Nauruer
The Nauru people are an ethnic group that lives on the Pacific island of Nauru . You are most likely a mixed race of other Pacific peoples .
Origin and pre-colonial period
The origin of the Nauruan people has not yet been finally clarified. It can possibly be explained from the last Malayo-Pacific migration (around 1200 AD). It was probably seafaring or shipwrecked Polynesians and Melanesians who settled, because there was no indigenous population , although the first ethnic group on Nauru were probably Micronesians , although the Micronesians in this area are partly mixed with the Melanesians.
The Nauru people have two elements of the population: the Melanesians and the Polynesians who probably immigrated later. The Melanesians are represented by a strong, dark-colored type with loosely frizzy black hair; the Polynesians are slimmer, light brown and have plain black hair. The most varied transitions exist between these two extremes.
The society of the Nauruer was divided into twelve tribes, whose members were divided into different classes up to the 20th century: Temonibe, Emo, Amenengame and Engame ; this was followed by two non- possessive classes, the Itsio and the Itiora . Belonging to the rank class was inherited matrilineally . Justice was given and spoken by the tribal chiefs; there was no common head of the island. The pre-Christian religion was monotheistic, the female goddess Eijebong was worshiped as the highest being . The Areop-Enap spider plays a role in the creation myth of Naurus .
Before the arrival of the Europeans, the Nauru people lived on the narrow, fertile coastal strip of the island, which was overgrown with dense coconut bushes and pandanus palms ; the interior of the island, consisting of coral rocks, was uninhabited. In addition to vegetable products, the main source of food was fish. Outrigger canoes were used for fishing , the hull of which was cut from a single tree trunk, the outriggers were fastened with coconut thread. They fished with spears and bows and arrows. Rainwater was collected from crooked coconut trees by attaching a coconut leaf to the crook that drained the water into a container. The houses were covered with pandanus mats, braiding and weaving were the job of the women. Kava was consumed as an intoxicant, and after the arrival of the Europeans also toddy , the preparation of kava was originally reserved for men, but is now also practiced by women. As a pet, the frigate bird was kept in large wooden aviaries, it was also used to transmit messages.
From the 19th century to the present
The island was Christianized in the 19th century and first came under German colonial rule in 1888, and in 1920 under the Australian-British League of Nations mandate . The Nauru were largely able to maintain their way of life; they hardly mixed with the Europeans who had settled on the island since the beginning of the 19th century. The German colonial administration appointed the chief of the Boe tribe , Auweyida , as regent of the island. After the conquest by Japan in World War II, most of the islanders were deported to the Micronesian island of Chuuk for forced labor . Many did not survive the inhumane conditions, and two tribes were completely wiped out.
Since around the beginning of the 20th century, dysentery and influenza spread to Nauru, the islanders had no antibodies against these diseases. The population shrank dramatically as a result. One of the highest holidays in Naurus today is October 26th: Angam Day . In 1938, for the first time after the influenza epidemic of 1920, the Nauruan population again reached the number of 1,500 people considered necessary to survive; as a result of the Japanese occupation, it fell again until 1948. Today the Naurus culture is largely westernized. The population is no longer divided into tribes, but into districts. The form of government is parliamentary-democratic. The modern styles of pop music are sometimes enriched with specifically oceanic elements. The national sport is Australian football . The Nauru people are very hospitable to visitors to the island: you are invited to your home almost everywhere. People like to celebrate a lot.
The main problems of the Nauruer today are obesity and diabetes . In 1925, doctors diagnosed the first diabetes case in Nauru. Today, depending on age, every second to third Nauruer is diabetic - more often than in any other country on earth. The reason is assumed that the Nauru people, after often suffering from famine up until the 20th century, suddenly became one of the richest in the world through phosphate extraction: This brought a lot of money to the island, initially in the 1920s, but above all after independence in 1968. The Nauru, who were prepared for a meager life, suddenly had food in abundance. Physical work and movement became foreign words, the number one vehicle mode of transport. The consequences: obesity and ultimately diabetes.
literature
- Paul Hambruch : Nauru. Results of the South Seas Expedition, 1908–1910. II, Ethnography: B. Micronesia, Volume 1: 1-2. Friederichsen, Hamburg 1914–15 ( Online 1 , 2 ).
