Nukumanu Islands

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The Nukumanu Islands ( formerly " Tasman islands" ) are located north of Ontong Java atoll in the Pacific Ocean. They belong to Papua New Guinea and are politically part of Melanesia. Culturally, one counts the atoll due to the polynesischstämmigen population to the enclaves of Polynesia, which lie outside of the Polynesian triangle. Administratively, it is part of the atoll Local Level Government of North Bougainville District in the province of Bougainville.

Geography

The islands are the result of the growth of a large coral reef. A ring of more than 20 islands ( motus ) surrounding a large lagoon. The islands are very flat and rise only a few meters above the sea level. The total area of the atoll is 282 km ², while the land area of ​​the island is only 2.5 km ².

Population

The atoll has a population of around 500 Nukumanu one of the enclaves of Polynesia. Therefore, the people of the islands live by Polynesian traditions and speak one belonging to the Samoan branch of the Polynesian languages ​​Polynesian dialect. The food resources of the islands are poor. The residents live on fishing and simple forms of farming. Provide an important basis of the diet coconut palms and banana trees.

Economy

The Nukumanier are fishermen and divers. To a lesser extent, the inhabitants trade with seafood and oysters, from which pearl is obtained. These are exported mostly to Asia. This trade is the backbone of nukumanischen economy.

History

The atoll belonged until 1914 to the German colony of German New Guinea. The seizure was controversial; Nukumanu was actually part of the Anglo-German Agreement of November 14, 1899 (Samoa Agreement) assigned to the UK territory, but stopped due to an intervention by Governor Rudolf von Bennigsen and after formal waiver of the Western Pacific High Commission of the German colony of New Guinea and fell only after the German defeat in the First World war to the Australian mandated territory.

Gained notoriety the atoll in 1937: the famous American aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart and her navigator their last known position determination sent when overflight before all trace of her lost in the vastness of the Pacific.

Culture

The traditional music of the Nukumanu Islands is similar to the music of New Guinea in connection with ceremonial dances, which are accompanied by drums and choral singing. When drums are empty jerry cans and bamboo ramming tubes ( Lopu ) to the other musical instruments include various wooden Idiophone ( tamu ) and a mouth bow ( susupu ). Throughout the 20th century were introduced under European influence guitar, ukulele and harmonica. In addition to special celebrations offered regular meetings at which palm wine ( kareve ) was drunk, an occasion to make music. In a hava mentioned dance performance the women sit surrounded by a circle of standing men that are geared toward the center in the center. The show begins with singing, which is detached from the ramming rhythm that produce the women with about 90 centimeters long bamboo tubes. The men, meanwhile, beat with wooden poles, which are to represent spears on the ground. You can repeatedly fall to the ground at their final dance to together to stand up again. This and other dances usually start slowly and speed up the rhythm in the course of the performance. The traditional styles were at least until the mid- 1980s was still maintained, just as events were increasingly Christian or national holidays.