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nauruan culture
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Monday, May 5, 2014
Cultural Survival
This post is on the cultural survival of the Nauruan people. This one saddens me because not many cultural things from the nauruan culture still exist today. They really took up western ways of life and ideologies. The most cultural day for them is Angam day which is celebrated on October 26. It is to celebrate on how the nauruan people came back from near extinction at the end of the two world wars and the 1920's flu epidemic. Where the population fell under less than 800 people, once the population grew back up to 1,500 that day would be considered Angam day.
Other cultural things they have are some music, dance, and culinary. Many of the songs they sing the people barely know what they mean, even the elders who heard it day in and day out when they were young still don't know what some of the words mean. nauruan hula dance here's a little video on a hula dance that they do.
Other cultural things they have are some music, dance, and culinary. Many of the songs they sing the people barely know what they mean, even the elders who heard it day in and day out when they were young still don't know what some of the words mean. nauruan hula dance here's a little video on a hula dance that they do.
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| http://www.janeresture.com/nauru/dancers.jpg nauruan dancers |
Interview!
Took me a while to find someone to interview but finally found a person of Nauruan descent to talk about his people and the island they came from. Name is Justin Joram. Born in the United States but his parents come from the island, he himself has visited the small little island before and knows about his culture and their backgrounds. I found him on actually on twitter just looking up hashtag Nauruan, and i told him what my project was and he agreed to answer some questions. Basically just asked him five different questions.
Me: Nice to finally talk to an actual person with Nauruan descent!
Justin: thanks, what did you wanted to know about Nauru?
Me: What's the life like there, their lifestyle now?
Justin: From what i say, it was very laid back atmosphere like you see all the time on shows on Hawaii and stuff. They really have no worries, very friendly people, everyone said hello.
Me: Do you know the history of your people?
Justin: The basic knowledge your parents tell you as a child, like we came from here, this is what we did on the island, what sports we played. The way the people worked on the boats for fish, or the people working inland in the phosphate mines.
Me: Sports, the universal language. What sport is popular there
Justin: Australian rules football. Basically what we call rugby here in the US, but it's no holds bar. Anything goes basically. Really fun to play with your friends.
Me: Popular foods?
Justin: Anything with fish basically, fry it, eat it raw, cook it. If it comes from the ocean and not poisonous, they'll eat it. Chinese food is really popular also.
Me: Final question, how do people make a living there now?
Justin: Hotel business/tourist mostly now. Some still make a living by fishing, but a lot of people lost their jobs since the mines closed down not too long ago.
Me: Well thanks Justin, this really helps me out.
Justin: No problem, glad i can help.
Me: Nice to finally talk to an actual person with Nauruan descent!
Justin: thanks, what did you wanted to know about Nauru?
Me: What's the life like there, their lifestyle now?
Justin: From what i say, it was very laid back atmosphere like you see all the time on shows on Hawaii and stuff. They really have no worries, very friendly people, everyone said hello.
Me: Do you know the history of your people?
Justin: The basic knowledge your parents tell you as a child, like we came from here, this is what we did on the island, what sports we played. The way the people worked on the boats for fish, or the people working inland in the phosphate mines.
Me: Sports, the universal language. What sport is popular there
Justin: Australian rules football. Basically what we call rugby here in the US, but it's no holds bar. Anything goes basically. Really fun to play with your friends.
Me: Popular foods?
Justin: Anything with fish basically, fry it, eat it raw, cook it. If it comes from the ocean and not poisonous, they'll eat it. Chinese food is really popular also.
Me: Final question, how do people make a living there now?
Justin: Hotel business/tourist mostly now. Some still make a living by fishing, but a lot of people lost their jobs since the mines closed down not too long ago.
Me: Well thanks Justin, this really helps me out.
Justin: No problem, glad i can help.
Triple post (part 3)
This post is about Nauruan Migration and Diasporas! The Nauruans migrated to the island about 3,000 years ago by Micro and Polynesian fishing people that came here by boat. No one really knows how and why they stayed on the island. Some say that they were shipwrecked there and had no choice but to make due and live their lives on this island and create a new culture. Other story is that the island had everything they needed to live and thrive and just decided to stay and start anew.
Nauruans, being such a small culture, not many leave the island they were born on and/or explore the world. But many have left the island due to problems to surrounding islands and a chunk even live in Australia now, and not too many live in the United States now and majority in Hawaii or California. This was the hardest one to find to be honest, such little information on their origins, migrations, and diaspora. Took me forever to find this little info that i have. Hope i did it justice.
Nauruans, being such a small culture, not many leave the island they were born on and/or explore the world. But many have left the island due to problems to surrounding islands and a chunk even live in Australia now, and not too many live in the United States now and majority in Hawaii or California. This was the hardest one to find to be honest, such little information on their origins, migrations, and diaspora. Took me forever to find this little info that i have. Hope i did it justice.
triple post (part 2)
Happy Cinco De Mayo folks..even though it has nothing to do with this culture, may as well be festive though! this part is about the Nauruans neighbors! Their closest neighbor is Banaba island of Kiribati which is 186 miles east of Nauru. But, Nauru's most important neighbor is Australia! The island gets all of their supplies and products from the people down under! All the way from simple bottled water, to the most complex new medicine out there for diabetes and other major diseases and infection any human can get on their time on earth. People of the island welcome any visitors with care and joy, and have good relations with majority of their other tiny island neighbors!
Triple Post Day (part 1)
Hey folks this week i am going to talk about three different topics concerning the birds of the Nauruan people top 3 choices to me, their relationships with neighbors, and their migrations and diasporas through out time! I decided to make this a triple post since there is few details on all these subjects throughout the internet, so instead of wasting your time i decided a jumbo post was necessary for this!
First the birds of the Nauruan people. Since the land was mined to hell, majority of the jungle inland has been destroyed, including all the wildlife that lived with in it, Very few animals still live on the island itself. But birds still live on this island, right near the water, in the "little" jungle they have left and what explorers brought with them. The first bird we see, is the common pigeon you and i see everyday here in america, brought just a wee bit different. Photo from wikipedia page on the Ducula Oceanica or the Micronesian Imperial Pigeon.
Second bird that i find interesting is the only heron found on the island and that is known as the Pacific Reef Heron or by its scientific name the Egretta Sacra. Medium sized bird that comes in different colors white or charcoal gray and live their lives on the beaches and rocks of the Nauruan coast. They eat fish, mollusks, and crustaceans found on rocks. This bird can also be found in India, China, and majority of the Micronesian islands.
The last bird that i am going to talk about is the Brown Booby, weird interesting looking bird to me. It's scientific name is Sula leucogaster. Females are on average 5 inches bigger and weigh a bit more than the males. Bellies are white and the rest is a dark brown. Have elaborate greeting, eat small fish and squid and are quite funny to watch while trying to take off for flight or landing, nicknamed the clumsy bird, but they are strong flyers, just not graceful on land. Found all other the tropic from our section of Oceania to North America in Mexico, and in the Caribbean also. Very interesting bird it is....can i have it as a pet!?!
First the birds of the Nauruan people. Since the land was mined to hell, majority of the jungle inland has been destroyed, including all the wildlife that lived with in it, Very few animals still live on the island itself. But birds still live on this island, right near the water, in the "little" jungle they have left and what explorers brought with them. The first bird we see, is the common pigeon you and i see everyday here in america, brought just a wee bit different. Photo from wikipedia page on the Ducula Oceanica or the Micronesian Imperial Pigeon.
Second bird that i find interesting is the only heron found on the island and that is known as the Pacific Reef Heron or by its scientific name the Egretta Sacra. Medium sized bird that comes in different colors white or charcoal gray and live their lives on the beaches and rocks of the Nauruan coast. They eat fish, mollusks, and crustaceans found on rocks. This bird can also be found in India, China, and majority of the Micronesian islands.
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| Add chttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Eastern_Reef_Egret_-_dark_morph.jpgaption |
The last bird that i am going to talk about is the Brown Booby, weird interesting looking bird to me. It's scientific name is Sula leucogaster. Females are on average 5 inches bigger and weigh a bit more than the males. Bellies are white and the rest is a dark brown. Have elaborate greeting, eat small fish and squid and are quite funny to watch while trying to take off for flight or landing, nicknamed the clumsy bird, but they are strong flyers, just not graceful on land. Found all other the tropic from our section of Oceania to North America in Mexico, and in the Caribbean also. Very interesting bird it is....can i have it as a pet!?!
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| http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/Brown_booby.jpg |
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Nauruan religion!
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
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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