Tikopia is a volcanic island in Temotu Province, in the independent nation of Solomon Islands, southwestern Pacific Ocean. Although most of Solomon Islands is Melanesian, Tikopia is culturally Polynesian. Its remoteness has enabled much of its culture to persist. One overview calls it "arguably the most thoroughly documented small-scale society in the ethnographic record".

Tikopia played a significant role in solving the mystery of the Lapérouse expedition, which had disappeared in 1788. The Calcutta Government Gazette wrote in 1828, "It is a curious fact that the discovery of the wreck of LaPerouse's ships arose out of a massacre at the Fejee Islands,  in 1813". This was a fresh water lagoon until a storm in 2002 breached the narrow barrier to the sea.

Tikopia is sometimes grouped with the Santa Cruz Islands. Administratively, Tikopia belongs to Temotu Province (formerly known as Santa Cruz Island Province) as the southernmost of the Solomon Islands. Some discussions of Tikopian society include its nearest neighbour, the even tinier island of Anuta.

It was first listed on British marine charts as Barwell Island. From the 1820s it became known by its endonym, transliterated "Tucopia". The voyagers moved into the Tuvaluan atolls as a stepping stone to migration into Melanesia and Micronesia. The pattern of settlement that is believed to have occurred is that the Polynesians spread out from Tonga and other islands in the central and south eastern Pacific. The time frame of the migration is not precisely identified but is understood to be some point between the 10th century to the mid-13th century. The arrival of the voyagers in Anuta could have occurred later.

European contact

The first Europeans arrived on 22 April 1606 as part of the Spanish expedition of Pedro Fernandes de Queirós.

It is believed that the British merchantman the Barwell passed by in 1798.

The next certain contact with Europeans was 20 September 1813, when the Hunter, a trading vessel out of Calcutta, visited the island. The Hunter had sailed to Fiji to collect sandalwood, and enlisted the help of some Europeans already living there—shipwrecked or discharged sailors—as well as local islanders. After some months, hostilities ensued, in which many Fijians and much of the Hunter<nowiki/>'s company were killed. The Hunter set sail with various survivors aboard, Captain Robson promising to put three of them (a Prussian named Martin Bushart, his Fijian wife, and a lascar known sometimes as Joe, sometimes as Achowlia) ashore at the nearest landfall. That turned out to be Tikopia, which from a distance they took to be uninhabited:<blockquote>On approaching the island we found out our mistake, as it was thickly inhabited. Several of the islanders came off in canoes, who, we all conjectured, had never before seen Europeans. They were unarmed, but very wild. They came on deck without reserve, seized upon bars of iron from the forge, and jumped overboard with that metal, as also a frying-pan, the cook's axe, knife, saucepans, &c. The firing of a musket in the air had not the least effect upon them [...]The boat being got out, I embarked in her with Martin Bushart, the lascar, and chief. On reaching the shore the chief landed, and conducted Martin to the king, who was sitting under the shade of some cocoa-nut trees chewing the betel-nut. He made his majesty a few presents, and by signs, words, and gestures, informed him that himself, the Lascar, his wife, and others, were coming to reside on the island. The chief appeared much pleased with this arrangement, and they returned to the boat. On rejoining the ship, Martin and the Lascar put their things into the boat, with Martin's wife.

On Tikopia, Captain Dillon engaged an interpreter and pilot named Rathea, who had lived for several years on Vanikoro. He was the person who had brought metal maritime artifacts from Vanikoro to Tikopia, just before Dillon's previous visit.

Tikopians practice an intensive system of agriculture (which has been compared to permaculture), similar in principle to forest gardening and the gardens of the New Guinea Highlands. Their agricultural practices are strongly and consciously tied to the population density.

Unlike the rapidly Westernizing society of much of the rest of Temotu Province, Tikopia society is little changed from ancient times. Its people take great pride in their customs, and see themselves as holding fast to their Polynesian traditions while they regard the Melanesians around them to have lost most of theirs. The island is controlled by four chiefs (ariki): Kafika, Tafua, Taumako and Fangarere, with Kafika recognised as the first among equals.

Tikopians have a highly developed culture with a strong Polynesian influence, including a complex social structure.

In a coincidence of timing with the investigations of Peter Dillon, an official scientific expedition, with a secondary commission to hunt for news of La Perouse. left France for Oceania in April 1826. Captain Dumont d'Urville had aboard his ship the Astrolabe his second in command Lieutenant Charles Jacquinot, as well as Jean René Constant Quoy and Joseph Paul Gaimard (both of them naval surgeons and naturalists), and René Primevère Lesson (surgeon). All of these officers wrote of their encounters with Tikopia, and the expedition's artists drew portraits there. In 1830 they were already calling Tikopia well-known.

21st century

Cyclone Zoe in December 2002 devastated the vegetation and human settlements of the island. Despite the extensive damage, no deaths were reported, as the islanders followed their traditions and sheltered in the caves in the higher ground. The narrow bank that separated the freshwater lagoon from the sea was breached by the storm, resulting in the continuing contamination of the lagoon by saltwater, and the threatened death of the sago palms on which the islanders depend for survival. as represented by Rakeitonga, a 9 m outrigger canoe acquired by the Auckland Museum in 1916. A pair of boats slightly larger than this were constructed to their specifications in the Philippines in 2008. The 'Lapita Tikopia' and its sistership 'Lapita Anuta' took five months to sail to the islands, following the ancient migration route of the Lapita people into the Pacific. This voyage of maritime archaeology culminated in the gift of these boats to the islanders, with the intention of ending " an era of being cut off from the surrounding islands and their extended family connections" and allowing deep-sea fishing once more.

In 2013 a Norwegian mother and father brought their two children and a nephew to Tikopia and lived there for six months. A film crew went along to capture footage. The resulting show focuses on the experiences of their young daughter, Ivi, with the children of the island, attending school, visiting chief Tafua and his family, and so on. The 13 episode children's series ("Message in a Bottle") was shown on NRK television channel NRK Super.

In October 2018, one of the chiefs of the island, Ti Namo, made his first visit to the western world to share his worries about climate change. He travelled with a delegation to Grenoble in France, where he presented his documentary Nous Tikopia before a national release on 7 November, and declared to the press, "Before, we suffered a cyclone every ten years. Today it's every two years."

References

  • [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QEPkMa3avA] (The Island of Tikopia. HTV International/Channel 4 UK 1984) Early documentary film for UK television by Krov and Ann Menuhin. Part of the series of South Seas Voyage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QEPkMa3avA
  • Flaskepost fra stillehavet (Message in a Bottle from the Pacific Ocean) A children's television program produced by NRK about a Norwegian family that spends a year living on the Island.
  • An essay on Tikopia, prepared for the BBC
  • BBC photo essay, from the aftermath of Cyclone Zoe Despite the overwhelming devastation and the greatest fears, no one on Tikopia was killed in the disaster.
  • Tools and practical help after the cyclone
  • Restoring the freshwater lagoon of Tikopia
  • Solomon Islands - John Seach a Tour Site but with information on each of the islands
  • older detail map
  • A Voyaging Canoe for Tikopia
  • Lapita Voyage official website
  • Lapita voyage, introduction and blogs

Further reading

  • Baldwin, James, Across Islands and Oceans, specially chapter 8. Tikopia Unspoilt (Amazon Kindle Book)
  • Firth, Raymond, The Work of the Gods in Tikopia, Melbourne: Melbourne University Press (1940, 1967)
  • Firth, Raymond, SOCIAL CHANGE IN TIKOPIA. Re-Study of a Polynesian Community after a Generation, London: Allen and Unwin. 1959, 360 pages