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Our Story
The history of Mugaba and Mungiki
(Rennell & Bellona) began when Kaitu'u and other clansmen left Ubea or Uvea ( French territory: Wallis & Futuna) and crossed the Pacific ocean and settled in the
Solomon Islands. The events surrounding the journey to our Islands was preserved through oral means until the 1960s. Our history had been documented by
anthropologists from Denmark (Kuschel and Monberg). Visit Bellona.dk for more information. All oral historians of Bellona and Rennell Islands agree that our ancestors came from Uvea. This history was transmitted from generation to generation by oral means; long before the Map of the Pacific was drawn on Papers and books.
The actual year of
the departure of Kaitu'u and other clansmen from Ubea or Uvea is also unknown, but it is estimated based on Wallis & Futuna's history that Kaitu'u and his expedition may have left Uvea around or later in the 13th century. According to Uvean (Ubea) history. According to the history of Uvea, their Islands were not populated until Tongans arrived there in
the 13th Century. Our ancestors may have left around that era.
Polynesians were great seafarers and warriors who were tattooed from head to toes and who conquered majority of the Islands in the Pacific Ocean. They conquered Easter Island, the Hawaiian Islands, Aotearoa (NZ) and also conquered many Micronesian and Melanesian Islands.
Today, Polynesian communities throughout the Pacific Islands (example Fiji, Solomon Islands, Palau, Kiribati etc.) are testaments to the Polynesian dominance of the Pacific region during the pre-Christian era.
Our people are descendants of a few men who came to our Islands from the Polynesian Triangle. For more the 600 years, we lived through the test of times; Surviving a wildest journey through treacherous waters; living through a severe tribal conflict, and surviving numerous tropical cyclones. In the 1930s, Christianity reached our shores and transformed our way off life forever. The survival of our people demonstrates the resilience of the Polynesian race. Today, we are Solomon Islands since 1978.
Physical Evidence
There are physical evidences of the
connection between our Islands and
the Polynesian Triangle, particularly with Uvea. Our founder, Kaitu'u, settled and named his homesteads on Bellona and Rennell after his homeland, Ubea (Uvea). There is
also a village on the Eastern side (Matangi) called Nukutonga (the Land of Tonga). And a villages in Lake Tegano called Hutuna (Rennellese verson of Futuna) etc.
Other names:
Tokengau - Tokelau
Sa'apai - Ha'apai
Sa'amoa - Samoa
Ngotuma - Rotuma
Nuku'angoha - Nuku'aloha
Anoghi - Alofi
OUR ANCESTORS
Today, the people of Mugaba and
Mungiki still maintain their cultures, language, and social practices brought to our Islands from Uvea, (Wallis and Futuna) and the Polynesian Triangle.
According to our history, seven chiefs with their wives settled our Islands. Our people settled on our Islands for 25 generations now. Here are the names of those who came to our Islands from Uvea.
1. Sa'a Kaitu'u
2. Sa'a Taupongi
3. Sa'a Sau (extinct)
4. Sa'a Tongo (extinct)
5. Sa'a Puka (extinct)
6. Sa'a Tanga (extinct)
7. Sa'a Nikatemon (extinct)
Reasons for Extinction
After many years of tribal war, five
of the clans were killed to extinction by the dominant clan, the Kaitu'u clan. Only two clans survived
to this day. They are the Sa'a Kaitu'u (Clan of Kaitu'u) and
Sa'a Taupongi (Clan of Taupongi). Sa'a Kaitu'u occupies 90% of Bellona
and all of Rennell Island, whereas Sa'a Taupongi occupies the lower Bellona
Island (Ngango or Sa'aiho), or Western end of the island.
Hiti: the First Inhabitants
When our ancestors got to our Islands from Ubea, they discovered that the island was occupied by black people whom they referred to as the Hiti people. Their encountered with the
Hiti left significant evidence and social influence on our ancestors, even
down to the present generation. The common usage of "gh" and
"L" in Mugava and Mungiki (Rennell and Bellona) dialect is perhaps adoptions from the Hiti language.
Historians also suggested that these Hiti may have
taught these Polynesian people how to catch flying fishes (Sasabe), eat
Ngemungi, and other fruits unknown to the Polynesian world (Bellona Islands
Belief and Rituals, p. 107). Legend says that these Hiti people were killed to
extinction by Kaitu'u, our ancestor, to avenge the death of his nephew who was killed by a
group of angry Hitis. Kaitu'u waged a long enduring war against the Hiti
from Bellona to Rennell Island and eventually killed them to extinction.
Whatever the truth is, it is obvious
that all Polynesians who arrived and occupied the smaller islands on the
outskirt of the Solomon Islands region do have similar history of encountering black
people.
No High Chief
From the First Generation to the arrival of Christianity in the 1930s, no warrior chief ever
attempted to unite the the people of Rennell and Bellona under his power like
King Kamehameha of Hawaii, Tuitonga of Tonga, or Cakobau of Fiji. The Clansmen
lived on their own lands and ruled their own households for centuries.
Tribal
war occurred much later as tribes fought to establish control and acquire lands and resources. Each tribe and
sub-tribe had powerful leaders and warriors.
British Influence on Leadership
Great Britain laid claimed on the Solomon Islands as France took control of New Caledonia and part Vanuatu. Britain declared the group of Islands that later became
Solomon Islands, the British Protectorate State of SI (SIBPSSI). To keep remote people in check,
the Colonial government chose community leaders to act local administrators. Headmen were hand picked to act as middle men between the people and
the colonial government, and sometimes acted as local magistrates or judges
(Headmen often presided over land cases).
A Chiefs Committee was also created as the governing body for remote communities. These chiefs were
handpicked based on the status of their family and tribal ties. Presiding over this Committee was an appointed Paramount
Chief. The first Paramount chief was appointed based on recommendations of the people an He presided over the Council of Chiefs for a year before appointing a successor. This committee was dissolved in the late 1980s. |
Our People
