ingewikkelde patrone gesny is en vasgeplak word met stopverf gemaak van die 'puttynut' (Parinari glaberrima). Ontwerpe sluit in fregatvoëls en visse en soms honde en seespiere. Menslike beeldhouwerk kan gevind word vanaf plekke soos Arosi op Makira, Malaita en die Weerkus van Guadalcanal. In die Westerse Solomons, nguzu-nguzu figure is vasgemaak aan die kano's se kante om te kyk na vyande, riwwe en vlak. Daar is ook verskillende style van tradisionele geldeenheid of rykdom (q.v. Forms of Wealth, hieronder). (Starzecka en Cranstone 1974)
Die belangrikste gereedskap van die eilandbewoners van Solomon Island was steen- en skulpbyle, adzes en hamers. Beide die lemme en handvatsels verskil in grootte en vorm vir verskillende take, soos kano -maak, geldvervaardiging, boomopruiming en algemene voedselproduksie. Op eilande met 'n groot hoeveelheid harde klip, was klipstene die belangrikste hulpmiddel. Die middelpunt van die vervaardiging van adze op Guadalcanal was aan die Weathercoast. Afgewerkte klippe is self verhandel na eilande waar plaaslike klip nie geskik was nie. Op sommige eilande sonder sulke voorrade, soos Rennell en Bellona en Ontong Java en Sikaiana, is vuilgoed en skrapers gemaak van die harde mossel Tridacna. Been- en veselgereedskap is ook gebruik. Die mbarava skulpplate in die Wes-Solomons en die ingewikkelde skilpaadjies wat vir kop- en borsversierings gebruik word (ook genoem dala, funifunu, of kapkap) is vervaardig met klipbore en veselsae. Grawe stokke bly 'n belangrike tuingereedskap sodra die grond skoongemaak is, en tuine is gewoonlik omhein met hout of bamboes om varke uit te hou.
Aardewerk is in die argipel vervaardig, maar was nie wydverspreid nie. Die meeste is vervaardig op die eilande Choiseul en New Georgia in die Wes -Solomons. Daar was ook 'n pottebakkerybedryf aan die noordkus van Makira, wat dood is voordat die Europeërs aangekom het, en erdewerk is ook op die rif -eilande vervaardig. 'N Aardewerkstyl wat gekoppel is aan die ou Lapita -kultuur, is gevind op die eiland Anuta, wat ten minste sedert 1000 tot 600 vC bewoon is. Anuta -potte was gewone vorm- en bakvorms en het nie die uitgebreide Lapita dentine -gestempelde versierings nie.
Die Salomonseilande het baie inheemse vorme van rykdom, gemaak van skulp-, bruin- en hondetande, vere en klip, wat gebruik word vir die ruil van lykshuise en bruide, vergoedings en soms ruilhandel. Hulle is in baie verskillende mate gelyk aan Europese definisies van 'valuta' of 'geld' (soms is 'waardevolle items' of 'rykdom' meer akkurate terme). Elke eiland, en soms verskillende groepe op dieselfde eiland, het hul eie waardevolle besittings. Sommige skaars vorms was heilig en word slegs deur hoofmanne en priesters bewaar. Beskermingsbeamptes het soms die waarde van tradisionele vorme van welvaart bereken en toegelaat dat hulle boetes en belasting betaal. (Akin 1999b Akin en Robbins 1999)
Die Santa Cruz-eilande is bekend vir hul rooi-veer-waardehandel. Die geld word gemaak op Nendö -eiland in die Santa Cruz -eilande en is aan die basis van die handelsstelsel wat die oostelike buitenste eilande verbind, so ver suid as die rif- en Duff -eilande. Die vere kom gewoonlik van die groter eilande Vanikolo en Utupua en kom van duiwe en vorm die onderliggende grootmaat en die klein skarlakenrooi heuningvreter (Myzomela cardinalis) om die rooi kleur te gee. Die heuningeters word gewoonlik van hul rooi vere gepluk en vrygelaat, al sterf hulle dikwels daarna. Vanikolo en Utupua gebruik nie die rooivedergeld nie, hoewel hulle in die verskaffing van die basiese bestanddeel nou gekoppel is aan die handelsiklus. Die veer waardevolle items, bekend as tevau, is spoele wat op lang gordels lyk, wat elk vyftig tot sestigduisend vere bevat. (Davenport 1962 http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/aoa/f/feather_money_tevau.aspx [geraadpleeg 16 Junie 2011] Friedlaender et al. 2002, 45) Die rooi veerspoelies word verruil na naburige eilande. Hulle verloor waarde as die vere geleidelik wegraak. Normale bruidegeldbetalings op die Santa Cruz -eilande was tien spoele van baie verskillende waardes. (Davenport 1962)
Malaita, Guadalcanal en die eilande van die Oos -Solomone gebruik nog steeds vorms van skulpwaardige items wat gemaak is van klein krale. Malaita het vier hooftipes geldeenheidswaardighede gehad. Drie is grootliks deur die kusmense vervaardig of beheer: snare rooi, oranje, wit en swart skulpkrale gemaak van tweekleppies, hondetande en die tande van verskillende spesies bruinvis en dolfyn. 'N Vierde tipe, genaamd kofoe, is gespande krale wat grootliks deur binnelandse mense gemaak is uit klein kegels, en word meestal gebruik in Kwaio, 'Are'are en die suide van Kwara'ae. Skilfeesversierings en spesiale heilige wapens brei die variëteite van Malaitaanse rykdom uit.
Die belangrikste vorm van waardevolle items, bata, is (en word steeds) moeisaam vervaardig deur stamme in die Langalanga -strandmeer aan die weskus en verhandel so ver suid as die Banks Group in Vanuatu en Bougainville, New Britain en Manus in Papoea -Nieu -Guinee. Bata bestaan uit gepoleerde dele van rooi, wit en swart tweekleppige weekdierskulpies afgewissel met klein krale wat van sade gemaak is (fulu en kekete), vasgemaak op toue van pandanusvesel van verskillende lengtes. Ridi is die naam vir die individuele snare, gewoonlik in die vorm van tafuli'ae: tien parallelle snare, ongeveer 1,82 meter lank, geskei deur spacer bars van hout of skilpad en versier met kleurvolle tossels kekete sade en sedert die negentiende eeu stukke rooi lap. Kleiner stukke word vir minder transaksies gebruik. Sommige bata magiese eienskappe kan dra. Die fulu en kekete sade kom van rivierplante en word gewoonlik verkry vanaf die nabygeleë vasteland. Die belangrikste dop, die rooi romu, word op die rifvlak aangetref, ongeveer tien vaam af, hoofsaaklik uit Langalanga, rondom Tarapaina in Maramasike Passage, Suafa Bay en Maana'oba in To'aba'ita, Lau Lagoon en Mboli Passage, Nggela. Nog 'n dop, die wit kakadu, kom ook uit riwwe, maar op 'n ander diepte, en is in die verlede gewoonlik gekoop by Tarapaina of Mboli Passage, Nggela. Die derde noodsaaklike dop, die swart kurila, is baie groter (agt millimeter in deursnee) en versamel in die Langalanga -strandmeer of uit die noorde van Malaita. In sommige gebiede, veral romu, is oorbevis en is nou skaars.
Op grond van waarnemings wat teruggekeer het na Charles Woodford s'n in die vroeë 1900's, het Matthew Cooper sewe vorme van Langalanga -skulpwaardes beskryf, wat wissel met kleur, kralgrootte, afwerkingsvlak en aantal snare. Bata is verhandel deur middelaars oor lang afstande, hoewel dit eens skaarser was as vandag. (Dek 1934) Word nie meer gebruik vir daaglikse aankope nie, nadat moderne bore ingestel is bata het byna alomteenwoordig geword op die Salomonseilande, wat noodsaaklik is vir bruidegombetalings en ander seremonies. Kort snare word ook in die Westelike Stille Oseaan as modieuse halssnoere verkoop. Die verwerking-sny, boor en poleer-is kompleks, betrek die hele gemeenskap en is opgeneem in godsdienstige praktyke. Uitgebreide rituele (versekering teen haai -aanval) het gepaard gegaan met die duik na skulpe en versameling was beperk tot sekere seisoene om voorraad te bespaar. Die grootste deel van die verwerking was vroue se werk, terwyl mans die duik, handel oor lang afstande en die laaste poleerwerk gedoen het. Sonder moderne gereedskap, een tafuli'ae is estimated to have taken one woman one month to produce, which gives some idea of its relative value. In polygamous households there was a division of labour, but it is unlikely that any women fully dedicated their time to making bata since they shared many household duties. (Woodford 1908 Bartle 1952 Cooper 1971 Connell 1977)
The 'Are'are and particularly Kwaio manufacture a much smaller white bead called kofu of baniau that is used to make valuables longer than the tafuli'ae. Shorter lengths of kofu are very money-like and are used for commodity exchanges. The Lau Lagoon people also have their own similar forms of shell wealth. Nggela shell wealth is called talina. Shell wealth was also manufactured on Guadalcanal, and an oral tradition says that it was made at Talise on the south coast before Europeans arrived. (Bennett 1987, 14) Shell and teeth wealth is used to pay bridewealth and for other ceremonial exchanges and compensation payments, and is worn as ornaments which sometimes indicate wearers' or their family's special wealth and dignity.
Porpoise and dolphin teeth came mainly from around Fauabu, Bita'ama in the north of Malaita and Walade in the south, although there were also porpoise drives in other areas such as the Langalanga and Lau Lagoons, and among east coast sea people. Annual drives, collectively, killed thousands of the animals. Between one hundred and six hundred might be killed in one drive, each having around 150 usable teeth. Religious rituals accompanied the drives and set seasons ensured against over-fishing. Special stones are hit together underwater to confuse their communication signals and disorient them, and they are driven to shore where they bury their heads in the sand or mud, easy targets for people waiting to club them to death. William H. Dawbin's research in 1965, 1966 and 1968 at Bita'ama, Fauabu and Walande located seven species. In the past, porpoise teeth were the only currency used everywhere across Malaita. (NS 31 Aug. 1968 Dawbin 1966 Notes and Photographs on Porpoise Catching at Auki, Malaita, F. J. Barnett, November 1909, C. M. Woodford Papers, reel 2, bundle 15, 10/31/1-3 and 4/32/1, PMB Akin 1993, app. 2: Kwaio Shell Money Making and Use of Porpoise Teeth, 1999)
Makira people also hunted porpoises for meat, and for their teeth to use as exchange valuables and body decoration. (NS 15 June 1971 Cromar 1935, 204) On many islands bat and possum teeth are worn in necklaces and collars (the latter called biru on Malaita) and used as currencies. Dog's teeth were also used as currency in the Eastern Solomons and on Guadalcanal. In 1896, trader Karl Oscar Svensen (q.v.) estimated that one-quarter of a million had passed through his hands while trading there since 1890. (Bathgate 1973, 56) Increased supplies enabled inland people to participate more in these wealth exchanges. On Malaita, the lagoon and artificial island-dwellers traded around their island and with other islands, which gave them a large degree of control over supplies of trade items available to inland neighbours.
A final major form of wealth in the past was large rings (up to some fourteen centimetres in diameter) carved from fossilised or recent shells. This shell wealth was used for bridewealth payments, to purchase pigs, land and maritime rights, for compensations, and as grave ornaments and for ritual appeasement. These come from the fossilised Tridacna shell found on the raised coralline limestones of the lagoons. Conus, Trochus of Tridacna shells were also used to make ornaments of some shell ring valuables. In Roviana Lagoon (q.v.) there are two generic categories of shell valuables from pre-colonial times: vinasari, which are patterned decorative shell ornaments once used in rituals and occasionally for barter and poata, which, as a culturally constructed Roviana genus, included an array of clamshell and shell rings of different diameters, textures and colours and also sperm whale teeth. (Aswani and Sheppard 2003, 64) Similar to most Malaitan shell valuables, New Georgia ones cannot be equated simply with money. They also had ceremonial uses and could transfer ancestral power. Aswani and Sheppard provide a clear description of the different types. Bakiha were the most valuable and were graded by size, texture and the concentration and extent of the yellow to red stain on their surface. Next in value were poata, ook bekend as paota keoro, which come from the upper white sections of fossilized T. Gigas en T. Squamosa shells. Poata circulated widely throughout the Western Solomons as a general currency. They were used also to purchase ritual knowledge, maritime and land rights, for compensations and as offerings to ancestors. The oldest form of shell ring exchanged is the rough edged and unpolished Bareke, which come from both fossilized and live T. suamosa. Aswani and Sheppard suggest that Bareke were not circulated as exchange and 'belonged to a higher spiritual order'. (2003, 65) The smallest and slimmest of the shell valuables are hokata gemaak van Conus shells. These were less valuable and used in barter, marital rituals, as small compensation transfers and were given to chiefs by men for the sexual services of 'ritually designated women'. The last type of shell ring valuable is the smaller hinuili rings made from Conus, Strombus, Mitra, en Terebra shells. Hinuili are 'worn as protective amulets, exchanged within families as gifts, and presented to ancestors and fishing and gardening deities at sacred shrines'. (Aswani and Sheppard 2003, 66)
These shell valuables were used all through the Western Solomons and treasured as far away as Isabel and Bougainville islands. They were stored in shrines or sacred houses where they could not be tampered with or destroyed. Often, they survive in broken form they were probably broken during ritual transfers of land use-rights. Only the owners can touch the most powerful valuables, after first asking their ancestors for permission. There are observations of their manufacture from as early as the 1880s. Rhys Richards (2010, 98) and Edvard Hviding (1996, 93-95) list three different types of clamshell valuables that were used at Marovo Lagoon, New Georgia: erenge, poata en tinete-in descending order of value-together with the superior currency valuables of kalo (sperm whale teeth) and lave (special ceremonial wickerwork shields). Linked to shell wealth production was control of reefs. Marovo Lagoon (q.v.) was one of the main centres of manufacture.
Choiseulese produced a similar form of wealth called the mbulau sosoto, mbulau patu, mbulau vovo, of vatagotoso, which vary in size from those small enough to fit a child's arm to others with a nine-centimetre internal diameter. Hierdie poata were usually reserved for the wealth displays of older men. Die ovala, a small shell ring, less finished and not reckoned as wealth, was used to propitiate ancestral spirits. These equate with bareke from Roviana Lagoon. Sommige poata seem also to have been dedicated to the spirit world. (Russell 1972) Nine cylinders formed one kesa, which were wrapped in ivory palm leaves in sets of three and used as bridewealth payments. A man's status depended on the quality and quantity of the kesa (kisa) he possessed, and the kesa's history.
In 1975, Guso Rato Piko (q.v.), an early Native Medical Practitioner, described the more common types of Choiseul shell valuables: kesa, mbuku, ziku (armlets) and ngazala. Piko also described kesa (kisa), a cylindrical shell wealth that came in different sizes and values. It was old, and said to have been made by the spirit Pongo. People preserved kesa by wrapping them in ivory palm leaves and then burying them in the ground, or by storing them in caves. They came in different denominations, from kalusape, the highest value, possessed by the chiefs. Piko also described Mbarava (of sarumbangara), old clamshell openwork carvings that came from eastern Choiseul and were kept in shrines. The latter was never used as money and was the province of custom priests. (Scheffler 1965b Piko 1976 Richards 2010 Sheppard, Walter and Nagaoka 2000)
Europeans soon realised the value of these shell valuables and manufactured ceramic versions to use in trade and in the labour trade. (Gesner 1991 Beck 2009 Richards 2010 Russell 1972)
Body ornaments can be quite striking, from the traditional dance dress of Santa Cruz men made from clamshell and turtle shell that can be more than a century old, to the intricately carved pieces of turtle shell placed over clamshell disks in forehead ornaments worn on Malaita and Nggela and in the Western Solomons. Men of Malaita and Guadalcanal wear a crescent-shaped piece of gold-lip clamshell (dafi), sometimes decorated with a turtle shell frigatebird or other design. Malaita women wore necklaces of thin oval pieces of clamshell with an etched black design. On Malaita and Guadalcanal, beads made from red, black and white shells, yellow orchid vine and died red fibres are woven or plaited into armbands, combs, belts and other body decorations. Noses and ears were often pierced to hold shell or plaited ornaments. (See also Body Art)
Coastal Solomon Islanders have always used canoes, some of great size. Huge war canoes were built from tree trunk bases and extended upwards with planks of wood sewn together with the seams caulked with putty. These could carry around thirty men on long-distance raiding or trading expeditions. They were decorated with shell inlay, carvings and shells, and some had decoration on the bows. Western Solomons tomoko gehad het nguzu-nguzu, a stylized human head at the waterline entrusted to look out for danger. When these canoes were launched there were usually human sacrifices, as many as sixty or seventy. Smaller plank canoes were made in the Central Solomons for fishing.
Other canoes were dugouts six or seven fathoms long (still the measure used) made from hollowed tree trunks. Smaller varieties held two or three men or just children. On Malaita and other islands these were used in the lagoons and river estuaries. The other type of canoe was the sailing canoe found in the Shortlands, in the Eastern Solomons and the Polynesian Outliers. These had matting sails, and the ocean-going versions had a deckhouse made from wood and covered with palm thatch. The dug out hull of the main canoe was augmented with additional planks to create stylised forms that varied from island to island. Non-Polynesian types of sailing canoes are still made in the Shortlands and at Arosi, Makira. Paddles vary in shape and style between islands and sometimes vary with the sex of the paddler, and are often ornamented. They can range from leaf-shaped and pointed to broad with rounded ends. (Tedder 1975)
In the past, fishing was a major coastal industry and required its own manufactured items, which were often connected to religion. In places, particularly in the east, special festivals marked the beginning of bonito fishing seasons and seasons to hunt dolphins. Fishing methods involved different types of traps, hooks, lures and nets. Bonito hooks were made from pearl-shell with a carved turtle shell hook attached. Leaf curtains were used to create net-shaped fish traps. Fish floats were used in the Eastern Solomons in places like Ulawa and Santa Ana, placed in the sea in a series of six, nine or twelve with stone counterweights tied to their base. On Malaita and in the Eastern Solomons, in shallow areas such as lagoons, garfish were caught by means of kites pulled behind a dugout canoe, which skip a ball of sticky cobwebs across the water. The garfish saw the web glittering on the surface, assumed it was a tiny fish, and when it bit it becames entangled. The kite then fell into the sea and the fisherman knew he had a catch. Coastal platforms were also constructed on many islands, from which fishing took place. Some of these older fishing methods are still used in some places (Cline and Michel 2002, 243-244)
The most distinctive form of cooking in the Solomons is in earth ovens which is a slow process requiring stones which are heated in a fire and then spread over the floor of a pit. Food is wrapped in leaf packages that are placed inside, more hot stones are put atop them, and the whole is covered with leaves. Water is added to make steam. Quicker cooking is done over embers or in bamboo containers or shells, and in some areas pottery or large wooden bowls with hot stones inside are used. Cooking utensils are usually made from bamboo and shells and graters are made from coral. Root crops and coconuts are pounded with stone or wooden mortars. Wooden containers for food can vary greatly in size and can be plain or richly ornamented with inset shell designs.
Internecine fighting was endemic, using a variety of weapons, mostly bows and arrows, spears, clubs and fighting sticks. Arrows and spears were sometimes tipped with human bone or dipped in poison to cause tetanus or infections. On Rennell and Bellona there were more than a dozen kinds of clubs, and on islands such as Malaita and Guadalcanal there were several types. Shields were usually made from basket materials, woven into designs, or from thin sections of tree trunks or bark. Shell inlaid basket shields depicting human figures were used on Guadalcanal and Nggela and traded to other islands. On Makira, a long-handled curved blade was used to parry arrows and spears. Clubs and spears were sometimes carved or decorated with shell inlay or with incised designs filled with lime powder. On some Polynesian islands slingshots were used with clamshell or stone projectiles. Reef Islanders were experts at this.
As soon as metals arrived with traders in the first half of the nineteenth century weapons began to incorporate iron axe heads, which markedly changed methods of warfare. (Ross 1970 Roth 1998 Waite 2002)
There are two basic forms of weaving. One involves simple techniques while the other requires great skills gained over years. Polynesians on islands such as Sikaiana and Rennell and Bellona produce close weaving. People of the Western Solomons produce a more open weave, influenced by Tongan missionaries who introduced new techniques. Gilbertese settlers also introduced to the Solomons new skills in weaving and basketry. Weaving materials used widely in the Solomon Islands are Pandanus leaves, Coco palm leaves, Asama vine (a fern), orchid fibres, banana fibres, tree barks and other plant fibres. Mats, baskets, armbands, fans and bags have been woven using the above materials. Weaving and plaiting can also be found on the handles of combs and ear ornaments.
Despite there being different ways of weaving, the techniques of preparing materials to be woven are relatively similar throughout the islands. For example, with the Pandanus plant, normally the leaf is cut, then rolled and boiled in water for an hour or until the colour disappears, after which the leaves are sun-dried. Some Pandanus leaves have spines on the back and sides that are removed before boiling. Alternatively, the Pandanus leaves may be held over a glowing fire until the colour changes and then rolled and placed in the sun for a week or so until they turn white. They may then be stored until the weavers decide to use them. When the process of weaving begins, the Pandanus leaves may be scraped with a shell to make them pliable, and then split into desired widths.
People in limited areas of the Solomons use a type of cross-weaving loom thought to have originated in the Caroline Islands in Micronesia. These looms were unknown in the Marshall Islands, the Gilbert Islands or the Ellice Group, but were found in the Mortlock Group of Papua New Guinea, Ontong Java, Nuguria, Sikaiana, the Reef Islands and on islands adjacent to Santa Cruz. Only men used them. (BSIP Handbook 1923, 34 Woodford 1916 Roth 1918)
Solomon Islanders seldom wore much clothing, but some used fibre skirts, bark cloth or woven fibre loincloths. Until the 1970s, fibre skirts were still worn in some inland areas of large islands. On Ontong Java and Sikaiana loincloths were woven of banana fibre on the looms just described. Special long cloths were woven for pregnant women on Sikaiana to ensure the return of a good figure after the birth. Men on Santa Cruz wove black loincloths. On Malaita, pandanus leaves were made into two-surface mats used for sleeping, as umbrellas, to carry items and to wrap the dead.
Bark cloth or tapa is less commonly produced in the Solomons than in other parts of the Pacific, although some comes from Santa Cruz, Isabel and Simbo Islands. It is still in use on Tikopia and Anuta where it is made from the bark of the breadfruit or paper mulberry tree, hammered flat with wooden or stone mallets. It was also manufactured at Makaruka on the Weathercoast of Guadalcanal, and all Malaitan groups made cloth from both mulberry and banyan barks, and some still do. On some islands it was died blue using the fruit of a tree or crushed mussel shells and soaked in sulphur springs in volcanic areas. Other bark cloths from Santa Cruz, Isabel and Simbo were decorated in black, blue and brown. (Richards and Roga 2005 Monberg 1991, 8)
Solomon Islands buildings are as diverse as their overall material culture. Most buildings were once made from wood, bamboo and sago leaf thatch, often with palm tree bark or mats as flooring. Each of the nine modern provinces has its own unique traditional building styles, as do different groups in each. Some are round low-walled houses, others rectangular with pitched roofs, sometimes almost reaching the ground, and with decorated panels. Some had dirt floors and others were raised. Men's houses and ceremonial and communal buildings are often larger and more ornate. Houses vary from dwelling houses-often with separate buildings for men and women-to houses to hold sacred objects and perform rituals. Some of the most substantial were vast canoe houses such as the aofa of Santa Ana. These sheltered special canoes for long-distance voyaging and had elaborately carved posts. Boys lived in and were initiated at these aofa to ready them for bonito fishing. (Tedder 1975)
Solomon Islands men and women usually lived at least some of the time in separate dwellings and women on some islands also lived separately during menstruation and after giving birth. Fires inside houses were used for cooking, to preserve artefacts stored on the roof rafters and to provide smoke to deter mosquitoes. Some houses had beaten earth floors or the floors were covered with small rocks or coral, in turn covered with mats. Solomon Islanders also used stone fortifications in some areas.
Over the last century some housing styles were modified with raised floors made from palm trunks skins, more windows and detached kitchens. Many modern office buildings, hotels or churches have adapted the high-pitched roof style of some traditional buildings, and have panels decorated with traditional images or carved posts.
Part of this material culture relates to ancestral worship at shrines in designated descent group territories. Ancestral skulls and shell valuables were placed onto altars or in containers and some people maintained special houses to hold skulls collected in raids. In the Western Solomons such skull-houses were made from wood and perched on posts in a tent-shaped structure closed with a carved clamshell mbarava plaque. These sites were used for sacrifices and worship. Peoples of northwest Choiseul constructed ndolo, a hollow stone sarcophagus about a metre high and twelve to eighteen inches in diameter. These contained the cremated bones of chiefs with the bones of lesser people placed in pottery urns around the ndolo. Die ndolo often had squatting human figures carved on their sides, which seem to be related to similar objects made as far to the west as western New Guinea.
Musical instruments varied from place to place. The most common were slit drums, played singly or in small groups, sometimes accompanying other musical instruments. The drums could also serve to send messages across long distances. Bamboo panpipes were common, some played solo, while others were played by groups at ceremonies and feasts, usually of four, eight, sixteen or more players, particularly on Malaita and Guadalcanal. Much of the music is polyphonic. Panpipes consist of varying numbers of tubes and can be double-banked to provide sympathetic notes. Single transverse tube flutes were used on Malaita and Ulawa and in some Polynesian communities such as on Ontong Java. Rattles were made from hollow nuts attached to dance sticks or tied to the legs or arms of dancers. Basketware fans are used on Ontong Java and other Polynesian islands, beaten against the hand to accompany women's songs. North Malaitans sing to loud rhythms of beaten paired sticks.
Solomon Islanders began to use iron adzes, axes and other tools as soon as they were available in the nineteenth century, often grafted into pre-existing forms of tools or weapons. Surviving examples of these often have elaborate carved sections and shell inlays. Modern art usually includes motifs from older art forms, and carving of deities or spirit figures that would once have been confined to sacred buildings is now displayed in public places such as the National Museum and hotels in Honiara. Solomon Islanders began to make artefacts for barter with sailors on trading, whaling and labour trade ships during the nineteenth century, often simplifying original styles. This practice continued with missionaries, traders, planters and Protectorate staff, and eventually turned into an artefact supply for tourism. Traditional arts are still practiced and on some islands have been deliberately revived as part of cultural preservation practices.
Several carved figure designs have become ubiquitous in the modern Solomons tourist art trade. Die nguzu-nguzu, a stylized human head once confined to the prows of canoes from the northwest islands is now one of the most recognized symbols. Another common cultural hero is Kesoko from the Western Solomons, a sea-spirit bird-man with an extended beak. Frigate bird motifs are also common. Most of the wood used in carving today is kerosene wood (Cordia subcordata), ebony (Diospyros), which is an expensive very dense dark brown or black wood, and coconut palm wood. All are sometimes decorated with Nautilus shell inlay. Stone carvings are produced in large quantities on Ranongga Island in the Western Solomons. Woven cane matting in black and white patterns is used as walling, particularly in houses and churches. (Burt, Akin and Kwa'ioloa 2009 Horton 1965, 184 Monberg 1991, 419, 420 information from the Solomon Islands National Museum, Aug. 2011 Starzecka and Cranstone 1974)
Solomon Islands Economy - History
Centred at longitude 160 degrees east and latitude 9 degrees south of the equator, Solomon Islands comprises 992 islands of which 147 are inhabited.
These stretch 1448 kilometres (900 miles) in a southeasterly direction from the Shortland Islands on the border with Papua New Guinea on the northeast to the Santa Cruz Islands, which borders with Vanuatu on the southeast.
The archipelago covers an area of 461,000 sq km (249,000 sq nautical miles) of which 28,446 sq km (10,938 sq miles) is landmass. The six biggest islands are Choiseul, New Georgia, Santa Isabel, Guadalcanal, Malaita and Makira.
On the atlas, Solomon Islands lie northeast of Australia and southwest of Hawaii. Deeply forested mountainous islands add a towering contrast to low-lying coral atolls, right down to the tiny artificial islands built of coral and soil common on Malaita’s northern coast.
Geskiedenis
Archaeological and linguistic evidence show that Solomon Islands was settled between 4000-5000 years ago by people from Southeast Asia.
From here, a group continued east and south settling in what is now known as Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji and the Polynesian islands of Tonga and Samoa. It was not one way though as archaeologists point to a return migration of mainly Polynesians sometime later. Their descendants now live in atolls that border Solomon Islands’ northern, southern and eastern boundaries.
It was not until the 16th century that the Europeans came to learn of the Solomon Islands. Spanish explorer Álvaro de Mendana made the first contact in 1568. When he discovered alluvial gold on Guadalcanal, he thought he had found the source of King Solomon’s (of the Bible fame) great wealth and named it the Isles of Solomon. It was through his influence that many of the islands in the archipelago bear original Spanish names.
After Mendana, others mainly Dutch and French explorers made forays into the group. Then it was the turn of the Germans and British. The islands of New Georgia, Guadalcanal, Makira and Malaita became a British protectorate in 1893 with Tulagi proclaimed the protectorate capital in 1896.
The islands of Santa Cruz, Rennell and Bellona were included between 1898 and 1899. The Shortlands, Choiseul, Santa Isabel and Ontong Java were not part of the protectorate until 1900.
Japanese aggression turned the islands into a war theatre during World War II. Both the Japanese and allied forces suffered huge losses in land, sea and aerial battles.
Over 60 years later, the archipelago is littered with war wrecks and some of the country’s infrastructures today like airstrips and roads owe their existence to the war.
Solomon Islands gained independence from Britain on July 7, 1978. Twenty years later, in 1998, tribal rivalries erupted into armed hostilities on Guadalcanal which prompted Australia and its Pacific Islands neighbours to launch RAMSI, the regional assistance mission to Solomon Islands, in July 2003. Hostilities have ended and the nation is back on track with an elected government in power.
Mense
As Part of The Melanesian group of islands, which also includes Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and Fiji, the Solomon Islands was first settled by hunters and gatherers from Southeast Asia. Seafarers followed later.
Through the tracing of a distinct type of pottery called lapita, archaeologists say the original settlers of Polynesia in eastern Pacific trace their origins back to Melanesia, to Solomon Islands actually.
Today, between 70 to 80 percent of the population live a subsistence form of life in their small villages, settlements and islands away from the main urban centres. This number is expected to erode as people move from rural to urban areas for higher education and employment.
Godsdiens
About 95% of The Population are Christians. The principal religions are church of Melanesia (Anglican) about 25% Roman Catholic 19% South Seas Evangelical 17% United Church (Methodist) 11% and Seventh Day Adventist 10%.
Other religions have made an impact notably the Baha’I faith, Jehovah’s Witness, Assemblies of God and Baptist.
Kultuur
Communal, clan and family ties remain strong in these islands with the existence of the Wantok system.
A key part of the Melanesian culture, Wantok means people from the same language group who are blood relatives. They are part of the extended family support and assist one another.
Kastom, the pidgin term for custom, refers to traditional beliefs and land ownership. Despite the predominance of devout Christians, traditional practices are still being followed especially by those living in the hinterland of the country’s larger islands.
Off the beaten path, village life remains much as it has been for centuries. While some do welcome strangers, not all do – so ask local authorities first before venturing to visit these remote and far-flung areas.
Flora and Fauna
The main Islands of Solomons are volcanic in origin covered with fast flowing rivers and streams. They are home to many endemic flora and fauna species, which includes the common cardinal lorry.
Current estimates put a total of 4500 plant species and 173 species of birds including the famous megapode bird that nests in the thermal sand of some islands in Central and Western provinces. In the World heritage listed Rennell Island alone, 10 plants and 4 species and nine subspecies of birds have been identified as endemic.
Also endemic is the saltwater sea snake known as the krait. A book written by Solomon Islander environmentalist Patrick Pikacha, titled “Wild West”, widely covers wildlife species ranging from birds to butterflies.
Ekonomie
Driven By high commodity prices, the Solomon Islands economy had been performing quite well in recent years. In 2007, for instance, the economy grew by 10.3%, the highest in the South Pacific Region for that year.
It slowed down to around 6% in 2008 but an impressive growth rate nevertheless. Much of that growth was attributed to high levels of log exports. However, experts say current rates of tree felling are unsustainable, restrictions on log harvesting therefore have been imposed.
Good commodity prices for copra, cocoa and fish exports had also been helpful, and also stimulating the economy was the government’s expansionary fiscal policy, bulk of which is going towards building and improving infrastructure like roads and bridges.
Because of this and recent wage increases awarded to government workers, consumer spending has been bullish. That, together with high prices of imported goods, especially fuel, pushed inflation up to peak at 16.5% in 2008.
Commercial bank credit has also been strong, growing by 34.3%. Like other free market economies, Solomon Islands economy is not immune to the impact of the global financial meltdown. Lesser growth is being projected for 2009 and 2010.
Things might change for the better if the country’s sole gold mine Gold ridge overcomes funding issues and commences gold exports soon.
The security and safety that RAMSI brought to the Solomon Islands in 2003 has also provided a strong base for economic growth. New investors in the country are now able to start businesses with a renewed sense of confidence and certainty about the future.
Solomon Islands Economy hit hard
THE continuous impact of COVID-19 pandemic has continued to affect the Solomon Islands economy while the government is in a desperate situation to keep it afloat with the Economic Stimulus Package (ESP), the Solomon Star reports.
According to the Central Bank of Solomon Islands (CBSI) latest monthly report, the domestic production shows that CBSI preliminary monthly production index in November dropped to 65 points from the revised 66 points in October.
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| Central Bank of Solomon Islands (CBSI) |
“The continued weak performance was driven by declining production in round logs, fish catch, and palm oil.
“Round logs dropped further by 2% to 137 thousand cubic meters, palm oil by 11% to 2,422 tons, and fish catch by 1% to 2,325 ton,” the report stated.
On the other hand, the report stated that copra production went up slightly by less than 1% to 1,103 tons and cocoa by 11% to 406 tons.
Meanwhile, the international prices for all export commodities trended up in November following the pickup in crude oil prices.
“Coconut oil rose by 22% to US$1,369 per ton, palm oil by 12% to US$918 per ton, cocoa by 3% to US$2,350 per ton, round logs by 1% to US$285 per cubic meter, and fish by 0.1% to US$1,269 per ton,” the report said.
But in terms of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the latest national inflation for September continued to descend to 0.2% from a peak of 7.8% in March 2020.
According to the report the easing inflation was driven by both domestic and imported items.
“Domestic inflation receded to 2.0% in September from 10.5% in April benefited from the easing prices for betel nut, root crops, utilities, and transport,” it stated.
Similarly, imported items deflated to a minus 3.5% from 2.2% in March last year attributable to the lower crude oil prices in the world market.
The report also stated that core inflation also went down from 2.0% at the beginning of the year to 0.5% in September.
“This reflected the weaker demand in the local economy amidst Covid-19 pandemic,” the report plainly stated it.
