Hey folks, this post is all about the cosmos and the religion of the Nauruan tribe! unlike many other recently discovered islands and cultures, the Nauruans were originally monotheistic, meaning that they only believed in one god. The Indigenous people believed in a supreme female being named Eijebong and had spirits named Buitani's. But Eijebong didn't create the world around them.
Nauruans creation myth goes like this. The world was created by a spider named Areop-Enap, in the beginning it was only him and the ocean and nothing else on the planet. Areop-Enap searched for food in the darkness and found an enormous clam. Before he could stun it, the clam swallowed him and snapped shut again. In the darkness, Areop-Enap explored the clam's insides, and found a tiny snail. Basically these two kept trying to escape the clam and by their sweat, killed the clam and it opened. Areop-Enap than made the bottom part of the shell earth, and the uppper shell the sky. Than he created humans out of stone.
Today, very few native nauruans believe in this story anymore. two thirds of the island converted to christianity and within that two/thirds are protestant and the rest are catholic. Very sad to hear about that too, their creation story actually intrigues me. Very different than any other cultures creation story out there. Well next post is going to be a triple topic post on the birds of the people, their relationships with their neighbors, and they're Migrations and Diasporas! See ya then!
-Pat Z
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