Anutan Essay
Learner record of Anutan’s
This is a very small Island that is just half a mile in diameter and is one of the thousand islands that make up Melanesian nation of the Solomon Islands. Anuta Island has been known as ‘te fatu sekeseke’, the slippery stone, due to it being such a small spot in the ocean. The population of the island was under three hundred.
This tribe really spoke to me there was so many aspects of their lives I thought were so fascinating. When meeting the chef there was a protocol that Bruce Perry had to be lower than the chef so had to go in on his hands and knees then they welcomed him in a Polynesian way with nose kiss and inhaled deeply.
Another thing which I found amazing was the Anutan’s relationship with nature, that they are totally …show more content…
self-sufficient and that nearly every part of the island is used to grow stable crops like manioc (I have actually eaten manioc and is a root vegetable and is actually quite delicious), taro, Breadfruit. Food is often buried into what they call maa pit with leaves placed on the sides of the hole to make it water tight this helps with preservation and also in case of a cyclone.
Fishing was the main source of protein and had so many various ways of fishing some of the methods explored in documentary was that the community builds wall in the sea then they scare fish into that area and the whole community helps to catch fish inside this walled area, another method was spear fishing. One method that astonished me was seeing the Anutan’s floating on top of the water and drop weighted lines to reef below.
Due to the size of the Island there are not very many trees, there for the canoes they make are very treasured items they can take up to five or six months to make and are V in shape. I found it funny that on the canoe they need someone to bail the water out. The Anutan’s have a great understanding about the waves and navigation techniques of where the best places to fish are an of course where the reefs are. When thing which I found was bewildering is that at night time they were able to use the stars. I especially liked the hats they had made to block the sun from their eyes.
On a man’s first fishing trip with the Anutan’s they get washed by other fisherman and then covered in turmeric.
When the tribe cannot fish they hunt for seabirds, the best time they found to do this was after dark.
They do this by making distinctive calls in an attempt to lure the birds in and try catching them in their net. They do not kill the birds immediately they are used to try lure other birds into their net. Much to Bruce’s is surprise he managed to catch a bird.
One thing I found was amazing was that everything is shared between the 24 family’s from fishing to crops they call this Aropa which means love, compassion for fellow human being this seems to be a fundamental way of this culture and I feel this is great to see a society acting in a way I feel every society should. This also helps create sustainability as they do not over fish areas and also do crop rotation.
Bruce Perry was able to help a man that had an infected foot I think this helped point out how the isolation of the island although romantic it can be treacherous as the nearest hospital was 200 mile away and would not of made it. Luckily one of the things Bruce brought as a present for the islanders was anti-biotic but in curing this man’s foot it used half of the supplies he brought, they mainly use traditional medicine on the
Island.
The primary way for Anutan’s to make money use through sale of Shark fin although food is shared though out the island money is not. This has already took a toll on the community one time when a family was low in crop another family tried to sell their crop luckily the chef stopped them.
When someone is leaving the island the person leaving has to visit each of the family in their home and have a meal. Then a ceremony takes place where they wear special clothes and they play music and do a special dance. Then the next step the Islanders start saying how sorry they are that the person is leaving and start crying and show raw emotion compared to how quiet and reserved these people usually are. I found this extremely touching then each of the people crawls over to person and nose kisses each person man woman and child. This I felt was really cathartic. I think that cultures in general have so many things to learn from this culture and think that the way Bruce Perry presented these people was amazingly done.
This is a very small Island that is just half a mile in diameter and is one of the thousand islands that make up Melanesian nation of the Solomon Islands. Anuta Island has been known as ‘te fatu sekeseke’, the slippery stone, due to it being such a small spot in the ocean. The population of the island was under three hundred.
This tribe really spoke to me there was so many aspects of their lives I thought were so fascinating. When meeting the chef there was a protocol that Bruce Perry had to be lower than the chef so had to go in on his hands and knees then they welcomed him in a Polynesian way with nose kiss and inhaled deeply.
Another thing which I found amazing was the Anutan’s relationship with nature, that they are totally …show more content…
self-sufficient and that nearly every part of the island is used to grow stable crops like manioc (I have actually eaten manioc and is a root vegetable and is actually quite delicious), taro, Breadfruit. Food is often buried into what they call maa pit with leaves placed on the sides of the hole to make it water tight this helps with preservation and also in case of a cyclone.
Fishing was the main source of protein and had so many various ways of fishing some of the methods explored in documentary was that the community builds wall in the sea then they scare fish into that area and the whole community helps to catch fish inside this walled area, another method was spear fishing. One method that astonished me was seeing the Anutan’s floating on top of the water and drop weighted lines to reef below.
Due to the size of the Island there are not very many trees, there for the canoes they make are very treasured items they can take up to five or six months to make and are V in shape. I found it funny that on the canoe they need someone to bail the water out. The Anutan’s have a great understanding about the waves and navigation techniques of where the best places to fish are an of course where the reefs are. When thing which I found was bewildering is that at night time they were able to use the stars. I especially liked the hats they had made to block the sun from their eyes.
On a man’s first fishing trip with the Anutan’s they get washed by other fisherman and then covered in turmeric.
When the tribe cannot fish they hunt for seabirds, the best time they found to do this was after dark.
They do this by making distinctive calls in an attempt to lure the birds in and try catching them in their net. They do not kill the birds immediately they are used to try lure other birds into their net. Much to Bruce’s is surprise he managed to catch a bird.
One thing I found was amazing was that everything is shared between the 24 family’s from fishing to crops they call this Aropa which means love, compassion for fellow human being this seems to be a fundamental way of this culture and I feel this is great to see a society acting in a way I feel every society should. This also helps create sustainability as they do not over fish areas and also do crop rotation.
Bruce Perry was able to help a man that had an infected foot I think this helped point out how the isolation of the island although romantic it can be treacherous as the nearest hospital was 200 mile away and would not of made it. Luckily one of the things Bruce brought as a present for the islanders was anti-biotic but in curing this man’s foot it used half of the supplies he brought, they mainly use traditional medicine on the
Island.
The primary way for Anutan’s to make money use through sale of Shark fin although food is shared though out the island money is not. This has already took a toll on the community one time when a family was low in crop another family tried to sell their crop luckily the chef stopped them.
When someone is leaving the island the person leaving has to visit each of the family in their home and have a meal. Then a ceremony takes place where they wear special clothes and they play music and do a special dance. Then the next step the Islanders start saying how sorry they are that the person is leaving and start crying and show raw emotion compared to how quiet and reserved these people usually are. I found this extremely touching then each of the people crawls over to person and nose kisses each person man woman and child. This I felt was really cathartic. I think that cultures in general have so many things to learn from this culture and think that the way Bruce Perry presented these people was amazingly done.